Ride-Hailing Company Uber Reports $5 Billion Dollar Loss

Uber Technologies, Inc. announced Thursday that it lost over $5 Billion last quarter, and experienced its slowest revenue growth ever.

The world’s largest ride-hailing company disclosed the loss along with second-quarter results that included $3.1 billion in quarterly revenue, up only 14% from last year and its slowest reported growth ever, The New York Times reported.

“We think that 2019 will be our peak investment year,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told The NYT. “We want to make sure that the kind of growth we have is healthy growth.”

$3.9 billion of the loss was due to stock-based compensation for Uber employees stemming from its initial public offering in May. Minus that, Uber lost $1.3 billion in the 2nd quarter, which is almost twice the $878 million it lost Q2 2018.

There was some positive news, Khosrowshahi said, including a 31% increase in  Uber’s bookings over 2018. Uber also boasts more than 100,000 active riders, the first time it has hit the figure.

Khosrowshahi has faced scrutiny since Uber‘s public offering in May, which had been expected to hit $120 billion, ended up with a market capitalization of only $69 billion, according the New York Times.

Uber also reported that its food delivery business, Uber Eats, doubled its monthly customer base.

“The competitive environment, which got worse in the second half of last year, is progressively improving now,” Khosrowshahi said.