The ride-hailing firm Uber published its second-quarter earnings today in which it revealed that monthly active drivers and couriers in the United States had increased by 420,000 between February and July. Despite the increased activity, the firm announced that it saw a $509 million loss in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in the quarter. According to Reuters, which cites Refinitiv data, analysts had expected Uber’s EBITDA losses to reach just $324.5.
In an attempt to reassure investors after the disappointing second-quarter results, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said:
“In Q2 we invested in recovery by investing in drivers and we made strong progress, with monthly active drivers and couriers in the US increasing by nearly 420,000 from February to July. Our platform is getting stronger each quarter, with consumers who engage with both Mobility and Delivery now generating nearly half of our total company Gross Bookings.”
With more people getting vaccinated every day, the firm will be hoping that things can begin to return to normal, however, it did state in the earnings report that COVID-19 still poses risks due to the emergence of more transmissible variants such as Delta which can cause governments to snap restrictions back into place and hurt the firm.
The company’s Chief Financial Officer, Nelson Chai said that the firm is “well positioned” to reach adjusted EBITDA profitability by the fourth quarter and that it expects a loss of $100 million on the same basis in the third quarter. At the New York Stock Exchange’s close at 4 p.m. EDT, Uber’s shares were down 2.29%.