Heading into Uber's (NYSE:UBER) fourth-quarter earnings report, investors were already bracing for an Omicron-related downturn in its Mobility segment. And although Covid impacted the ride-hailing giant's business, the company delivered stellar results on the heels of a recovering economy and returning demand for its services.
Uber's gross bookings rose 51% year-over-year to $25.9 billion, including Mobility gross bookings and Delivery gross bookings of $11.3 billion and $13.4 billion, respectively.
Adjusted EBITDA projections of between $100 million and $130 million equate to a sequential growth of 33% at the midpoint. More notably, after years of unprofitability, the Delivery segment generated positive adjusted EBITDA for the first time.
The company, founded in 2009 and went public in 2019, has been under increasing pressure from investors to show it has a path to sustainable future profits.
Last year, the company posted a loss of $774 million. Uber, however, said it is expecting adjusted EBITDA to be around $5 billion in 2024. According to Chief Financial Officer Nelson Chai, the company expects to be cash-flow positive by the end of this year, outlining new bookings and earnings targets for investors Thursday.
It would mark the first time its underlying business generates more cash than it spends if Uber meets that goal.
Quarterly revenue jumped 83% year-over-year to $5.78 billion, surpassing Street estimates of $5.34 billion. Similarly, for the full-year fiscal 2021, Uber's revenue advanced 57% to $17.45 billion.
TURNING TO WALL STREET
Analyst James Jee from Mizuho Securities has an optimistic view of Uber.
He recently said that "On the upcoming Analyst Day, we believe that management would highlight long-term profitability given its strong position in Mobility and disciplined investments in Delivery." He added, "We expect the company could exit markets where it does not have category-leading positions for Grocery delivery and invest back in core markets to optimize its path to positive margins.”
On Thursday, shares in Uber fell 6%.
To invest in Uber's stock visit MEXEM.
