03:03 PM EST, 02/07/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Uber Technologies' ( UBER ) shares surged Friday after investor Bill Ackman said his Pershing Square hedge fund has amassed a stake in the ride-hailing giant.

The fund started acquiring a position in Uber ( UBER ) at the beginning of this year and now owns 30.3 million shares, Ackman said in a Friday post on social media platform X. Ackman is founder and chief executive of Pershing Square Capital Management.

"We believe that Uber ( UBER ) is one of the best managed and highest quality businesses in the world," Ackman wrote. "Remarkably, it can still be purchased at a massive discount to its intrinsic value. This favorable combination of attributes is extremely rare, particularly for a large-cap company."

Ackman said he was a day-one investor in Uber ( UBER ) through a small investment in a venture fund. "I have been a long-term customer and admirer of Uber ( UBER )," he added.

Uber ( UBER ) shares were up 8.5% in Friday late-afternoon trade, taking its year-to-date gain to nearly 26%.

On Wednesday, Uber ( UBER ) logged a surprise increase in fourth-quarter earnings, but issued a downbeat gross bookings outlook at the midpoint for the ongoing quarter.

"Uber ( UBER ) ended 2024 with our strongest quarter ever, as growth accelerated across (monthly active platform consumers), trips and gross bookings," CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement at the time. "We enter 2025 with clear momentum and will continue to be relentless against our long-term strategy."

Khosrowshahi has done "a superb job in transforming (Uber ( UBER )) into a highly profitable and cash-generative growth machine" since joining the company in 2017, Ackman said Friday. "We will have more to share about our thinking on the company shortly."

Khosrowshahi on Friday thanked Ackman for "making a bet" on Uber ( UBER ).

"Super excited to have you on board as a shareholder," Khosrowshahi wrote in an X post replying to Ackman. Khosrowshahi said Ackman has called him "many times with observations and suggestions" regarding Uber's ( UBER ) service. "Look forward to engaging (with) you and your team," Khosrowshahi wrote.

Price: 75.72, Change: +5.73, Percent Change: +8.19