- Shares hit 12-month high on strong Q4 forecasts
- Core profit beats consensus estimates
- Business travel up 33% as more people return to the office
As more workers return to offices, ride hailing and food delivery firm Uber Technologies (UBER:NYSE) is cashing in. Shares in the business shot to 12-month highs on Tuesday (7 Nov) despite missing third quarter revenue estimates after forecasting a strong final quarter.
The shares clocked-up 4% gains to almost touch $50 ($49.92), all but doubling this year. That leaves them a little more than 20% shy of $60.63 all-time highs reached in 2021.
The positive vibe rubbed-off on ride hailing competitor Lyft (LYFT:NASDAQ), which saw its shares close 3% higher. Lyft has been cutting prices this year to boost market share and reports quarterly earnings later today.
STRONG HOLIDAY SEASON FORECAST
Anticipating a strong holiday season, the company says it expects gross bookings and adjusted core profit to be between $1.18 billion and $1.24 billion which is ahead of consensus market estimates of $1.15 billion.
Gross bookings are expected to be around 6% higher than the third quarter to between $36.5 billion and $37.5 billion compared with market estimates of $36.3 billion.
Chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said: ‘Consumer demand on our platform remains healthy as we enter the busiest period of the year.
‘This trend continued into the fourth quarter as we achieved all-time highs in October for overall trips and gross bookings, driven by strength across both mobility and delivery.’
Q3 REVENUES MISS BUT CORE PROFIT BEATS
Revenues grew 11% against the same period a year ago to $9.29 billion roughly 3% shy of Street estimates of $9.5 billion but core profit came in at $1.09 billion compared with market forecasts of $1.02 billion.
Ride hailing bookings were up 31% year on year to $17.9 billion while delivery bookings grew 18% to $16.1 billion.
Is Uber’s first quarterly profit sustainable? This is what analysts predict
Revenues from ride-hailing services grew 33% year on year to $5.1 billion driven by an increase in business-related travel as more people returned to the office. Deliveries grew 6% to which missed expectations calling for at least a16% increase.
