Live data from Hacker News

Uber opens at $42 per share

techcrunch.com

181–190 of 470 posts

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#181
post #55

According to this article, stock was valued internally at $49/share in 2016 , so anyone joining in the last three years will not have enjoyed any sort of rocket-ship growth. https://news.yahoo.com/uber-employees-may-not-partying-15171...

> anyone joining in the last three years will not have enjoyed any sort of rocket-ship growth

Uber was also somewhat unique among unicorns in uniformly blocking its employees from selling shares on the secondary markets.

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#182
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I duno, buying stuff online seemed like the way of the future at the time IMO. When, how much and etc was just a matter of timing.

Doesn't ride sharing seem like the way of the future in your opinion?

Not necessarily.

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#183

This is unfortunate for many of the rank and file Uber employees but it’s good news for the stock market in general. It’s showing we’re not in a tech bubble and companies are still going to be valued based on how strong their business case is.

If that were true, a company losing as much as Uber wouldn’t have been able to IPO at all. I don’t see any case where Uber will be decently profitable. No self driving cars won’t save them.

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#184
post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The market cap (valuation) is the value of one share times the number of outstanding shares (those part of the IPO but also all the existing ones). $8B is the amount of capital raised during the IPO.

but when you buy a share, you are part of only the 8B thats being raised with the other 180 million shares, or do you have a small part of the whole 80~b valuation?

There are 80 billion dollars worth of shares that exist. However only 8 billion of those shares were released for the public markets. The remaining 72 billion dollars worth of shares are held outside of the public markets (insiders, vcs, the company itself, etc.)

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#185
post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facebook was also profitable and had about 10x the number of users compared to Uber pre IPO https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2019/04/22/ub...

Uber has paying users. Facebook had advertisement targets. Doesn't make too much sense to conflate the two.

Wait until drivers can make money by having in-ride advertising screens.

(I kid.)

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#186
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's insane how heavy the retail investor scene is right now. Everyone and their grandma is an expert on tech stocks it seems.

When your shoeshine person gives you trading tips..

Fixed that for you : when your Uber driver gives you trading tips...

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#188
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With the burn rate uber has, it'll be bankrupt in < 2 years. There are no other suckers to buy in after the public.

I've never understood why so many people were/are so bullish on Uber. I understand that ride hailing is a big deal, but it doesn't feel like it's that hard to launch a new ride hailing company. I'm basing that opinion on what I've seen in my city. When Uber and Lyft left Austin, there were lots of alternatives that had existed or popped up to fill the space. Aside from brand recognition, what does Uber have that the…

> When Uber and Lyft left Austin, there were lots of alternatives that had existed or popped up to fill the space.

I tried to use one or two of those alternatives. Setup was a pain and I ended up taking a cab. I have at least one coworker who couldn't get a ride because he was in South Austin.

Additionally. if your company is only in one city, visitors have to know about, install, and setup a new app just so they can use you; it's just as easy for them to take a cab. Last time I needed a ride in DC, I used the Lyft app that was already on my phone. There was no friction in being in a different city.

Maybe there was a local alternative in DC, but who's going to look up local ride sharing companies and install yet another app when the app they already use at home already works? Even hailing a cab is easier than installing a new app for one or two rides while you're in a new city.

Uber and Lyft have network effects.

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#189
post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Facebook was also profitable and had about 10x the number of users compared to Uber pre IPO https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2019/04/22/ub...

Uber has paying users. Facebook had advertisement targets. Doesn't make too much sense to conflate the two.

But you don't say directly which of the two is more desireable, the market unfortunately looks like it prefers advertising targets.

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#190
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I don't remember it well enough but Amazon's business model seemed a lot more ... tangible than Uber's don't you think?

As a heavy early Amazon and Uber user, I'd say not really. Both are pretty revolutionary and I certainly have been paying Uber a lot more than I was paying Amazon when they just sold books.

Yes you might be paying Uber more, I pay them about $300-$400 a month between our occasional use and my teenage son getting around (still cheaper than a car + insurance), but they lose money on each ride. Amazon has high fixed costs while they were building infrastructure. Uber has negative marginal profits.

Edit: negative marginal costs -> negative marginal profits.

Post reply on HN