On Tuesday, shares of ride-hailing company Uber skyrocketed after the company’s CEO Dara Khosrowshashi mentioned that Uber just had its “best week ever in terms of overall gross bookings”. “Our overall mobility business continues to get closer to pre-pandemic levels. We’re starting to inch up to call it like the 90% mark, we’re not quite there. Last week was our best week, you know, post-pandemic”, he added.
Gross bookings refer to all the company bookings for both its ride-hailing and delivery businesses. According to the CEO’s statement, Uber’s ride-hailing business is making a good recovery.
After CEO Dara Khosrowshashi spoke in a digital fireside chat hosted by UBS, the company’s stock went up almost 5 percent. Lyft, Uber’s rival, also saw its shares rise up to over three percent as investors followed the prompt that the demand for ride-hailing services may be on the increase.
The pandemic really hit companies in the ride-hailing space as people were confined to their homes. Companies like Uber depended on delivery services but as the restrictions began to ease and with the appearance of vaccines, these companies have come on to a path of recovery.
Uber, for instance, reported its first profitable quarter since it launched ten ago. In the third quarter, the company recorded revenue of $4.8 billion compared to the expectation of $4.4 billion, according to Refinitiv. The ride-hailing giant reported its first profitable quarter since it launched over ten years ago. Its first adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) profit met its end-of-year target. The company reported an adjusted EBITDA profit of $8 million. This figure is up from an EBITDA loss of $507 million recorded in the second quarter. Delivery revenue stood at $2.24 billion in the quarter while for ride-hailing services, revenue was $2.2 billion. The company recorded $402 million for freight revenue. The company also told its shareholders that its number of delivery merchants grew to over 780,000. The company’s food delivery Uber Eats managed to hold up irrespective of the restrictions businesses like it are facing as a result of the pandemic. In the same quarter, The company’s biggest American competitor Lyft also reported quite impressive earnings that show that the company is making a gradual recovery from the effects the pandemic had on its business.
