in fixed costs. The company has recently removed its food-delivery service — Uber Eats — from eight unprofitable markets, folded its electric bike and scooter business into Lime , and announced it will Those moves should help Uber become profitable in 2021 , Ives said. Uber's management, which had struggled in the wake of the company's 2019 IPO, has performed well in the current crisis by being transparent with investors and quickly moving to reduce expenses, Ives said.
Uber Eats was one of the highlights of the company's first-quarter results, said Tom White, a senior research analyst at DA Davidson, as gross bookings grew 52% from the first quarter of 2019 to $4.7 billion. Eats gives Uber an advantage over ride-hailing competitors that don't have a similar service, as it allows the company to keep homebound consumers using its app, White said.
But there are still challenges ahead for Uber. The company said rides fell by as much as 80% in April, and Ives projects that 30% of the customers for gig-economy companies like Uber, Airbnb, and Lyft won't use a ride-hailing service until there's a vaccine for COVID-19. Yet the pandemic could leave Uber better off in the long run, White said.
"I saw and heard enough [during Uber's first-quarter earnings call] that makes it harder and harder for me to think that these guys don't emerge from this pandemic probably in a stronger competitive position and a healthier and leaner operating position," he said. Are you a current or former Uber employee? Do you have an opinion about what it's like to work there? Contact this reporter at
Mass Transit ridership will go down and Uber/Lyft ridership up
Canada Canada Latest News, Canada Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: BusinessInsider - 🏆 729. / 51 Read more »
Source: BusinessInsider - 🏆 729. / 51 Read more »