Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi predicts profitability by 2021

Uber continues to burn through cash, but CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the company could be profitable in about two years.

The ride-sharing company will be profitable on an adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) basis for the full year in 2021, Khosrowshahi said in an interview Monday with CNBC's Deirdre Bosa.

"Although we have not completed the planning and it will require a lot of hard work from many people, we are actually aiming for 2021," Khosrowshahi said. "So we know that there are expectations of profitability and we expect to deliver" by that time, he said.

Khosrowshahi's comments came after Uber reported over $ 1[ads1] billion in net losses in the third quarter, sending the stock more than 5% in expanded trading. This despite better than expected results on the top and bottom lines.

Uber is facing pressure from Wall Street to make a profit as investors have become increasingly skeptical of money-losing technology companies. Rival ride-sharing platform Lyft announced last week that it expects to be profitable on an adjusted EBITDA basis by the fourth quarter of 2021. Both companies' shares are trading well below the IPO price earlier this year.

Despite staggering losses, Khosrowshahi named Uber's ride segment, which grew 19% from the previous year to $ 2.9 billion, as a bright spot financially.

"Our riding business is already paying for the entire company's overhead in the company today," Khosrowshahi said. "We think we can continue with that."

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