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Uber Q3 Results

investor.uber.com

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Re: Uber Q3 Results

#71

Post by greggman2 »

henrikschroder wrote: post #59
ganitarashid wrote: post #17

Having new “one-time” charges every quarter means those are not one-time charges. They’re part of the business, which means the business doesn’t work. One of Ubers biggest problems is that they have zero brand loyalty. For a company that sells a utility (get me, or my food, from A to B) rather than an experience (like a cool vacation in a unique mansion), I will always pick the cheapest option. Whether that’s Uber or…

> Uber has only made finding the ride more efficient but it has not made the actual ride itself more efficient. Back when Uber was new and everyone in SF was exclaiming how awesome it was and disruptive, one of the major taxi companies in Stockholm launched a new version of their app that basically had a big button going "I want a taxi to my location now", and you pressed it, and you got a "Hey, your taxi will arrive…

It's not just the app that makes Uber, Lyft, Grab extra better than cabs. It's that unlike cabs they can scale with demand. Cabs can't have enough drivers and cars to cover peak demand or they'd run out of money from expenses. Those others can as when there is peak demand more drivers will volunteer to work.

Re: Uber Q3 Results

#72

Post by 1123581321 »

MuffinFlavored wrote: post #64
ganitarashid wrote: post #17

Having new “one-time” charges every quarter means those are not one-time charges. They’re part of the business, which means the business doesn’t work. One of Ubers biggest problems is that they have zero brand loyalty. For a company that sells a utility (get me, or my food, from A to B) rather than an experience (like a cool vacation in a unique mansion), I will always pick the cheapest option. Whether that’s Uber or…

> I will always pick the cheapest option. My friend's sister got hospitalized after her Uber driver ran a red light because they were not privy to traffic queues most normal people would have caught on to (like stopping when a light is turning red) I will gladly spend a couple extra bucks the ~20 times I need to Uber a year so that I am not getting into a screaming metal death trap with an unfit driver.

It’s not clear what you are spending extra money on or how you are evaluating driver aptitude. What about Uber’s driver requirements doesn’t work for you?

Re: Uber Q3 Results

#73

Post by Waterluvian »

countryqt30 wrote: post #66

Warren Buffett famously said: "When you read EBITDA, you should think BULLSHIT". The only reliable metrics are EBIT (if you precisely know the debt and tax situation of the company, which is usually laid open in the reports), and NET PROFIT. Remember just 1 month ago, when WeWork tried to FRAUD everyone with their "we invented our own EBITDA"-metric, which they called 'EBIT adjusted for consciousness, because we sell…

What the frick is consciousness?

Re: Uber Q3 Results

#74

Post by lhorie »

cavisne wrote: post #40
ganitarashid wrote: post #17

Having new “one-time” charges every quarter means those are not one-time charges. They’re part of the business, which means the business doesn’t work. One of Ubers biggest problems is that they have zero brand loyalty. For a company that sells a utility (get me, or my food, from A to B) rather than an experience (like a cool vacation in a unique mansion), I will always pick the cheapest option. Whether that’s Uber or…

At least for me uber has huge brand loyalty, it’s sitting in the dock of my iPhone. If I need to go somewhere, or get home, Uber has never let me down. Likewise with food delivery, I certainly have been let down on that but Uber does the best job of letting me track the order and get a refund if needed. Sure Lyft is an alternative, I have it on my phone but simply never use it. It’s incorrect that nothing has changed…

> One of Ubers biggest problems is that they have zero brand loyalty

> At least for me uber has huge brand loyalty, it’s sitting in the dock of my iPhone

Hear hear. It feels to me that brand loyalty arguments are really opinions being extrapolated to the rest of the population. For example, one can reasonably argue airlines don't command any brand loyalty for the average traveler and how they are in a race to the bottom, yet many people will readily tell you how much they hate X airline or how they love Y airline. One could say the same of hotels, shampoos, socks, what have you. There always are those that don't care for the brands, and those that do.

Re: Uber Q3 Results

#75

Post by icotyl »

Waterluvian wrote: post #73
countryqt30 wrote: post #66

Warren Buffett famously said: "When you read EBITDA, you should think BULLSHIT". The only reliable metrics are EBIT (if you precisely know the debt and tax situation of the company, which is usually laid open in the reports), and NET PROFIT. Remember just 1 month ago, when WeWork tried to FRAUD everyone with their "we invented our own EBITDA"-metric, which they called 'EBIT adjusted for consciousness, because we sell…

What the frick is consciousness?

That's not an actual quote, FYI. They peddled something called "community-adjusted EBITDA."

Re: Uber Q3 Results

#76

Post by ganitarashid »

mikemotherwell wrote: post #62
henrikschroder wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Uber has only made finding the ride more efficient but it has not made the actual ride itself more efficient. Back when Uber was new and everyone in SF was exclaiming how awesome it was and disruptive, one of the major taxi companies in Stockholm launched a new version of their app that basically had a big button going "I want a taxi to my location now", and you pressed it, and you got a "Hey, your taxi will arrive…

There are way more positives than that: # No money changes hands, so safer for drivers. # No payment is made in the vehicle, so faster exit times. # Uber records all trips, so easier to work out costs to expense. # Uber uses any credit card, so your boss can pay for your ride without the need for separate expensing. # Driver and passenger are tracked, so there it is easy to find who did what. There are a lot of rape…

Those are all great things. And all of them are done by the competitors. In Europe I use MyTaxi, same thing as Uber but much nicer cars

Re: Uber Q3 Results

#77

Post by ganitarashid »

pbreit wrote: post #65
ganitarashid wrote: post #17

Having new “one-time” charges every quarter means those are not one-time charges. They’re part of the business, which means the business doesn’t work. One of Ubers biggest problems is that they have zero brand loyalty. For a company that sells a utility (get me, or my food, from A to B) rather than an experience (like a cool vacation in a unique mansion), I will always pick the cheapest option. Whether that’s Uber or…

Much of your post is wrong. Would need to evaluate the one-time charges to determine if they actually would be ongoing. Simply having some one-time charges doesn't mean they will necessarily be perpetual. In fact, the vast majority of riders have a preferred option even without the frequent rider incentives. This is even starker on the driver side. The advent of pooling and continuing improvement absolutely have had…

Once we have robo drivers everyone will have them. If Uber survives until that day, it will have no advantage over a localized competitor like Bobs Taxis with robo drivers.

Re: Uber Q3 Results

#78

Post by mikemotherwell »

ganitarashid wrote: post #76
mikemotherwell wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are way more positives than that: # No money changes hands, so safer for drivers. # No payment is made in the vehicle, so faster exit times. # Uber records all trips, so easier to work out costs to expense. # Uber uses any credit card, so your boss can pay for your ride without the need for separate expensing. # Driver and passenger are tracked, so there it is easy to find who did what. There are a lot of rape…

Those are all great things. And all of them are done by the competitors. In Europe I use MyTaxi, same thing as Uber but much nicer cars

Could not agree more. There are lots of things, easily copied, that make the Uber app great, not just the ride. The question longer terms becomes who continues to get rides, and why?

IMHO, ubiquity, especially when traveling, will ultimately be the winning move.

Re: Uber Q3 Results

#79

Post by ganitarashid »

ngoel36 wrote: post #61
ganitarashid wrote: post #17

Having new “one-time” charges every quarter means those are not one-time charges. They’re part of the business, which means the business doesn’t work. One of Ubers biggest problems is that they have zero brand loyalty. For a company that sells a utility (get me, or my food, from A to B) rather than an experience (like a cool vacation in a unique mansion), I will always pick the cheapest option. Whether that’s Uber or…

> Uber has only made finding the ride more efficient but it has not made the actual ride itself more efficient. Driver cost per trip = Driver cost per hour / Driver utilization. By making finding the ride more efficient, Uber meaningfully increases driver utilization, decreasing driver cost per trip.

Apparently the decrease hasn’t been enough to have a positive impact on Uber financials

Re: Uber Q3 Results

#80

Post by ganitarashid »

dclusin wrote: post #58
ganitarashid wrote: post #17

Having new “one-time” charges every quarter means those are not one-time charges. They’re part of the business, which means the business doesn’t work. One of Ubers biggest problems is that they have zero brand loyalty. For a company that sells a utility (get me, or my food, from A to B) rather than an experience (like a cool vacation in a unique mansion), I will always pick the cheapest option. Whether that’s Uber or…

I use Uber and don't have any inclination to switch because the price difference is negligible. I also Uber to the airport maybe 1-2 times a year. So it's rarely used and there's little benefit to switching. Why change?

It’s not that you want to switch. It’s that you wouldn’t care if you did.
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