Uber opens at $42 per share • Hacker News Board

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#271

Post by ajiang » Fri, May 10, 2019, 9:04 PM UTC

exogeny wrote: post #101

sytelus wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon didn't turned profit for first 5 years or so after IPO. If you go back 15 years down the history, you will find many articles/analysis doubting if they would ever become profitable. However no one doubted that online retail was the future and brick-and-mortar stores will increasingly become part of the history. I see a lot of parallels here. No one doubts anymore that app-based cabs are the future and traditio…

This is a foolish viewpoint. Amazon got immense economies of scale as they grew, Uber’s costs scale alongside it. It drives me crazy that so many people equivocate them.

I think you can make the same point without calling it foolish.

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#272

Post by rhcom2 » Fri, May 10, 2019, 9:04 PM UTC

criddell wrote: post #93

bfrog wrote: 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…

Uber Eats?

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#273

Post by Yuval_Halevi » Fri, May 10, 2019, 9:05 PM UTC

Uber and Lyft IPO is the worst thing that can happen to their users.

Uber will need to become more profitable so they will raise their prices and the users will be the ones who suffer from this IPO

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#274

Post by hunter23 » Fri, May 10, 2019, 9:09 PM UTC

stokedmartin wrote: post #259

hunter23 wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.)

Till such time those 72b shares do not become public, are these technically still referred to as options? Also, for ex-uber employees who still own shares, how does one restrict them to not sell those in the public market assuming they are part of the 72b or will they only be part of the 8b?

No, options are not the same as shares. Options are a contract that allows you to buy or sell shares at a certain price.

The employees are part of the 72 billion. All employees (current or ex) have a lock up period after the IPO where they are not allowed to sell.

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#275

Post by greenyoda » Fri, May 10, 2019, 9:10 PM UTC

jimmywanger wrote: post #208

drocer88 wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Market is up today (as of 3:20pm EST). Über and Lyft are down > 6% . SV Unicorn hype aside, there's not a big moat around running a jitney cab company.

Hmmm. Never heard that term before. I usually hear "gypsy cab".

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jitney

> Definition of jitney

> 1 : an unlicensed taxicab

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#276

Post by criddell » Fri, May 10, 2019, 9:10 PM UTC

_bxg1 wrote: post #268

freewilly1040 wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dubious utility? It's a massive improvement over cabs for the consumer.

Is it though? Cabs have apps now. What makes them different? If the answer is the price, well, that price is unsustainable and denies thousands of people a living wage.

The answer isn't price (IMHO). It's the quality of service. I'm mostly talking about better cars, friendlier drivers, and rides that show up when they say they will.

I haven't used a cab app. Are the taxi apps similar to Uber and Lyft's where it identifies the car and driver and you can track the location of that car on a map? Do drivers and passengers rate each other?

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#277

Post by tuna-piano » Fri, May 10, 2019, 9:13 PM UTC

atemerev wrote: post #38

ufmace wrote: post #11

Did I miss something? I thought Uber was still a long way from being profitable and had no plausible plan for how to become profitable.

These days, being profitable is considered harmful. More profits = more taxes. Getting virtual “profits” into stock appreciation and structuring revenues to pay nearly zero tax is the name of the game today, and only big corporations can afford it. It is small and medium businesses that pick the bill.

Same reason I requested $0 salary this year...

Seriously, this argument doesn't make sense to me? How can them spending more money help them make more because of taxes?

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#278

Post by gniv » Fri, May 10, 2019, 9:14 PM UTC

asdff wrote: post #215

atemerev wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These days, being profitable is considered harmful. More profits = more taxes. Getting virtual “profits” into stock appreciation and structuring revenues to pay nearly zero tax is the name of the game today, and only big corporations can afford it. It is small and medium businesses that pick the bill.

Uber isn't rolling profit back into the company like Amazon or others do, they are literally loosing money on every ride. There's no profit to hide from the taxman.

> Uber isn't rolling profit back into the company like Amazon

They kind of are. It’s just a matter of timing. They are rolling future profits, bankrolled by VC.

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#279

Post by fooker » Fri, May 10, 2019, 9:15 PM UTC

baq wrote: post #256

fooker wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

wait what? facebook had paying users AND advertisement targets AND an ability for the paying user to precisely target an ad at the product AND an extremely powerful incentive for the product to not move to competition (product's friend network). out of the above uber has only paying users - who are ready to jump ship to competition for a penny per mile.

Yes, nuance.

Just saying Facebook had 10x the user as Uber is meaningless.

Re: Uber opens at $42 per share

#280

Post by b_tterc_p » Fri, May 10, 2019, 9:15 PM UTC

rwmj wrote: post #239

justinv wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. MS has around 27MM shares out there for stabilization pot IPO. Once they blow through that, it's the market's game.

Wouldn't they buy shares to raise the price, indicating they need money rather than shares?

Yes