Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Uber Posts $708M Loss as Finance Head Leaves

wsj.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 239 posts

Re: Uber Posts $708M Loss as Finance Head Leaves

#31

Post by douche »

nullnilvoid wrote: post #20
bpodgursky wrote: post #13

$708 million loss, narrowed from $991 million last quarter 18% growth from last quarter (note: that's not Y/Y. this is ridiculously fast, given the huge base.) 708mm loss / 3.4 billion in revenue is only about 20% under even. And what most people miss, is that the 3.4 billion is the 30% cut Uber takes from a ride. Prices don't have to rise 20% to break even, prices have to rise 6% (assuming no efficiency improvements…

> prices have to rise 6% (assuming no efficiency improvements via pool etc, which is frankly ridiculous) If Uber raises 6%, the revenue Uber will decrease. If you raise the price, simply there will be less rides because people will find alternatives such as Lyft, taxi, or even public transportations.

I'm so grateful that Uber exists, precisely for those places where those alternatives don't really exist, and so the choices are trying to bum a ride, or god forbid, driving drunk.

Re: Uber Posts $708M Loss as Finance Head Leaves

#32

Post by korzun »

> Yes and no, they are in a space which is extremely price competitive. I literally am watching Uber take a dramatic hit in my area right now.

You are 'literally' watching Uber take a 'dramatic' hit. Okay.

Extremely price competitive market, yet you only mention Lyft.

> Lyft came to town and probably 80% of the drivers solely use them now, driving up the Uber prices.

Where did you get your numbers from? Just making stuff up as you go?

> Now, I only use Lyft - as do most of the people.

I only use Uber - as do most of the people. See how this generic mud-slinging like commentary works?

> Plus, most of the Uber drivers are shady here

Making blanket statements with words like 'shady' and 'here' is cheap.

You did not mention a single, verifiable fact. I can apply this kind of narrative to pretty much anything.

> I honestly still don't see them making it out of their situation.

Wrap it up with a cliche 'honesty...'. I do not understand comments like this; how much is Lyft paying you?

Re: Uber Posts $708M Loss as Finance Head Leaves

#33

Post by dmix »

ProfessorLayton wrote: post #26
randomdrake wrote: post #15

Great example of how the headlines can drive a story more than the story itself. While Uber may have posted $708 million of losses, it is also up 18% in revenue from last quarter. That's 3.4 billion dollars in the first quarter of 2017. Uber is making approximately $1,500,000 per hour. I dislike Uber as much as the next person for ethical reasons, but a company that can achieve millions of dollars in revenue per day,…

$1,500,000 per hour in revenue sounds great. Spending $1,872,000 per hour to bring in $1,500,000 per hour sounds less great. I understand that it takes money to make money, but this is one of the most extreme cases in a business.

People were saying the same thing about Twitter forever and turned out to be largely wrong. I have a feeling the company making billions of dollars in revenue has some smart people who figured out how not to mess this up.

But who knows maybe Uber will stop being the dominate taxi / self-driving car company globally over the next decade and mess it all up. Or not... but I doubt this large expenditure was done without foresight. The question is whether they can dominate for years to come in a high-growth industry, which it seems likely given the wide gap between them and the competition.

Re: Uber Posts $708M Loss as Finance Head Leaves

#35

Post by bitJericho »

randomdrake wrote: post #15

Great example of how the headlines can drive a story more than the story itself. While Uber may have posted $708 million of losses, it is also up 18% in revenue from last quarter. That's 3.4 billion dollars in the first quarter of 2017. Uber is making approximately $1,500,000 per hour. I dislike Uber as much as the next person for ethical reasons, but a company that can achieve millions of dollars in revenue per day,…

I buy gas from across the street for 3 dollars a gallon. I sell it for 2. I sell 1.5 million dollars an hour. My business is doing great.

Re: Uber Posts $708M Loss as Finance Head Leaves

#36

Post by mrep »

dmix wrote: post #33
ProfessorLayton wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$1,500,000 per hour in revenue sounds great. Spending $1,872,000 per hour to bring in $1,500,000 per hour sounds less great. I understand that it takes money to make money, but this is one of the most extreme cases in a business.

People were saying the same thing about Twitter forever and turned out to be largely wrong. I have a feeling the company making billions of dollars in revenue has some smart people who figured out how not to mess this up. But who knows maybe Uber will stop being the dominate taxi / self-driving car company globally over the next decade and mess it all up. Or not... but I doubt this large expenditure was done without…

> People were saying the same thing about Twitter forever and turned out to be largely wrong.

Twitter lost 456 million dollars in 2016 [1] and I don't remember them ever being profitable so i don't know how those people are wrong.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter

Re: Uber Posts $708M Loss as Finance Head Leaves

#37

Post by notyourwork »

dmix wrote: post #33
ProfessorLayton wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$1,500,000 per hour in revenue sounds great. Spending $1,872,000 per hour to bring in $1,500,000 per hour sounds less great. I understand that it takes money to make money, but this is one of the most extreme cases in a business.

People were saying the same thing about Twitter forever and turned out to be largely wrong. I have a feeling the company making billions of dollars in revenue has some smart people who figured out how not to mess this up. But who knows maybe Uber will stop being the dominate taxi / self-driving car company globally over the next decade and mess it all up. Or not... but I doubt this large expenditure was done without…

Are we talking about the same twitter? My understanding is they are not doing some well currently. Just because the doors are open for business doesn't mean said business is thriving.

Also, twitter is a platform that has exclusivity. Uber is easily replaceable with Lyft or a taxi service's app. Just because a friend is using Uber doesn't mean I have to. The same doesn't apply to twitter, the platform is the value. This is what kept and keeps twitter afloat, Uber on the other hand paved the way for a shift in the way we consume cars as a service.

Re: Uber Posts $708M Loss as Finance Head Leaves

#38

Post by sib »

nullnilvoid wrote: post #20
bpodgursky wrote: post #13

$708 million loss, narrowed from $991 million last quarter 18% growth from last quarter (note: that's not Y/Y. this is ridiculously fast, given the huge base.) 708mm loss / 3.4 billion in revenue is only about 20% under even. And what most people miss, is that the 3.4 billion is the 30% cut Uber takes from a ride. Prices don't have to rise 20% to break even, prices have to rise 6% (assuming no efficiency improvements…

> prices have to rise 6% (assuming no efficiency improvements via pool etc, which is frankly ridiculous) If Uber raises 6%, the revenue Uber will decrease. If you raise the price, simply there will be less rides because people will find alternatives such as Lyft, taxi, or even public transportations.

> If Uber raises [prices] 6%, the revenue Uber [receives] will decrease.

You are assuming facts not in evidence. If you don't know Uber's price elasticity of demand, you can't predict that. It is likely that the number of rides will decrease, but, if it decreases by less than ~6%, their total revenue will increase.

Re: Uber Posts $708M Loss as Finance Head Leaves

#39

Post by objclxt »

bpodgursky wrote: post #13

$708 million loss, narrowed from $991 million last quarter 18% growth from last quarter (note: that's not Y/Y. this is ridiculously fast, given the huge base.) 708mm loss / 3.4 billion in revenue is only about 20% under even. And what most people miss, is that the 3.4 billion is the 30% cut Uber takes from a ride. Prices don't have to rise 20% to break even, prices have to rise 6% (assuming no efficiency improvements…

> And what most people miss, is that the 3.4 billion is the 30% cut Uber takes from a ride. Prices don't have to rise 20% to break even, prices have to rise 6%

No, they have to rise by more than that. Your math is technically correct (a 6% rise gives you an extra $700 million), but you are assuming that the price increase goes entirely to Uber. There is no way Uber can increase prices by 6% and give none of that upside to their drivers - they would flee to platforms offering better terms (like Lyft).

If Uber was to be profitable this past quarter they wouldn't have needed an extra $700 million in fares, but an extra 2.3 billion - which is a 20% rise.

Re: Uber Posts $708M Loss as Finance Head Leaves

#40

Post by jpatokal »

dmix wrote: post #33
ProfessorLayton wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$1,500,000 per hour in revenue sounds great. Spending $1,872,000 per hour to bring in $1,500,000 per hour sounds less great. I understand that it takes money to make money, but this is one of the most extreme cases in a business.

People were saying the same thing about Twitter forever and turned out to be largely wrong. I have a feeling the company making billions of dollars in revenue has some smart people who figured out how not to mess this up. But who knows maybe Uber will stop being the dominate taxi / self-driving car company globally over the next decade and mess it all up. Or not... but I doubt this large expenditure was done without…

Um, Twitter is still not making a profit and their 2017 business plan seems to consist primarily of layoffs.
Post reply on HN