(Bloomberg) — Uber Technologies Inc. raised its forecast for earnings in the current quarter, defying concerns of a lasting impact on ride-hailing demand due to omicron. The shares jumped about 4% in early trading.
Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization are expected to be $130 million to $150 million, the San Francisco-based company said on Monday. That’s higher than the $100 million to $130 million Uber projected when it announced fourth-quarter results last month and more than the $120.4 million analysts are projecting, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“Our mobility business is bouncing back from omicron much faster than we expected,” Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. “Whether for travel, commuting, or going out at night, we’re seeing healthy and growing demand across all use cases, highlighting just how eager consumers are to get moving again.”
The CEO said airport gross bookings at the end of February were up more than 50% from the previous month, “and we’re preparing for the upcoming travel season to be one of the strongest ever.”
The rosier outlook accounts for a rebound in demand for ride-hailing services which had waned at the start of the year during the height of the fast-spreading omicron variant. Uber said trips have recovered 90% and mobility gross bookings recovered 95% in February compared with the same period in 2019. Meanwhile, Uber’s delivery business, which includes Uber Eats, continued to see strong demand with an annualized run rate for bookings reaching an all-time high in February.
Mobility and delivery segments saw sequential improvement adjusted earnings in the current period compared with the fourth quarter, according to the filing.
Uber posted revenue of $5.8 billion during the period ending Dec. 31 and reported the most active users in its history. Uber’s shares are down 29% this year.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
