Uber Faces Unexpected Quarterly Loss Despite Record Revenue, Analysts Express Positivity

Uber Technologies disclosed their first-quarter earnings report, revealing an unexpected net loss while also topping revenue expectations slightly. The San Francisco-based company’s stock took a hit as total bookings fell short of estimates.

The company reported a net loss of 32 cents per share on revenue of $10.13 billion for the quarter ending in March. Analysts had anticipated earnings of 22 cents per share on $10.1 billion in revenue, according to FactSet data. This loss was driven by a net unrealized loss related to the revaluation of Uber’s equity investments, totaling $654 million.

Despite the net loss, Uber’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) reached a quarterly record of $1.4 billion, marking an 82% increase and outperforming consensus estimates. Analyst Ralph Schackart from William Blair noted the positive EBITDA performance and maintained a positive outperform rating for Uber.

Uber’s monthly active platform consumers grew by 15% year over year, reaching 149 million users during the first quarter. The company reported growth in total bookings for its rides and food delivery segments, with ride bookings up 25% to $18.7 billion and food delivery bookings up 18% to $17.7 billion.

Furthermore, Uber recently partnered with Instacart to offer Uber Eats delivery on the Instacart app. The company’s stock had shown strong performance earlier in the year, gaining 14.3% compared to the S&P 500‘s 8.8% increase.

Following the earnings report, JPMorgan analysts expressed optimism, highlighting that the initial sell-off in Uber stock was overdone. The bank maintained a $95 price target for Uber, indicating significant potential upside for the stock.