Uber said its loss, down from $991 million in the previous quarter, “puts us on a good trajectory towards profitability.” The company also said its finance leader would depart.
Uber has spent billions to upend the transportation industry. Now, at least for the moment, it is burning slightly less cash in that effort.
The company said Wednesday that it lost $708 million over the first three months of the year on revenue of $3.4 billion, not counting expenses like employee stock compensation. That is a narrowing of the previous quarter’s loss of $991 million, on revenue of $2.9 billion.
Uber said it was still sitting on $7.2 billion in cash, roughly the same amount it held at the end of 2016.
“These results demonstrate that our business remains healthy and resilient as we focus on improving our culture, management and relationship with drivers, ” an Uber spokesman said in a statement. “The narrowing of our losses in the first quarter puts us on a good trajectory towards profitability.”
In the latest in a string of executive departures, Uber also said Wednesday that its finance leader, Gautam Gupta, was leaving to join a start-up. Uber said it was looking for someone with experience running financial operations for a public company.
As a private company, Uber is not obliged to share its financial information with the public. Wednesday’s announcement, which followed another peek inside Uber’s financial performance, appears to be something of a prelude to Uber’s potential life as a public company.
Yet Uber is far from the transparency of a public entity. The company’s numbers do not include details on its overall ridership growth and leave opaque costs and other expenses not factored into its quarterly report.
The announcement also came against the backdrop of a major legal battle, swirling concerns about the company’s culture and questions about the fitness of its chief executive, Travis Kalanick .
The Wall Street Journal first reported news of Uber’s financials .
