Uber just hit an impressive corporate America milestone
While Uber is still not a public company, the ride-sharing service remains the most expensed brand for corporate America.
And according to the SpendSmart Quarterly Report from expense management company Certify, corporate consumers spent 10% of their costs on Uber. This is nearly a 2% increase from 2017 and an almost 5% increase from 2016.
Uber’s ubiquity has made some investors particularly bullish on a potential 2019 IPO. Earlier this month, it “received proposals from several Wall Street banks valuing the ride-hailing company at as much as $120 billion in an initial public offering that could take place early next year,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
“I use Uber all the time,” Portfolio Wealth Advisors President and Chief Investment Officer Lee Munson told Yahoo Finance recently, adding that “bottom line, I think it’s going to be another Facebook.”
In 2017, Uber gave 4 billion rides while Lyft provided 375.5 million rides. Uber hit 10 billion trips, however, in June 2018, only halfway through the year.
The high percentage of Uber expenditures jumped out to Certify CEO Bob Neveu.
“It really shows how prolific Uber has become in total corporate travel,” he told Yahoo Finance. “They’re expanding at such a rapid clip.”
Uber’s hold over corporate travel spending comes down to three things, Neveu said: Convenience, quality, and cost.
“That’s what’s driving Uber’s value in the marketplace,” he theorized.
Although Uber dominates the ride-sharing market, Lyft continues to see a rise in corporate use. The most recent data indicates that Lyft accounts for 19.66% of ride-hailing services, which is a 4.66% jump from last year.
Starbucks (SBUX) trailed far behind as the second-most expensed brand at 4.09%, just a slight increase from 2017, and remains the most-expensed restaurant.
Neveu wasn’t surprised to see the coffee chain near the top.
“Starbucks is capturing more of a market spend,” he said. “They’ve become a solid destination for business travelers — not just for food and coffee, but also for their free wi-fi.”
McDonald’s (MCD), Panera Bread, and Chick-fil-A followed not too far behind for restaurants.
Delta Airlines (DAL), which ranked fourth overall, is the most-used airline, ahead of American (AAL), United (UAL), and Southwest (LUV).
Among hotels, Hampton Inn was the most popular, followed by Marriott (MAR), Courtyard by Marriott, Holiday Inn Express (IHG), and Hilton Garden Inn (HLT).
Adriana is an associate editor for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.
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