Tina Bellon, Nivedita Balu

(Reuters) – Uber Technologies Inc reported Wednesday its second quarter operating profit. The company’s ride-hailing service reached pre-pandemic levels, and the food delivery business became profitable for first time.

After-hours trading saw shares rise 6.8%

Wall Street was disappointed with the company’s outlook for its first quarter. The Omicron coronavirus variant that dampens travel caused by Omicron coronavirus, however Uber (NYSE: ) chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi stated that business has been improving into February.

Khosrowshahi stated in a statement that Omicron variant started to affect our business late December. However, mobility has already begun to rebound with gross bookings increasing 25% per month in the last week.

Uber released its earnings shortly before their first investor day. This will be held in New York on Thursday. Uber is expected to give details about strategy and outlook.

Uber generated $5.8 billion revenue for the fourth quarter 2021.

California-based firm reported an adjusted EBITDA (EBITDA) of $86 Million for the quarter that ended December 31, which was significantly higher than analyst expectations of $62 million.

This compares to a loss of $454 millions on the same base a year earlier. This was the second quarter in which the company reported positive adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter.

Uber’s Uber Eats-based delivery business posted its first adjusted EBITDA profit, $25 million. This shows Uber’s ability and willingness to grow against fierce competition.

During the pandemic, delivery was a key strength of the company. Deliveries are still a major strength of the company, and customers continue to use the service regardless of the economic recovery.

Strong demand for flights, which increased by three times last year, drove ride recovery during the fourth quarter. Uber’s most lucrative route is the airport ride.

Uber posted net income also of $892million, after it revalued Southeast-Asian Grab shares and self-driving car company Aurora Innovation Inc. It did this just three quarters after reporting a $2.42billion net loss due to Didi’s stake and stock-based pay.

Company significantly increased marketing expenditures in fourth quarter. Sales and marketing expenses were up 36% each on a quarterly basis. Uber Eats had several major advertising campaigns launched in the U.S. by the company at the end last year.

Uber predicted a lower-than-expected adjusted profit over the first three month of 2022 as Omicron coronavirus lowered travel demand. Smaller U.S. rival Lyft Inc (NASDAQ) sent a similar alert Tuesday.

Uber projects first-quarter adjusted earnings prior to interest, taxes and amortization of between $100m and $130m. This measure excludes stock-based compensation.

This compares to analysts’ estimates of $149.57million, Refinitiv data shows. Uber’s gross bookings forecast for 2015 was $25 billion to $26billion, which is lower than estimates of $27.29billion.