Uber makes long-awaited IPO by trading at $42 per share

May 10 (UPI) -- Ride-share company Uber made its long-awaited initial public offering Friday -- with an initial list price of $45 per share, which fell to $42 by the start of trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

One of the most most valuable companies ever to go public, Uber listed its IPO price on the low end of an expected range of $44 to $50. By noon, it was trading at $44.63.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 300 points in early trading, just hours after new U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports took effect.

Uber offered 180 million shares of common stock with an option for underwriters to purchase an additional 27 million shares in the next 30 days. It's listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "UBER."

Uber's list price gave it a valuation of about $82 billion, making it the largest U.S.-listed IPO since Alibaba Group went public in 2014. The amount is significantly lower than it was just a few months ago, when analysts projected a company worth $100-$120 billion.

Since it began operating in 2009, Uber has expanded and diversified its transportation services with offerings like its Uber Eats food delivery and Uber Freights for shipping and its acquisition of Dubai-based company Careem, which offers similar services in the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan.

A prospectus filing last month showed the San Francisco-based company reported $11.3 billion in revenue in 2018 and a net income of $997 million, while also reporting an adjusted loss of $1.85 billion. Uber has never turned a profit in its 10 years of operation.

Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick, who was removed as the company's chief executive in 2017, still owns nearly 10 percent of the company. SoftBank Vision Fund firm Cayman 2 and Benchmark Capital Partners are also major shareholders.

Uber's IPO comes just weeks after the Wall Street debut of rival Lyft, which saw a starting price of $87 on the Nasdaq in March -- nearly twice Uber's initial price. Lyft's IPO exceeded expectations and placed the company's total value at $25 billion. Since then, however, Lyft stock has sunk to $55 per share, as of Friday.

Uber's debut also comes directly on the heels of an international strike this week by drivers of both Uber and Lyft. Hundreds of drivers in major U.S. cities and many in Europe switched off their apps and took part in demonstrations to urge the company to increase wages.