Tech

Uber posts big sales jump in first quarter and boosts valuation to $62 billion

Key Points
  • Uber just announced its first quarter financials, reporting strong sales growth and a new valuation.
  • Revenue jumped 55 percent while losses narrowed 49 percent.
  • The company also revealed a new tender offer that values it at $62 billion, up from $48 billion late last year.
Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive officer of Uber, looks on following a 2018 event in New Delhi, India.
Anindito Mukherjee | Getty Images

Ride-hailing company Uber claims strong revenue growth and reduced losses in the first quarter, while also announcing a tender offer from new and existing investors that would value it at $62 billion.

Uber told CNBC it had net revenue of $2.5 billion, up 67 percent year-over-year, on gross sales of $11.3 billion, an increase of 55 percent since Q1 last year.

Uber said its adjusted EBITDA loss narrowed 49 percent year-over-year to $304 million, down from $597 million a year ago. Adjusted net loss was $577 million for the quarter. Those numbers exclude a $3 billion first quarter gain from the sale of its Southeast Asian business to rival Grab as well as its business merger in Russia with Yandex.Taxi.

Uber's new tender offer
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Uber's new tender offer

The company also revealed a new tender offer that carries a higher valuation than its deal with SoftBank late last year.

Uber plans to sell between $400 million and $600 million in stock at $40 per share to existing investors Altimeter and TPG, as well as new investor Coatue. That range implies a valuation of about $62 billion, an increase since last year's tender offer with SoftBank — which valued it at $48 billion — but still a decrease from its June 2016 valuation.

The higher valuation reflects both a higher share price and an increased number of shares outstanding.

Since CEO Dara Khosrowshahi took over the company late last year, Uber has been fighting to improve both its image and its finances. As a private company, it's not required to release its financial results, but has begun disclosing them in recent quarters.