Uber to report Q1 earnings with focus on pandemic’s impact
Uber (UBER) is scheduled to report its first quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday, providing insight into how the ride-sharing and food delivery behemoth has weathered the early part of the coronavirus pandemic that’s ricocheting across Corporate America, and the global economy.
Here are analysts’ expectations for Q1, compared to how the company performed in the same quarter a year ago.
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Gross bookings: $15.27 billion expected versus $14.65 billion in Q1 2019.
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Rides gross bookings: $10.68 billion expected versus $11.45 billion in Q1 2019.
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Eats gross bookings: $4.32 billion expected versus $3.07 billion in Q1 2019
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Losses per share: $0.99 expected versus $2.26 in Q1 2019.
In April, Uber pulled its full year guidance citing the pandemic’s impact on the business.
Uber’s earnings announcement follows news that it will cut roughly 14% of its workforce, or 3,700 jobs, primarily in its customer support and recruiting divisions. Uber’s chief rival, Lyft (LYFT), also announced it was cutting its workforce roughly 17%, or 982 jobs, and furloughing another 288 employees.
Unlike Lyft, Uber has its Eats platform to fall back on, as ride-share customers have dropped amid lockdowns. Drivers unable to make enough money with ride-sharing alone have increasingly turned toward the Eats arm to make up for losses in earnings — which may also help the company, as house-bound consumers order takeout meals.
Uber’s Q1 results only offer a small look at the full impact of the pandemic on the company, though. With lockdowns in the U.S. only going into effect in March, the firm’s Q2 report will provide a fuller understanding of how badly the business has been clobbered by a loss of ridership.
“Uber and Lyft will likely face their peak ride share challenges in [the second quarter], though we expect Uber to be hit harder initially due to its international exposure,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote in a research note.
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