Uber hit with loss despite rider rebound

Uber shares skidded last week after the company said it was hit with a big loss in the first three months of this year despite a rebound in its ride-share business.

Quarterly revenue at Uber's rides unit nearly tripled year on year to $2.5 billion, topping the sum taken in from its food-delivery service for the first time since the pandemic prompted a boom in people ordering meals in.

But despite overall revenue more than doubling compared to the same period last year, Uber logged a net loss of $5.9 billion.

The loss was due almost entirely to revaluation of its stakes in Grab and Didi in Asia and autonomous driving technology enterprise Aurora in the United States, the earnings report said.

"After two years of persistent and sometimes unpredictable impact across our business, our (first quarter) results resoundingly affirm that we're on a strong path emerging out of the pandemic," Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said on an earnings call.

Uber rival Lyft reported its earnings a day earlier, saying ridership was soft in January due to the impact of the Omicron Covid-19 variant, but that demand rebounded sharply the following two months.

Lyft said it lost $196.9 million in the first quarter, most of which was due to stock compensation for employees.