Uber is launching its IPO next month


Uber’s IPO is reportedly launching in April, sources close to the matter told Reuters. The ride-hailing giant plans to go public soon after its competitor Lyft, which kicks off its IPO at the end of this month. According to the sources, Uber will release its S-1, a required financial disclosure form that details the company’s revenue and loss for the year, in the coming weeks.

Uber was most recently valued at $76bn in the private market but is aiming to hit a valuation as high as $120bn. Lyft, which is the smaller and less diverse of the two, is currently valued at $15bn, but is seeking to increase that number to between $20bn and $25bn.

Market analysts believe both companies going public in such a short time span will help bolster the IPO market, which has seen an unexciting start to the year. By Lyft kicking off its IPO first, the company would benefit from the “pent up investor demand” for shares of a Silicon Valley tech company. If Lyft’s IPO turns out to be successful, Uber may benefit from the added momentum when it launches a few weeks later.

Surprisingly, the Silicon Valley IPO hype hasn’t been deterred from the fact that both Uber and Lyft suffered extreme losses in the past couple of years. Last year, Uber’s revenue was $11.3bn, with its gross bookings from rides totaling $50bn. But the company also lost $3.3 billion. Lyft’s revenue for last year was $2.2bn, with gross ride bookings totaling $8.1bn, but the company ended up losing $911m.