Uber Loses a Billion Dollars – Again

Ride-sharing giant Uber is continuing to have a rough time turning a profit, with the company’s third-quarter earnings revealing a net loss of $1.2 billion for the last three months despite revenues that continue to grow.

CNBC reports that Uber revealed a major third-quarter loss on Tuesday but surprisingly beat analysts’ estimates on revenue, resulting in share increasing by around 15 percent on Tuesday morning.

CNBC provided the following figures on Uber’s quarter:

• Loss per share: 61 cent loss vs. 22 cent loss expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.
• Revenue: $8.34 billion vs. $8.12 billion expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.

Uber reported a net loss of $1.2 billion for the third quarter, $512 million of which was attributed to the company’s equity investments. Overall company revenue was up 72 percent year over year.

Company CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said that the firm delivered a “strong quarter” and that the easing of lockdowns and shifts in consumer spending had benefited the company hugely. Khosrowshahi said that October was expected to be the company’s “best month ever for both Mobility and total company Gross bookings.” But he did note that the company has been acting more cautiously and not taking anything for granted following the events of the past few years.

“With continued rigor around costs, discipline on headcount, and a balanced capital allocation approach, all supported by our leading technical and operating capabilities, we are well positioned to deliver expanding profitability over the coming quarters,” Khosrowshahi said.

Uber reported a record adjusted EBITDA of $516 million, beating guidance of $440 million to $470 million and ahead of analyst estimates of $457.7 million. Gross bookings for the quarter were $29.1 billion, a 26 percent increase year over year.

Earlier this month, Breitbart News reported on a startling breach of security at Uber when it was revealed that senior executives at the company hid evidence of a hack of its systems from the authorities:

The New York Times reports that Joe Sullivan, the former security chief at ride-sharing giant Uber, was found guilty on Wednesday by a jury in federal court on charges that he failed to disclose a breach of customer and driver records to government regulators.

In 2016 the Federal Trade Commission investigated Uber over a breach of its online systems. During this time, Sullivan learned of a new breach that affected the Uber accounts of more than 57 million riders. The jury found Sullivan guilty of obstructing the FTC’s investigation and one count of misprision or acting to hide a felony from authorities.

The case appears to be the first time that a company executive faced criminal prosecution over a hack. Chinmayi Sharma, a scholar in residence at the Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law and a lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, commented: “The way responsibilities are divided up is going to be impacted by this. What’s documented is going to be impacted by this. The way bug bounty programs are designed is going to be impacted by this.”

Read more at CNBC here.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan