Uber Technologies Inc. has seen quarterly bookings from ride-hailing customers decline for the first time ever due to the effects of the new coronavirus, the firm has said, but its business is already said to be on the road to recovery.
The San Francisco-based company has never turned an adjusted quarterly profit and is unlikely to do so this year. Uber now expects to hit that milestone next year, thanks to cost cutting that will eliminate more than $1 billion in expenses, Dara Khosrowshahi, the chief executive officer, said on a conference call with analysts.
The ride-hailing business was down about 80 percent in April, but Khosrowshahi said sales increased for each of the last three weeks and are on track to do so again this week. "We believe the U.S. is off the bottom,” he said. Shares were up about 6 percent in extended trading Thursday.