Many companies looking to go public prefer to do so in more stable market conditions, as the last thing would-be-shareholders wish in an IPO is to see the value of their investments drop after entering the markets. While some have speculated that Uber would be in this camp, the company’s CEO has stated that the ride-hailing giant is well on track to go public this year.
“Any company that’s going public would like to do it in a positive, stable market,” said Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, according to The Wall Street Journal. “We’ll do it when we’re ready, and, hopefully, the markets will be in a good state. The good news is that we’ve got a strong balance sheet so we don’t need to go public this year, he added. “It’s a desire” but “if it doesn’t happen it doesn’t happen. I’d be disappointed and I think our shareholders would be disappointed but the company would be just fine.”
Khosrowshahi has previously stated that Uber was on track to list in the second half of 2019, which many analysts expect to be the one of if not the biggest public offering in the year. At the same time, rival U.S. ride-sharing platform Lyft Inc has also indicated it might seek an IPO during the same year – even filing with the SEC on the same day as Uber.
Regardless, trade tensions between China and the U.S. have left tech stocks particularly wobbly over the past while and could influence some company’s plans to go public in the upcoming year. Overall, U.S. stock prices have seen the steepest annual decline over the recent history since the financial crisis over a decade ago.
“Revenues are up, and up at healthy rates,” Khosrowshahi added. “I view us as a company that’s still very, very young and has a long way to go and therefore hopefully won’t be as subject to cycles the way, let’s say, Apple or Samsung is. These are incredibly well-established companies.”
Last month, Uber reportedly picked major investment bank Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) to lead the firms upcoming IPO. At the time, it was expected to take place in the first quarter of 2019, but now that seems to have been pushed back a few more months. Although neither company commented at the same, analysts estimate that Uber’s total valuation to be around $120 billion, a substantial increase to it’s most recent private estimate at $76 billion when it sold a $500 million stake to Toyota.
Uber Technologies Inc Company Profile
Uber Technologies, Inc. develops, markets, and operates a ridesharing mobile application which allows consumers to submit a trip request, which is routed to crowd-sourced partner drivers. Its smartphone application connects drivers with people who need a ride. The company’s application enables users to arrange and schedule transportation and/or logistics services with third party providers.
It serves customers in North, Central, and South Americas, as well as Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company was formerly known as UberCab Inc. and changed its name to Uber Technologies, Inc. in October 2010. Uber Technologies, Inc. was founded in 2008 and is based in San Francisco, California, with an engineering center in Bengaluru, India and a regional office in Singapore. –Bloomberg
