Uber revises its outlook higher for the third quarter

Uber on Tuesday revised its financial outlook for the third quarter, with bookings and adjusted profit now expected to be better than first reported.

The San Francisco-headquartered firm said in an SEC filing that now expects to report between $22.8 billion and $23.2 billion in gross bookings for the current quarter, adjusted from the $22 billion to $24 billion it predicted on its second-quarter earnings call.

Gross bookings for the second quarter came in at $21.5 billion, with mobility accounting for $8.6 billion and food delivery accounting for $12.9 billion.

“They say that crisis breeds opportunity and that’s certainly been true of Uber during the last 18 months,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in the filing.

It also said it now expects adjusted EBITDA (which refers to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) to come in between a loss of $25 million or a profit of $25 million. Uber previously said it expected its adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter to be better than a loss of $100 million.

Looking ahead, Uber reiterated that, on an adjusted EBITDA basis, it should see a profit in the fourth quarter.

In the second quarter, Uber reported 1.51 billion trips on the platform, up 4% from the first quarter and 105% from the year-ago quarter. Uber said its drivers and couriers earned an aggregate $7.9 billion during the quarter.

Uber and other competitors have struggled with supply and demand imbalances because of the coronavirus pandemic, leading to surge pricing and increased wait times. Khosrowshahi said on a call with investors that prices and wait times aren’t meeting company targets.

“In Q2 we invested in recovery by investing in drivers and we made strong progress, with monthly active drivers and couriers in the U.S. increasing by nearly 420,000 from February to July,” Khosrowshahi said in a statement.

— Additional reporting by CNBC’s Jessica Bursztynsky.