Dara Khosrowshahi, chief executive officer of Uber Technologies Inc., speaks during an interview in San Francisco, on Tuesday, December 14, 2021.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | beautiful pictures
Shares of Uber spiked on Tuesday after CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the ride-sharing company had just had its “best week ever in terms of overall bookings.”
Total bookings typically refer to the company’s combined bookings for both its ride-sharing and delivery businesses, but Khosrowshahi also said the ride-sharing business is recovering well.
“Our overall mobile business continues to move closer to pre-pandemic levels,” Khosrowshahi said. “We’re starting to inch up to so-called like the 90% mark, we’re not quite there. Last week was our best week, you know, post-pandemic.”
Shares closed up more than 4% after Khosrowshahi spoke during a digital party chat hosted by UBS. Comments also send competitor shares Lyft rose nearly 1.5% as investors jumped on the signal that demand for carpooling was growing.
Car-sharing companies and other travel stocks have been hit hard by the pandemic, as demand has fallen. But as vaccines and restrictions eased, consumers began to travel again. In it most recent earnings report, Uber reported 1.64 billion trips on the platform during the quarter, up 9% from the previous quarter and 39% from the same period last year.
Khosrowshahi’s comments also come as the omicron coronavirus variant continues to spread globally and officials warn of a potential threat. winter potential increase in the cases.
