Uber Posts $5.2 Billion Loss and Slowest Ever Growth Rate

Lyft has also reported a series of deep losses. This week, it said it lost $644.2 million in the second quarter, though it added that it expected that amount to abate. Several months earlier, Lyft had also posted a particularly steep loss related to stock-based compensation payouts to its employees. Like many technology start-ups, Uber and Lyft recruited employees with stock options that they said could make the workers wealthy when the companies went public. The costs of that practice have now materialized.

At Uber, Mr. Khosrowshahi has been working to cut costs and shift management. In June, he ousted two top executives: the chief operating officer and the chief marketing officer. Last month, he laid off a third of the marketing staff, or about 400 people. Three board members have also stepped down since Uber’s I.P.O.

Uber’s board changes have been led by the chairman, Ron Sugar, Mr. Khosrowshahi said on Thursday. He added that they were part of a natural shift after a public offering.

“This is a different Uber,” he said in the interview. Since the I.P.O., “I get to spend more time internally with our employees. What I’m insisting on is excellent execution.”

Mr. Khosrowshahi said Uber, which had been competing with Lyft by offering heavily discounted rides to lure riders, has seen that price war subside.

“The competitive environment, which got worse in the second half of last year, is progressively improving now,” he said.

Although Uber has relaxed its discounts for rides, the food delivery business is still highly competitive and the company plans to invest more aggressively in that area, he said. Uber’s food delivery business, Uber Eats, more than doubled its number of monthly customers in the quarter.

Uber, which aspires to become an Amazon-like store for all forms of transportation, is also investing in the development of autonomous cars, public transit deals, the expansion of its bicycle and scooter business, and in its freight delivery platform.