Uber reported its first-quarter earnings on Wednesday and the company said that it is recovering from the lows it experienced as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. The company said it wouldn’t have to go through much trouble investing in incentives for drivers on the platform.
The company reported a loss of $5.8 billion in the first quarter and attributed this loss to the revaluation of equity investments. Uber shares were down over 10 percent in pre-market trading.
Uber reported loss per share of 18 cents compared to the 24 cents that analysts had forecasted, according to Refinitiv. Revenue came in at $6.85 billion beating analysts’ estimate of $6.13 billion, according to Refinitiv.
The company said it expects gross bookings of between $28.5 billion and $29.5 billion. It also expects adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of between $240 million and $270 million. The company also added that it expects to generate “meaningful positive cash flows” for full-year 2022, which would mark a first for the company.
In a statement, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said that gross mobility bookings for April surpassed 2019 levels across all use cases and regions.
Uber had a net loss of $5.9 billion in the first quarter. It blamed its equity investment in Chinese ride-hailing titan Didi, Grab (a Southeast Asian mobility and delivery company), and autonomous vehicle company Aurora. The company has the liquidity to maintain its positions and wait for a better time to sell, CFO Nelson Chai said.
In the quarter, its adjusted EBITDA was $168 million, up $527 million from the same quarter a year ago.
Revenue was up 136 percent YoY to $6.9 billion. Gross bookings for mobility came in at 410.7 billion and was up 58 percent YoY while gross bookings for delivery came in at 413.9 billion, up 12 percent YoY.
The company reported 1.71 billion trips in the first quarter. This is up 18 percent from the first quarter of 2021. Monthly active platform consumers was up 17 percent YoY at 115 million. Uber drivers and couriers earned a total of $9 billion in the first quarter.
