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Billionaire Bill Ackman Buys a Monster Growth Stock Called a "Sleeping Giant" by a Wall Street Analyst
UBERUber(UBER) The Motley Fool·2025-02-11 09:12

Core Insights - Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, has achieved a 191% return over the last five years, outperforming the S&P 500's 102% return, making him a notable figure for individual investors to consider [1] - Pershing Square has acquired over 30 million shares of Uber Technologies, with a current stake valued at more than 2billion[2]CompanyOverviewUberisamarketleaderinridesharingandfooddelivery,beingthelargestridesharingserviceandthesecondlargestrestaurantfooddeliveryserviceintheU.S.byrevenue[4]Thecompanyholdsthelargestridesharingplatformpositionin10globalmarketsandthelargestfooddeliveryplatforminsevenmarkets[4]BusinessPerformanceUbersmonthlyactiveplatformconsumersincreasedby142 billion [2] Company Overview - Uber is a market leader in ride-sharing and food delivery, being the largest ride-sharing service and the second largest restaurant food delivery service in the U.S. by revenue [4] - The company holds the largest ride-sharing platform position in 10 global markets and the largest food delivery platform in seven markets [4] Business Performance - Uber's monthly active platform consumers increased by 14% to 171 million, and trip count rose by 18% to 3 billion, indicating higher user engagement [5] - Adjusted EBITDA rose by 44% to 1.8 billion, with management projecting annual adjusted EBITDA growth in the high-30% range over the next three years [9] Growth Opportunities - Uber's collaboration with Waymo positions it as a dominant platform for monetizing autonomous vehicles, with CEO Dara Khosrowshahi estimating a 1trillionplusopportunityintheU.S.[7]Theadvertisingsegmentisexpectedtogrowsignificantly,withprojectionsofreaching1 trillion-plus opportunity in the U.S. [7] - The advertising segment is expected to grow significantly, with projections of reaching 5 billion in sales by 2027, leveraging user data for targeted advertising [8] Valuation - Uber's free cash flow increased by 122% to $1.7 billion in Q4, with the stock currently trading at 23 times free cash flow, below its one-year average of 32 times [10] - The current valuation is close to the record low of 19 times free cash flow reached in December, suggesting a potentially attractive entry point for investors [10] Conclusion - Uber's strong market presence and growth potential in adjacent sectors like autonomous vehicles and advertising, combined with its historically cheap valuation, present a compelling investment opportunity [11]