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Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

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Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#131

Post by AlexandrB »

asteli wrote: post #20
crunchlibrarian wrote: post #3

Uber’s sales are dramatically slowing even as the ride-hailing company is spending more to fuel global growth, particularly in its food delivery business. Revenue growth of 38 percent in the third quarter was almost half of what the growth rate was six months earlier, when the company was negotiating a $9.3 billion investment led by SoftBank Group Corp. Brutal opening paragraph

It's a strange world we live in when people speak poorly of 38% revenue growth. To me, that seems like a staggeringly huge growth rate. I looked up the numbers independently to double check, and yep. 63% revenue growth between Q2'17/Q2'18, 38% between Q3'17/Q3'18. If my own 9 year old company was growing 38% YOY I think I'd be very very happy.

It's easy to grow a company that's giving away $2 of goods/services for every $1 it charges. Until the money runs out that is.

Uber just has very deep pockets compared to other companies that used this model (e.g. Movie Pass).

Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#132

Post by manigandham »

Game_Ender wrote: post #113
guelo wrote: post #100

My "Uber sucks" story is that I left a jacket in the back seat of a car. I immediately tried to figure out how to call the driver but Uber decided they needed to make money off my misfortune. Not only did they charge me $15 to connect with the driver but they refused to let me message the driver directly, so what could have been a few minutes of time turned into a week long saga. Once I finally got a hold of the driv…

That is pretty shitty. It use to be that drivers had to return stuff on their own dime, I think the fee is supposed to pay them for that time.

Paying for the drivers to return something that you forgot is fair.

Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#133

Post by 121789 »

agrippanux wrote: post #117
Androider wrote: post #30

Uber doesn't have much of a moat or lock-in effect. I just switched one day from being a frequent Uber rider to 100% using Lyft, simply because I don't like Uber's behavior as a company. The prices are so close it doesn't make any practical difference to me. Anecdotally, among my friends I also see Lyft becoming the default, and sometimes price-checking with Uber. If Waymo or whoever came out tomorrow with a cheaper/…

I have found that the drivers for Lyft are much happier than the drivers for Uber. This holds true even when a driver drives for both services. I asked several drivers why this is and the universal response was that Lyft treats them better, so they are happier to pick up Lyft customers. I switched over to only using Lyft, but like the OP states, if Waymo came out tomorrow I'd probably switch to that.

I've had a slightly different experience. My Lyft drivers have definitely been happier and nicer, but most of them say that there is no real difference between the two services from a driver's point of view. I'm not sure how that could be the case.

Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#134

Post by manigandham »

guelo wrote: post #100

My "Uber sucks" story is that I left a jacket in the back seat of a car. I immediately tried to figure out how to call the driver but Uber decided they needed to make money off my misfortune. Not only did they charge me $15 to connect with the driver but they refused to let me message the driver directly, so what could have been a few minutes of time turned into a week long saga. Once I finally got a hold of the driv…

You were not charged to connect to anyone. That is a Returned Item Fee for drivers to give the item back to you: https://help.uber.com/riders/article/lost-item-return-fee-?n...

Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#135

Post by segmondy »

guelo wrote: post #107
iandanforth wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you elaborate on how they charged you $15 to call the driver? I don't use the app.

I didn't have the driver's phone number so I had to use the Uber app to contact the driver, that's when they charged me the $15.

Well, not having the driver's phone number is good. Can you imagine passengers calling drivers and harassing them for whatever reason? It will happen.

Should the driver drive for free to return your jacket?

What if the driver is already en route to another passenger and they told the passenger 5 minutes, and your cost will be additional 10 minutes. Do you think another passenger will understand and be forgiving that their ride is 10 minutes late because of your situation?

If you really think about all the reasons and complexity involved in just returning your jacket, it's not as simple. But then, what if you were traveling and forgot your luggage?

I dunno what the right answer is, what do you think?

Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#136

Post by dragonwriter »

asteli wrote: post #20
crunchlibrarian wrote: post #3

Uber’s sales are dramatically slowing even as the ride-hailing company is spending more to fuel global growth, particularly in its food delivery business. Revenue growth of 38 percent in the third quarter was almost half of what the growth rate was six months earlier, when the company was negotiating a $9.3 billion investment led by SoftBank Group Corp. Brutal opening paragraph

It's a strange world we live in when people speak poorly of 38% revenue growth. To me, that seems like a staggeringly huge growth rate. I looked up the numbers independently to double check, and yep. 63% revenue growth between Q2'17/Q2'18, 38% between Q3'17/Q3'18. If my own 9 year old company was growing 38% YOY I think I'd be very very happy.

> It's a strange world we live in when people speak poorly of 38% revenue growth.

Their losses are growing. Growing revenue is important as a route to profitability, but if you are heading the other way despite growing revenue...

Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#137

Post by ap3 »

agrippanux wrote: post #117
Androider wrote: post #30

Uber doesn't have much of a moat or lock-in effect. I just switched one day from being a frequent Uber rider to 100% using Lyft, simply because I don't like Uber's behavior as a company. The prices are so close it doesn't make any practical difference to me. Anecdotally, among my friends I also see Lyft becoming the default, and sometimes price-checking with Uber. If Waymo or whoever came out tomorrow with a cheaper/…

I have found that the drivers for Lyft are much happier than the drivers for Uber. This holds true even when a driver drives for both services. I asked several drivers why this is and the universal response was that Lyft treats them better, so they are happier to pick up Lyft customers. I switched over to only using Lyft, but like the OP states, if Waymo came out tomorrow I'd probably switch to that.

Have heard this from Lyft drivers too

Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#138

Post by dragonwriter »

rightbyte wrote: post #48
asteli wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a strange world we live in when people speak poorly of 38% revenue growth. To me, that seems like a staggeringly huge growth rate. I looked up the numbers independently to double check, and yep. 63% revenue growth between Q2'17/Q2'18, 38% between Q3'17/Q3'18. If my own 9 year old company was growing 38% YOY I think I'd be very very happy.

Exactly. If 38% is bad then I would like to know what Uber would need. On the other hand, they are operating at a loss so increasing revenue just means they spend more money paying costumers to ride with them or eat with them. Only founding would limit the revenue growth when you are giving away stuff.

> If 38% is bad then I would like to know what Uber would need.

Enough that their losses get smaller, rather than bigger.

Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#139

Post by meowface »

buzzdenver wrote: post #70
buzzdenver wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason I'm reluctant to use Lyft is that they do not say beforehand how much my ride is going to be. Edit: I stand corrected. Their UI mislead me because for airport rides the price is only shown after you hit a Confirm button, but that does not order the car as I thought, only takes you to the next screen.

I stand corrected. Their UI mislead me because the price is only shown after you hit a Confirm button, but that does not order the car as I thought, only takes you to the next screen.

I've been misled in the exact same way when using Lyft at airports. This has caused me to use Uber instead of Lyft at least once, until I figured it out.

Re: Uber Revenue Slows as Quarterly Loss Surges to $1.1B

#140

Post by tim333 »

beagle3 wrote: post #103
beaconstudios wrote: post #63

what the fuck is going on when a company can lose over $1 billion a quarter with no profit in sight and still receive further investment? Would they be hugely profitable if not for reinvestment in expansion and R&D?

I have a pet theory. These investors aren't investing their money, but someone else's money. If Uber folds now, these investors are to blame. But if Uber folds when the great crash (a-la 2001 and 2008), then, well, it's the entire economy - not the individual investor's fault. So they do whatever is needed to keep Uber with high book value until the big crash. What's $20B of other people's money to maintain your ster…

Social Capital's Chamath Palihapitiya had an interesting theory of VC overvaluation in his recent letter:

> [VCs] get paid to allocate other people’s (LPs) money, and they are smart enough to transfer the risk. For example, VCs habitually invest in one another’s companies during later rounds, bidding up rounds to valuations that allow for generous markups on their funds' performance. These markups, and the paper returns that they suggest, allow VCs to raise subsequent, larger funds, and to enjoy the management fees that those funds generate.

And he has more such analysis. It's quite a good read if you are interested in that stuff https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/socialcapital-annual-lett...

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