SAN FRANCISCO — Uber plans to set a price range for its initial public offering that would value it at as much as $90 billion, said a person with knowledge of the situation, in a sign of caution amid a flood of highly hyped tech offerings.
The world’s largest ride-hailing company plans an initial pricing of $44 to $50 a share, said the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly, putting its total valuation between $80 billion and $90 billion. Uber would fall short of the $100 billion valuation that it recently told some investors it might reach upon going public. It would still be above the $76 billion it was appraised at in its most recent private fund-raising in August.
Uber’s planned price range, which is not finalized and may change before it starts trading next month, follows the offering of the rival ride-hailing firm Lyft last month. Lyft’s shares spiked upon the company’s first day of trading but have since skidded below its offering price, raising questions about the appetite of investors for these firms.
Since then, other companies that are going public have been conservative about their pricing. Pinterest, the digital pin board company that went public this month, initially priced its offering at below its last valuation in the private market.
Uber’s planned price range was reported earlier by Bloomberg.
Even at $90 billion, Uber would be the third-largest American I.P.O. in the last 10 years, said Kathleen Smith, a principal at Renaissance Capital, which provides institutional research and I.P.O. exchange-traded funds.
Lyft’s rocky start created pressure for Uber to be conservative in its pricing, Ms. Smith said. “Lyft acts as a very important valuation benchmark for Uber,” she said. “Uber cannot break its I.P.O. price. The best way to avoid breaking your I.P.O. price is to be conservative when you start out with your valuation.”