Legg Mason ClearBridge's Vitrano: Why Uber has turned a corner

Ride-sharing app fortunes turn for the better

"The Uber that went public was a new Uber," according to co-manager of the £1.2bn Legg Mason ClearBridge US Large Cap Growth fund Margaret Vitrano, who bought shares in the company when it first floated onto the New York Stock Exchange last year.

When the ride-hailing app's company went public in May 2019, there was a "disconnect between perception and reality" due to "a period of missteps and bad publicity in multiple markets", which made it a contrarian pick, said Vitrano. Less than one month after the flotation - in which the stock tumbled during early trading - the taxi firm posted a $1bn (£790m) quarterly loss, leading to an 11% share price fall within its first 20 days. But while Uber's share price continued to struggle over the next six months, having fallen in value by more than 35%, Vitrano said its share price has no...