Uber promises profitability by 2021 despite rising losses

Uber on Monday posted a wider third-quarter loss as the company tries to outspend competitors through discounts and invests heavily in loss-making new business ventures, sending its shares down 5.5% in after-hours trading.

Nevertheless, the company promised it would be profitable by the end of 2021 as quarterly revenues, driven by its global ride-hailing business, beat expectations. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told journalists on a conference call the company as a whole would achieve adjusted EBITDA profitability for the full year of 2021, but declined to provide details on the performance of individual business units by that time. The move follows a similar announcement by smaller ride-hailing competitor Lyft on Wednesday.