Uber Posts Third-Quarter Loss as Pandemic Continues to Hurt Rides
05 November 2020 - 10:35PM
Dow Jones News
By Preetika Rana
Uber Technologies Inc. posted another big loss as the
coronavirus pandemic continued to batter its core-ride sharing
business, though its shares rose for a second straight day in part
because of a key regulatory win in California.
Gross bookings for Uber's rides declined 53% year-over-year in
the three months ended Sept. 30, the San Francisco-based company
said Thursday. That was better than the previous quarter, when
rides were down 75%.
Food-delivery has been Uber's lifeline during the pandemic. Eats
bookings more than doubled year-over-year and advanced 23% over the
previous quarter. But the uptick wasn't enough to offset the 10%
decline in overall bookings and 18% drop in revenue to $3.13
billion.
Net loss for the period narrowed to $1.09 billion compared with
$1.16 billion a year ago, largely on the back of aggressive cost
cuts this year. Uber shed roughly a quarter of its staff during the
pandemic.
In February, Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi vowed to make
Uber profitable on an adjusted basis before interest, taxes,
depreciation and amortization before the end of the year. As the
health crisis deepened, however, he pushed reaching that milestone
to the end of next year. The company reiterated its profitability
target on Thursday.
Uber's adjusted loss excluding those items widened to $625
million for the third quarter from a loss of $585 million in the
same period a year ago.
The results were in line with Wall Street's already muted
expectations. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast on average
a net loss of $1.01 billion and adjusted Ebitda loss of $600
million.
Earlier this week, Uber won one of its biggest regulatory
battles. The ride-sharing giant combined forces with companies
including Lyft Inc. and DoorDash Inc. to mount California's
costliest ballot-measure, which asked voters to exempt them from a
state law seeking to reclassify their drivers as employees. Voters
overwhelmingly supported the measure.
The reclassification would have upended Uber's operations in its
home state and set a precedent for other states challenging its
business model.
Write to Preetika Rana at preetika.rana@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 05, 2020 16:20 ET (21:20 GMT)
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