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Uber Joins Lyft in Race to Tap Investors

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Re: Uber Joins Lyft in Race to Tap Investors

#52
For those saying this IPO is happening now due to market slowdown, Uber's CEO has been speaking of a 2019 IPO for a while[1]. I am not an investment banker, to me this seems far more pre-planned than a last minute rush before a heavy correction, no?

For those who do know the space well, how far ahead would one be able to plan to time this right to happen to coincide with the current trends in the market?

[1] https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-uber-ceo-says-company-could... , Aug 30, 2017

Re: Uber Joins Lyft in Race to Tap Investors

#53
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand how this brings insight into "additional factors" in their "valuation", as the article mentions nothing about their valuation, just that they have efficient batteries.

Many people think of Tesla as a car company, when actually it's an energy company. Other car manufacturers are not.

I think Tesla is actually a tech company, where 'tech' refers to 'technology', not just software. They have developed a whole bunch of cool new tech, and they use it to build cool new products. The specific flavour of tech and product is window dressing to the core methodology.

Re: Uber Joins Lyft in Race to Tap Investors

#54
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many people think of Tesla as a car company, when actually it's an energy company. Other car manufacturers are not.

Reminds me of a quote I once heard (but can't find now) about Ford or GM, that they aren't an automobile company but rather a finance/loan company.

Kind of like big mining companies aren't actually mining companies, they're finance and investment companies. The actual mining is done by contractors three or four tiers down in the contract stack.

Re: Uber Joins Lyft in Race to Tap Investors

#55
$120 Billion valuation on $2.6 billion in annual revenue? Seems like a pretty steep price to me!

Note: I believe that $2.6B figure that I found does not include the amount of ride revenue that goes to the drivers, so maybe that's why the valuation is so high. If you add back in the drivers share of the revenue, maybe the valuation isn't that crazy.

Re: Uber Joins Lyft in Race to Tap Investors

#56

I'd confidently state that I love capitalism, but I'm not very happy with the idea that Uber could turn 17 billion dollars into 7 billion dollars and then hand the bag to retail investors. The thing I tell myself is that the money is all going to the same place anyway. Yeah, Uber is going to cash out and bomb from their IPO price, and everyone who buys will lose. But anyone who would buy Uber is going to do any numbe…

By that article, Uber took in $17+ billion dollars, showed losses of $10+ billion, and created a company worth an estimated $70+ billion. Even give them a 75% haircut from there and they still broke even once you cash cow the company, harvest the tax losses in future years, and eventually wind it down. I'm not buying in at $72B, but it's not clear at all that they've destroyed investor value nor certain that they wil…

Sort of looks like the VCs are pumping up valuations and then looking to the public markets to then dump their investments. I can't remember who said this first, but I think it's accurate.

Lot of crooked unscrupulous shit going on in the financial sector! Uber is a legit "unicorn," but $120 billion dollars??? This is the dot com bubble all over again. I know this isn't technically illegal, but it should be.

Re: Uber Joins Lyft in Race to Tap Investors

#57

I'd confidently state that I love capitalism, but I'm not very happy with the idea that Uber could turn 17 billion dollars into 7 billion dollars and then hand the bag to retail investors. The thing I tell myself is that the money is all going to the same place anyway. Yeah, Uber is going to cash out and bomb from their IPO price, and everyone who buys will lose. But anyone who would buy Uber is going to do any numbe…

This man speaks the truth right here!

Re: Uber Joins Lyft in Race to Tap Investors

#58

So are these companies rushing to IPO before a 'potential' recession occurs? Does anyone else not feel confident about this? It seems fear driven and not very calculated. Maybe I'm missing the bigger picture..

The prep and planning required for these IPOs were done months before these market drops happened.

That is a meaningless statement. The decision to prepare is distinct from the decision to commit. It's farcical to imagine that these overvalued companies are just filing on sheer momentum. Doing it now is an affirmative decision. Also, the drop began two months ago and the signs of volatility where there in January.

Re: Uber Joins Lyft in Race to Tap Investors

#59

$120 Billion valuation on $2.6 billion in annual revenue? Seems like a pretty steep price to me! Note: I believe that $2.6B figure that I found does not include the amount of ride revenue that goes to the drivers, so maybe that's why the valuation is so high. If you add back in the drivers share of the revenue, maybe the valuation isn't that crazy.

> $120 Billion valuation on $2.6 billion in annual revenue?

That number is quarterly revenue (and as you say does not include the share the driver takes)

Re: Uber Joins Lyft in Race to Tap Investors

#60

Decades ago companies competed in being the first to bring the product to the market, so enough prospects would try theirs first and become loyal users. These days the competition is about being the first to sell your story to the retail investor before the hype cools down and people get disillusioned about the entire business model (see GRPN, SNAP, etc). I'm truly wondering how sustainable is this and how hard the m…

Only a small fraction of IPO shares are allocated to retail investors. If anyone is selling a story it's to the institutional investors who buy most of the shares.
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