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Uber Aims for Valuation of Up to $91 Billion in I.P.O. Uber Aims for Valuation of Up to $91 Billion in I.P.O.
(about 1 hour later)
SAN FRANCISCO — Uber expects to be worth as much as $91 billion when it starts selling shares next month, making its initial public offering one of the largest in the history of the technology industry.SAN FRANCISCO — Uber expects to be worth as much as $91 billion when it starts selling shares next month, making its initial public offering one of the largest in the history of the technology industry.
The amended prospectus, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, kicks off the last stage of the ride-hailing company’s journey to list on the public stock markets. It is expected to mint a new generation of Silicon Valley millionaires and billionaires. With its amended prospectus, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, Uber is kicking off the last stage of the ride-hailing company’s journey to list on the public stock markets. Its offering is expected to mint a new generation of Silicon Valley millionaires and billionaires.
Uber set a price range of $44 to $50 a share, putting its valuation at $80 billion to $91 billion, accounting for stock options and restricted stock. That would dwarf its rival Lyft, which went public last month at a valuation of more than $24 billion — but it would place Uber behind Facebook, which went public in 2012 with a market capitalization of $104 billion, and the Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba, which was valued at $168 billion in its 2014 offering. Uber set a price range of $44 to $50 a share, putting its valuation at $80 billion to $91 billion, accounting for stock options and restricted stock. That number could change depending on investor appetite for the company’s shares over the next two weeks.
The company said that it planned to sell 180 million shares in the offering, which could raise up to $9 billion. At that valuation, Uber would dwarf its rival Lyft, which went public last month at a valuation of more than $24 billion — but it would place the company behind Facebook, which went public in 2012 with a market capitalization of $104 billion, and the Chinese e-commerce site Alibaba, which was valued at $168 billion in its 2014 offering.
Uber was last appraised at $76 billion in a private fund-raising in August, but it recently told some investors that it might be valued at about $100 billion when it goes public. The pricing will not be finalized until the day before it lists its shares in about two weeks and will change depending on investor appetite. Uber said that it planned to sell 180 million shares in the offering, which could raise up to $9 billion.
Uber’s offering is a milestone for “unicorn” start-ups, which are young companies that were privately valued at $1 billion or more. While many of these businesses grew quickly, riding a wave of technology like smartphones, few have demonstrated they can make money. Uber is deeply unprofitable, as is Lyft. Uber was last appraised at $76 billion in a private fund-raising in August. The pricing will not be finalized until the day before it lists its shares.
Such losses have caused jitters on Wall Street: Lyft’s shares now trade below their offering price, for instance. That likely prompted Uber to take a more conservative approach to the stock market. Uber’s offering is a milestone for “unicorn” start-ups, young companies that were privately valued at $1 billion or more. While many of these businesses grew quickly, riding a wave of technology like smartphones, few have demonstrated they can make money. Uber is deeply unprofitable, as is Lyft.
Such losses have caused jitters on Wall Street: Lyft’s shares now trade below their offering price, for instance. That probably prompted Uber to take a more conservative approach to the stock market.
[Read more: Who’ll get rich when the “unicorns” go public? ]
Friday’s filing confirms that Uber is not expected to make a profit anytime soon. The company said that it lost up to $1.1 billion in the first three months of this year. In the same period a year earlier, Uber had a $3.7 billion gain, but that reflected onetime gains, including asset sales.
Using a nonstandard accounting measure that strips out those one-off items as well as costs like stock-based compensation, the company lost as much as $954 million in the quarter, compared to a $280 million loss in the year-ago period.
Its revenue rose as much as 20 percent in the quarter from a year ago, to $3.1 billion.
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Uber also announced it had received a new $500 million investment from PayPal, the payments company. That new round of capital will be made at Uber’s I.P.O. price.
The disclosure of the offering’s price range will kick off Uber’s roadshow, a two-week whirlwind of meetings around the country during which company executives will pitch the company’s shares to potential investors.
Uber’s chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, and others will face questions about the company’s lack of profit, its potential for growth and how it has reformed its workplace culture after a series of scandals in 2017.
How the company plans to make money will likely be the biggest concern. Ride-hailing is an inherently expensive business, because companies spend heavily on subsidies to attract riders and drivers. Uber is also investing to expand beyond its core ride-hailing business, adding food delivery and freight shipments as well as short-term rentals of electric bikes and scooters.
At the same time, its revenue growth is slowing, and it faces fierce competition from other ride-hailing companies.
Although its ride-hailing business is slowing, Uber is seeing growth in its Uber Eats food delivery unit. It has also partnered with several big foreign rivals and acquired its primary competitor in the Middle East, Careem. It has also secured additional investment for its costly autonomous vehicle unit from SoftBank and Toyota.
Uber has emphasized several financial alternatives to profit to convey to investors that it can make money. One is core platform contribution margin, which reflects Uber’s profit margins from each ride or food delivery, while stripping out the money it spends on marketing and other expenses. Uber said its contribution margin fell in the first quarter, to as much as negative 7 percent, amid tough competition in ride-hailing and investment in food delivery.
Uber’s offering is being led by Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.