[Tyga11]

They collect revenue from every ride and the Uber drivers are not employees so they don't have any overhead there.

How are they not printing money? What is the overhead besides the software? Never understood this

[vreihen16]

Insurance, legal department fighting regulations in many locales, executive pay, etc.....

[Tommy-G]

Accountants can make the books show anything they want for whatever their agendas may be

[BMWILUVU]

Grow too big too fast without consolidation, you end up with too much inefficiency in the business structure.

[2000cs]

Expenses (marketing, new market entry, regulation management, software development, etc) have always been far ahead of revenue for Uber. It isn’t clear to me that the revenue will support the cost in a steady state.

If you’re interested in the company, its history and want to infer about growth, revenue and costs, read the book, “Super Pumped”

[tdott]

They are a public company, go look at their annual report.

[Redd]

Originally Posted by Tyga11

They collect revenue from every ride and the Uber drivers are not employees so they don't have any overhead there.

How are they not printing money? What is the overhead besides the software? Never understood this

For all these ride sharing apps, cost of customer acquisition is extremely high. Uber has basically been commodititized by its competitors. Customers typically have multiple apps installed and will use whichever is cheaper at the moment in time. All these promos/discounts/offers are funded by Uber and that's where the cash burn is.

In my part of the world, Uber fought and lost to Grab, a regional startup here. They sold their stake to Grab few years back, but even Grab is not profitable til today despite being the major ride share player in the region.

Compounding to that problem, easy money is drying up. Starting Q2 this year, VCs wised up and stopped looking for potential and started looking for profitability. So all these companies that were riding their unicorn status are getting a lot less funding now.

[phat_joe]

Originally Posted by tdott

They are a public company, go look at their annual report.

Agreed. I saved them the trouble.

OP, see p.79 on the attached. Note that some costs are really high. See p.97 for more detail.

[dradernh]

Simple...Uber has never charged enough for its service. Many companies suffer from this problem, and for a variety of reasons.

[Tyga11]

Originally Posted by dradernh

Simple...Uber has never charged enough for its service. Many companies suffer from this problem, and for a variety of reasons.

Interesting...care to elaborate more?

[allinon72]

Originally Posted by dradernh

Simple...Uber has never charged enough for its service. Many companies suffer from this problem, and for a variety of reasons.

Hmm, from a customer's perspective, I've never gotten out of an Uber and thought I got a tremendous deal, especially after tip.

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by Tyga11

Interesting...care to elaborate more?

I'm not sure what else there is to say. If Uber charged enough to be profitable, it would then be...profitable. Or, more likely, on a faster track out of business.

Just my 2¢, of course.

Originally Posted by allinon72

Hmm, from a customer's perspective, I've never gotten out of an Uber and thought I got a tremendous deal, especially after tip.

And therein lies Uber's most fundamental and unavoidable problem: its service is not (always) worth it to its customers, even at money-losing rates.

[shawnhayes]

Originally Posted by allinon72

Hmm, from a customer's perspective, I've never gotten out of an Uber and thought I got a tremendous deal, especially after tip.

Then why didn't you take a Taxi?

Shawn

[Tyga11]

Originally Posted by dradernh

I'm not sure what else there is to say. If Uber charged enough to be profitable, it would then be...profitable. Or, more likely, on a faster track out of business.

Just my 2¢, of course.


And therein lies Uber's most fundamental and unavoidable problem: its service is not (always) worth it to its customers, even at money-losing rates.

So why do you think they don't charge enough?

[TheWatchGuy]

they are only "losing" money just like all the big companies do everything they can to show losses to avoid paying taxes.

[LivingInSalt]

Originally Posted by TheWatchGuy

they are only "losing" money just like all the big companies do everything they can to show losses to avoid paying taxes.

yes, publicly traded companies just LOVE to post losses quarter after quarter

[vreihen16]

Uber is nothing more than a pay version of mom's taxi, for basement-dwellers who never had the ambition to get their own drivers license and car.

In case you're not old enough to remember, Uber and other RIDE SHARE apps started out as a way for people in Silicon Valley to find other people to car pool with. It was NEVER about money...until someone started abusing it and morphed it into a giant unregulated taxi service.....

[allinon72]

Originally Posted by shawnhayes

Then why didn't you take a Taxi?

Shawn

I didn't say Uber wasn't still the best option in certain situations, just never thought I got a good value after the ride. It was the least bad option, and that doesn't always translate to customer satisfaction.

[Tyga11]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

Uber is nothing more than a pay version of mom's taxi, for basement-dwellers who never had the ambition to get their own drivers license and car.

In case you're not old enough to remember, Uber and other RIDE SHARE apps started out as a way for people in Silicon Valley to find other people to car pool with. It was NEVER about money...until someone started abusing it and morphed it into a giant unregulated taxi service.....

That's my opinion too. Every time I'm in an Uber the person always talks about how they love making their own schedule, waking up on their own terms, etc.

It's such a mindless job for people in life who have no ambition. I also get a kick out of when they ask for a tip...the tip is included in the Uber fee

[Tyga11]

Originally Posted by allinon72

I didn't say Uber wasn't still the best option in certain situations, just never thought I got a good value after the ride. It was the least bad option, and that doesn't always translate to customer satisfaction.

I've never had a bad Uber experience so going to disagree with you....

[iminhell1]

Originally Posted by LivingInSalt

yes, publicly traded companies just LOVE to post losses quarter after quarter

*year after year
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/c...et-income-loss


But time is always an equaling factor. Just a matter of how much you want to spend for it to equal out.

[allinon72]

Originally Posted by Tyga11

I've never had a bad Uber experience so going to disagree with you....

Folks, is it possible to have a discussion involving a little nuance? I never said I had a bad experience either. I said I never left an Uber feeling like I got a great value.