By Yuvraj Malik

(Reuters) -Uber Technologies Inc forecast quarterly core earnings above estimates on Tuesday, after a surge in demand for travel and food delivery helped the U.S. ride-sharing giant report better-than-expected results for the January-March period.

Shares of the company rose more than 8% in premarket trading and drove gains of 4% each in those of Lyft Inc and DoorDash Inc, both of which report results on Thursday.

Uber is benefiting from its dominant position in key global markets as travel rebounds from a pandemic-induced lull. A jump in the number of people looking to gain additional income is also helping platforms such as Uber squeeze out higher profit by offering lower incentives to gig workers, analysts have said.

"Our clear lead on driver preference has allowed us to better serve this growing demand: 5.7 million drivers and couriers earned $13.7 billion (including tips) on Uber during the quarter, both all-time highs," CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said.

After a tepid performance in the last two years, "the rideshare category in the United States and Canada is now growing faster in 2023," he said.

Uber expects adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) - one of its closely watched financial metrics - between $800 million and $850 million for the June quarter. That was higher than analysts' projection of $749.1 million, according to Refinitiv.

The company also forecast gross bookings, the total dollar value from its services, of between $33 billion and $34 billion, compared with the expectations of $33 billion.

"Uber's category leadership in mobility and global scale and diversification in delivery are translating into a resilient and increasingly profitable local commerce business," D.A. Davidson & Co analyst Tom White said.

Revenue jumped 29% to $8.83 billion and beat estimates of $8.73 billion, thanks to a 72% growth in the ride-hailing segment. The food delivery unit's growth was slightly above expectations at 23%.

Adjusted EBITDA came in at $761 million, Uber's highest on record.

(Reporting by Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)