(Reuters) – Uber Technologies posted positive quarterly cash flow for the first time in its history on Tuesday and expects operating profit to beat estimates for the third quarter, betting on stable demand for its passenger transport services and food delivery.
Uber, which has lost more than 40% of its value this year, rose 15% to $28.41 in pre-market trading and helped lift rival Lyft’s stock by 8%. .
The U.S. company generated free cash flow of $382 million (€373.01 million) in the second quarter, versus $263.2 million expected by analysts, as travel exceeded pre-COVID-19 levels. pandemic, driven by office reopenings and travel demand.
The number of drivers and delivery people registered on its platform increased by 31% to reach a record figure of almost 5 million, which helped to dispel fears linked to the rise in the price of oil, which risked deterring drivers. .
“It’s true: more people are earning on Uber today than before the pandemic,” Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi said.
Growth in its delivery business has slowed, but Uber expects online ordering to become the norm for consumers, thanks to its new partners.
Revenue from its delivery business rose 37% to $2.69 billion.
That of the transport vehicle with driver (VTC) activity for its part rose by 120%, to 3.55 billion dollars during the quarter ended June 30.
Analysts were counting on a turnover of 2.58 billion dollars for delivery and 2.93 billion dollars for VTC.
Gross bookings, or the total value of bookings made on the Uber platform, rose 33% to $29.1 billion.
Uber also saw adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) of $364 million, beating analysts’ estimates of $257.89 million.
For the third quarter, the group now expects adjusted Ebitda of between $440 million and $470 million, well above analysts’ forecasts of $383.95 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
(Nivedita Balu in Bangalore; French version Dagmarah Mackos, editing by Kate Entringer)
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