Uber sees biggest-ever quarterly loss: $5bn in three months
Uber lost $5.24bn in the last three months, its largest-ever quarterly loss, news that sent the ride-hailing company’s shares sliding 10%.
The company was reporting earnings for only the second time following its share sale in May. The latest losses were worse than analysts had expected and the company announced revenues that were also below predictions.
Uber’s revenues rose 14% to $3.17bn in the second quarter, below analysts’ expectations of $3.3bn and the smallest percentage on record.
The company’s share price, which had climbed over 8% during the day, fell more than 10% in after hours trading.
Earlier, Uber’s chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, told CNBC that 2019 would be “our peak investment year and we think that 2020, 2021, you’ll see losses come down”.
Uber’s huge losses have worried investors and the company’s shares have only closed above their initial public offering (IPO) price of $45 twice since its share sale.
Last month the company announced it was cutting 400 jobs from its marketing team as it tried to get costs under control.
The latest quarterly loss was largely down to stock-based compensation related to its IPO, but excluding those costs, Uber losses were about $1.3bn, close to 30% worse than in the preceding quarter.
The company is locked in competition with its rival Lyft and is spending on a range of newer businesses including food delivery, Uber Eats, and freight.
Lyft announced better-than-expected revenue figures on Wednesday,
“While we will continue to invest aggressively in growth, we also want it to be healthy growth, and this quarter we made good progress in that direction,” said Nelson Chai, chief financial officer.
Despite the bad news, Uber continues to grow. The company completed 1.68bn rides and delivery trips over the quarter, better than the 1.65bn predicted by analysts.