Here's How Uber's CEO Sees a Coronavirus Recovery Playing Out
rguably, no company has its finger on the pulse of the global economy like Uber (NYSE:UBER) does. The ridesharing giant operates in most of the world, and its business ferrying passengers to places like work, back home after a night out, or to the airport is highly correlated with the health of the global economy.
It's not a surprise, then, that Uber stock fell sharply in the initial weeks of the coronavirus sell-off. Investors feared that its business would slow as consumers became less likely to go into shared spaces like rideshare vehicles.
In an update last week, the company reassured investors that its financial position was strong enough to endure an 80% decline in Rides bookings for the rest of the year and still finish with $4 billion in unrestricted cash. Uber didn't expect such a sharp plunge for the rest of 2020, but that was the worst-case scenario that the company had modeled. It also said that its Eats business was growing as more restaurants and consumers look to delivery, and since the update, Uber's stock has nearly doubled, showing that management successfully restored investors' confidence.
However, the information was valuable not just to Uber shareholders, but all investors who are looking for insight into the crisis, given the company's valuable transportation data. Here's what Uber's CEO Dara Khosrowshahi had to say about the current crisis and a recovery.
