What happened
Many stocks were stuck in the slow lane or even moving in reverse on Monday. Happily, for Uber Technologies (UBER -0.07%) shareholders, their company was motoring ahead nicely. Its stock ended up cruising to a nearly 3% gain on the day, thanks to a positive new research note from an analyst.
So what
The prognosticator in question was Needham & Company's Bernie McTernan. In reiterating his buy recommendation on Uber stock at a $54 per share price target, McTernan opined that the company is outperforming in the current economy, delivering low wait times for customers and reaping the benefits of strong demand and raised prices.
McTernan's estimates are above the average analyst projections for both bookings and total revenue for the first quarter of this year. That being said, though, he anticipates that the former metric will be essentially flat on a quarter-over-quarter basis, not only for Uber but also for its rideshare sector arch-rival Lyft.
On a slightly more negative note, the Needham analyst has become slightly more bearish on the prospects for Uber's delivery services. He has trimmed his estimates for this corner of Uber's business, following similar reductions he made on pure-play delivery company DoorDash last week.
Now what
McTernan's note was published two days before Uber is scheduled to unveil its fourth quarter of 2022 results. On average, analysts tracking the stock are modeling a big leap in revenue by 47% year over year to just under $8.5 billion. They also believe the company will manage to trim its net loss to $0.18 per share from the fourth quarter 2021 deficit of $0.26.
