Uber files for IPO

NelsonG · April 11, 2019

Uber has filed its S-1, setting the stage for the transportation company to go public next month. This comes less than one month after competitor Lyft’s debut on the public market.

Uber is listing under the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “UBER,” but has yet to disclose the anticipated initial public offering price. While Uber did not disclose the valuation its seeking, the company is reportedly looking to sell around $10 billion worth of stock, valuing the company between $90 billion and $100 billion.

In the filing, Uber reported 2018 revenues of $11.27 billion, net income of $997 million and adjusted EBITDA losses of $1.85 million. Though, we knew this thanks to Uber’s previous disclosures of its financials.

But this is not the first time we’ve seen Uber’s financials. Over the last couple of years, Uber has willingly disclosed many of these numbers. Its last report as a private company came in February when Uber disclosed $3 billion in Q4 2018 revenue with rising operating losses.

From ridesharing specifically, Uber’s revenues increased from $3.5 billion in 2016 to $9.2 billion in 2018, with gross bookings hitting $41.5 billion last year from ridesharing products.

Uber’s monthly active platform consumers of ride-hailing, new mobility or Eats came in at 91 million for Q4 2018. That came out to 1.5 billion trips in total in that quarter.

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There’s a lot packed into Uber’s S-1, so here’s a quick look at some other things we found interesting:

Uber saw about 5.5 trips per monthly active platform consumer in Q4 2018, compared to that same quarter a year prior
Uber Eats represented 18 percent of gross bookings for Q4 2018, which is higher than gross bookings for rideshare
Ridesharing trips grew by 34 percent in 2018 while gross bookings declined by one percent

It’s unclear just how much money key stakeholders will make, but Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick owns 8.6 percent of the company. He’s the third largest shareholder with 117.5 million shares. Other notable stakeholders include Cayman 2 Ltd. and Alphabet.

Competitor Lyft filed its S-1 documents in March, showing nearly $1 billion in 2018 losses and revenues of $2.1 billion. It reported $8.1 billion in booking, coverings 30.7 million riders and 1.9 million drivers. About a week later, Lyft set a range of $62 to $68 for its IPO, seeking to raise up to $2.1 billion. Since its debut on the NASDAQ, Lyft’s stock has suffered after skyrocketing nearly 10 percent on day one.