Uber Technologies Inc. UBER will cut costs to transform into a leaner business model to deal with a “seismic shift” in investor sentiment, CNBC reported Monday, quoting the CEO Dara Khosrowshahiletter to employees.

What happened: Khosrowshahi said Uber would cut spending on marketing and incentives and treat hiring as a “privilege” and be more “cost-hard at all levels.”

Khosrowshahi, 52, said there was a seismic shift in sentiment and that Uber needed to make sure the company’s unit economy worked before it got big.

The world’s largest ridesharing company will now focus on profitability based on free cash flow rather than adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization).

“We’ve made a ton of progress on profitability, setting a target of $5 billion in adjusted EBITDA in 2024, but the targets have changed,” the report said, citing Khosrowshahi.

“Now it’s about free cash flow. We can (and must) get there quickly.

Uber did not respond to Benzinga’s request for comment outside of business hours.

See also: Uber plunges after Q1 results: Here’s where to watch the reversal

What happened: Uber reported a massive first-quarter profit loss last week, with a loss of $3.04 per share, well below the consensus estimate of a loss of 24 cents per share.

The mobile app-based transportation company, however, posted revenue of $6.85 billion, compared to an estimate of $6.09 billion.

Khosrowshahi said Uber had an edge over rivals, but needed to show the platform’s value in real dollars.

“We serve multi-trillion dollar markets, but market size doesn’t matter if it doesn’t translate into profits.”

Uber Rival Lyft Inc. LYFT last week released second-quarter sales forecasts that fell short of analysts’ estimates.

Price action: Uber closed down 2.8% at $26.07 on Friday and is down 41% year-to-date. The shares were trading down 3.11% at $25.26 in Monday’s premarket session, according to Benzinga Pro.

Photo: Courtesy of Fortune Brainstorm TECH on Flickr