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Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

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Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#81

Post by hash872 »

georgeecollins wrote: post #23

I don't know what to say about this because as a lifelong value investor I cannot accept the valuation of Uber based on it's earnings. But the same logic held me back from investing in Facebook and Google, which did not make any sense to me at the moment of their IPO. How do I decide what Uber's earnings will be in five years?

I can't speak as to what Uber's earnings will be 5 years from now, but I can recommend Stratechery by Ben Thompson as a way of understanding tech company's 'moats'. And how they're qualitatively different from moats enjoyed by other monopsonies in lower-tech eras

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#82

Post by mrep »

liquid153 wrote: post #77
nostromo wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's fairly rude to make them wait at all. They're not being paid while they're waiting for you.

1mn-2mn wait is rude? What world do you live in?

If you are downtown and set your pickup spot to a place that doesn't have a loading zone and thus they have to put their hazards on and block traffic, then yes.

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#84

Post by sexyflanders »

nostromo wrote: post #24
liquid153 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has happened to me, I was uber pissed. The Uber driver waited less no more than 2mns Max.

It's fairly rude to make them wait at all. They're not being paid while they're waiting for you.

It should be an option to pay for them to wait in a way that’s fair to the driver. There are valid reasons for a few minutes wait. For example, getting picked up from a train station in bad weather.

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#85

Post by MAGZine »

nostromo wrote: post #24
liquid153 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has happened to me, I was uber pissed. The Uber driver waited less no more than 2mns Max.

It's fairly rude to make them wait at all. They're not being paid while they're waiting for you.

Maybe i'm in an a/b pool, but uber charges me if I make them wait longer than 2 minutes.

So yes, they are being paid. And even so, it wouldn't be so much of a concern if uber just paid drivers fairly.

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#86

Post by munk-a »

sherlock_h wrote: post #31

Over the long run, at least in the U.S. it seems like Uber/Lyft are edging towards a comfortable duopoly. Usually their prices move in lockstep (each has insights into the other company's prices through email receipt intelligence, credit card intelligence, webscraping, etc.). And their services are fairly exchangeable. For either one to win there needs to be either a massive cost advantage or some sort of stickiness…

And this will last until... self-driving cars enter the picture and bankrupt them both.

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#87

Post by untog »

munk-a wrote: post #86
sherlock_h wrote: post #31

Over the long run, at least in the U.S. it seems like Uber/Lyft are edging towards a comfortable duopoly. Usually their prices move in lockstep (each has insights into the other company's prices through email receipt intelligence, credit card intelligence, webscraping, etc.). And their services are fairly exchangeable. For either one to win there needs to be either a massive cost advantage or some sort of stickiness…

And this will last until... self-driving cars enter the picture and bankrupt them both.

Given the amount Uber has spent on self driving cars, I doubt they'd let themselves get replaced.

Given the money the entire industry has spent on self driving cars and gotten little reward for, I don't think anyone is getting replaced for a very long time.

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#88

Post by dragonwriter »

Pyxl101 wrote: post #74
GCA10 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Harder than it seems. AmericanExpress had outsized market share in the corporate travel market for about 30 years, even though it never struck me as a superior product to Visa-based cards. Not sure who they hypnotized to establish that edge, but it became strangely durable.

It always seemed very strange to me that it's legal for company-expensed credit card purchases to generate individual, personal rewards for the card holders. (And these awards aren't even taxed?) Something feels underhanded about it, though I can't put my finger on it.

The theory of why normal credit card rewards aren't taxable is that they are a discount. OTOH, if it's a corporate expensed card or purchase, but the discount goes to the employee, it seems that either:

(1) the “reimbursement” for the full cost isn't all bona-fide reimbursement, since you are getting reimbursement for more than you paid after the discount, and therefore should be taxed like any other compensation from your employer, or

(2) The rewards you get in that case simply aren't discounts, and should be taxed as normal, but not employment compensation, income.

(These differ, because #1 has payroll tax implications that #2 does not, as well as the income tax implications.)

The fact that neither of these send to happen is either a legal loophole with no strong theory or just an administrative failure.

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#89

Post by mrep »

sherlock_h wrote: post #25
throwaway-1283 wrote: post #11

I don't think this is a reflection of Lyft taking market share...more likely that the ridesharing industry has just matured. I remember getting so much joy out of requesting an Uber back in the earlier days. Nowadays I get about as much joy out of Uber(pool) as using the bus, sometimes less because the wait time has increased so much.

There is definitely an element of the competition heating up. Lyft has been steadily gaining market shares in the U.S. over the past couple of months/years. Hovers around 30% to 35% now, depending on the source. https://www.recode.net/2018/12/12/18134882/lyft-uber-ride-ca...

Not surprising. I have both apps and since they both give you the price upfront, I just choose whichever one is cheaper assuming wait times are similar.

Re: Uber Revenue Growth Slows, Losses Persist as 2019 IPO Draws Near

#90

Post by deepVoid »

sherlock_h wrote: post #31

Over the long run, at least in the U.S. it seems like Uber/Lyft are edging towards a comfortable duopoly. Usually their prices move in lockstep (each has insights into the other company's prices through email receipt intelligence, credit card intelligence, webscraping, etc.). And their services are fairly exchangeable. For either one to win there needs to be either a massive cost advantage or some sort of stickiness…

I would not call it comfortable since both are bleeding money every year. In addition, Waymo, Cruise etc. are all trying hard to put robot taxi's on the road. When that day comes, it will be interesting.
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