Uber Tops Earnings in Q4; CEO Forecasts Earlier-Than-Expected Profit

Investing.com – Uber’s (NYSE:) fourth-quarter report beat analysts’ estimates Thursday, with CEO Dara Khosrowshahi stoking investor optimism after bringing forward the timeline to profitability.

In Uber’s earnings call, Khosrowshahi said the company was moving its earnings (EBITDA) profitability target to the fourth quarter of 2020, ahead of its original pledge of profitability in 2021.

Shares rose more than 5% in after-hours trading.

Uber reported a fourth-quarter of $0.64 a share on revenue of $4.07 billion, beating Wall Street estimates for a loss of $0.68 a share on revenue of $4.06 billion.

Gross bookings grew 28% to $4 billion for the quarter, year over year. But bookings in its rides business rose 18% to $13.51 billion, short of Wall Street estimates of $13.60 billion, raising some concern over rising competition.

Monthly active platform consumers, a tally of each consumer who completed a ride or ordered a meal, rose 22% to 111 million in the quarter.

The narrower-than-expected loss comes as the company has set its sights on profitability, agreesing to sell its Uber Eats business in India earlier this year.

Costs, however, continue to swell, rising 59% to $22.7 billion in 2019 from a year earlier.

“There are some early signs in this report that Uber is positioning itself for profitable growth,” Investing.com analyst Haris Anwar said. “With revenue growth picking up, losses shrinking and the company moving to rationalize its business, investors will feel more confident to own Uber (NYSE:) shares.”

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