Uber is Fully Aware of the Impact of the Coronavirus on its Business

When you think about being an enclosed place like a car, you hope that nobody in the car is sick, especially not with coronavirus.

Uber makes its business out of customers sitting in cars and has acknowledged the risk that coronavirus poses to its business.

On Monday the company for the first time discussed that COVID-19 poses a material risk to the company’s business its in newly published 2019 financial filing.

The company mentions the virus five times in the filing and says it could “cause its number of platform users to drop, or could disrupt the company’s “new mobility” supply chain, encompassing e-bikes and scooters.”

During a Squawk Box interview on February 7th, Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said: “We’re not seeing a significant effect on the business overall. Where we see an effect is in North Asia. For example, business in Hong Kong, airport business is down pretty significantly, from an overall standpoint with our portfolio it’s not material in any way.”

This sentiment changed as now the company is cautioning investors that its number of platform users could decline or fluctuate materially due to many factors including: “a pandemic or an outbreak of disease or similar public health concern, such as the recent coronavirus outbreak, or fear of such an event.”

Uber also said in the filing that coronavirus could disrupt its operations outside the U.S. or the operations of companies in which it holds a minority stake.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBER) and have not been compensated for this article.