Uber plans to set a price range for its initial public offering that would value it at as much as $90 billion, said a person with knowledge of the situation, in a sign of caution amid a flood of highly hyped tech offerings.
The world’s largest ride-hailing company plans an initial pricing of $44 to $50 a share, said the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly, putting its total valuation between $80 billion and $90 billion. Uber would fall short of the $100 billion valuation it recently told some investors it might reach upon going public. It would still be above the $76 billion it was appraised at in its most recent private fundraising in August.
Uber’s planned price range was reported earlier by Bloomberg.
Even at $90 billion, Uber would be the third-largest American IPO in the last 10 years, said Kathleen Smith, a principal at Renaissance Capital, which provides institutional research and IPO exchange-traded funds.
Ford cost cuts start to pay off
Ford earnings fell in the first quarter, but the automaker’s shares rallied in extended trading as Ford said a restructuring is starting to take hold.
The Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker said Thursday that sales of pickups and sport utilities sparked an improved performance in North America and cost-cutting allowed its European business to swing to a profit.
Net income for the first three months of the year fell 34% to $1.15 billion, weighed down by charges totaling nearly $600 million. Adjusted profit totaled 44 cents per share. Revenue fell to $40.34 billion from $41.96 billion a year earlier.
In a press release, Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks said that first quarter figure will likely be the strongest of the year, but the results put Ford “on track to deliver better company results in 2019 than last year.”
The company is currently shifting away from sedans in the U.S., closing international factories and cutting thousands of white-collar jobs. The majority of the charges in the first quarter came from the closing of a manufacturing facility in South America and the revamping of its operations in Europe.
Mortgage rates rise for 4th straight week
U.S. long-term mortgage rates rose this week for the fourth straight week, though they remain historically low as a spur to home sales in the spring buying season.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday the average rate on the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage increased to 4.20% from 4.17% last week. By contrast, a year ago the benchmark rate stood at 4.58%.
The average rate for 15-year, fixed-rate home loans rose this week to 3.64% from 3.62% last week.