[naviga:h3]Uber looks to raise $9B in offering [/naviga:h3]

NEW YORK — Ride-hailing giant Uber is aiming to raise $9 billion in its mammoth initial public stock offering that, while smaller than initially expected, still dwarfs most stock market debuts.

The San Francisco-based company expects to be valued at $80.5 billion to $91.5 billion, falling well below prior estimates that rose as high as $120 billion, in a sign that investors may be taking a more cautious approach to ride-hailing after the stock performance of Uber’s rival, Lyft.

Even so, Uber is on track for one of the largest IPOs in history. The company plans to sell 180 million shares for between $44 and $50 each.

Lyft went public last month and its stock price fell 21 percent from its initial offering price of $72, and was selling for about $57 on Friday.

“With Lyft’s IPO being down more than 20 percent in a market that’s hitting new highs every day, that’s a dynamic that probably has been factored in as well,” said Daniel Ives, managing director of equity research at Wedbush Securities.

Over the coming weeks Uber is likely to revise those figures as it launches its so-called road show, where it pitches the company and gets feedback from potential investors. It is expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange next month.

[naviga:h3]Sony returns to profit in quarter [/naviga:h3]

TOKYO — Japanese entertainment and electronics company Sony Corp. has reverted to profitability for the quarter through March, boosted by robust demand for game software and network services, as well as gains from Spotify.

Sony reported an $787 million January-March profit Friday, a reversal from the loss racked up the previous year.

Quarterly sales totaled $19 billion, up 9 percent.

For the fiscal year, Sony reported a near doubling in profit to $8.2 billion. Sales rose 1 percent to $78 billion.

Sony got a gain for its stake in Spotify, which was publicly listed in April last year. Sony owned 5.7 percent of Spotify at that time. Sony has sold some of its stake in Spotify over the last year, it said.

Also helping the bottom line was its semiconductors business, but the mobile phone operations continued to lag, according to Tokyo-based Sony.

[naviga:h3]American Airlines expects $1B hit[/naviga:h3]

DALLAS — American Airlines expects to take a $1 billion hit from two things it didn’t expect when 2019 started: That its newest Boeing jet would be grounded for months after two deadly crashes, and that oil prices would rise.

The airline’s top executives are confident that U.S. regulators will soon allow the Boeing 737 Max to fly again after Boeing completes changes to the jet. In the meantime, however, American is rebooking nearly 700,000 passengers who were supposed to be on the 15,000 Max flights that the airline canceled through Aug. 19.

American said Friday the grounding of its 24 Max planes will cut $350 million from 2019 pretax profit, partly because vacationers who bought cheap tickets some time ago will fill seats that American hoped to sell at higher prices closer to the peak summer vacation period.

The Max-related loss, along with a $650 million increase in projected fuel spending because of higher oil prices, caused American to cut its forecast of full-year earnings.

[naviga:h3]Exxon’s 1Q profit tumbles 49 percent[/naviga:h3]

IRVING, Texas — Exxon Mobil’s first-quarter profit fell by half to $2.35 billion, its worst quarter since late 2016, as the company spent more on oil production and was hit by lower margins in its refinery business.

The results fell short of Wall Street expectations, and the shares fell in afternoon trading Friday.

The refinery side of the business posted a loss of $256 million after earning $940 million a year earlier. The company blamed lower margins due to high gasoline inventories, and an increase in refinery maintenance.

“It was a tough market environment for us this quarter,” Senior Vice President Jack Williams said on a call with analysts. Refining margins were the lowest Exxon has seen in a decade — “historically low levels, and our results were in line with that margin environment,” he said.

Citi analysts said Exxon’s complex refining network was a disadvantage, as was the pace of maintenance activity. The refining and chemicals businesses are lagging the 2019 potential that Exxon laid out just a year ago, they wrote in a note to clients.