In Numbers And Narrative, Uber's Q4 Suggests A Recovery

The narratives around Uber’s year-end earnings vastly diverge. One headline celebrates a 61-percent year-over-year rise in fourth-quarter revenue, while another laments a full-year loss expansion of 60 percent.

The Facts

In the final quarter of 2017, Uber’s $475-million adjusted loss, as reported by the New York Times, was an improvement from $607 million the previous period. Total revenue increased 14 percent sequentially to $11.3 billion, according to The Information.

The full year figures carried a different tune. Losses swelled from $2.8 billion to $4.5 billion on sales of $7.5 billion.

Uber closed the year with $6 billion in cash — about 15 percent less than in 2016.

Here’s The Context

The numbers reflect a relatively rough year.

Management battled a culture of sexual harassment that forced the departure of its founding CEO and created a public relations nightmare. Failure to cooperate with a social movement resulted in a temporary boycott. Alphabet Inc GOOGL’s Waymo sued over trade secrets. And all the while, competition emerged from new mobility players, like General Motors Company GM’s Maven.

The last quarter of the year was Uber’s first complete term under Dara Khosrowshahi, former Expedia Inc EXPE CEO.

What It Means

Khosrowshahi seems to be turning things around and inspiring confidence in the beleaguered Uber team.

“We’re incredibly encouraged by our financial performance and excited by our long-term potential to serve riders, drivers and cities,” Matt Kallman, an Uber spokesman, told the Times.

The company plans to IPO in 2019.

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