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Uber Technologies Inc said on Wednesday that growth in bookings for its ride-hailing and delivery services rose 6 percent in the latest quarter, the third quarter in a row that growth has remained in the single digits after double-digit growth for all of last year.
The San Francisco-based firm lost $1.07 billion for the three months ending Sept. 30, a 20 percent increase from the previous quarter but down 27 percent from a year ago, when the company posted its biggest publicly reported quarterly loss on the heels of the departure of Uber co-founder and former Chief Executive Travis Kalanick.
Uber is seeking to expand in freight hauling, food delivery and electric bikes and scooters as growth in its now decade-old ride-hailing business dwindles. The company, valued at $76 billion, faces pressure to show it can still grow enough to become profitable and satisfy investors in an initial public offering planned for some time next year. ADVERTISEMENT
Its adjusted loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization was $592 million, down from $614 million last quarter and $1.02 billion a year ago.
We may lose money on every transaction but we'll make it up in volume?
But seriously, I find it interesting there was absolutely no mention of their plans with self-driving vehicles.
(Score: 4, Informative) by bob_super on Friday November 16 2018, @07:23PM
They charge less than other people-movers, essentially providing the service at a loss, to undermine them and end up being the only solution (at which point they'll triple the price to be profitable).
They can do this because VCs are giving them the money to do it, hoping to cash in in phase 2. People taking Ubers are travelling on VC money, the more rides, the more loss (not a lot per ride, just enough to be the cheapest).
The goal is to end up a monopoly before running out of VC/IPO cash. Of course Lyft is doing the same, without the Sulfur smell, so it's not a certainty. Their best asset is being so close to IPO that the VCs don't just run across the street.
I don't know how much the self-driving cars and their army of lawyers are costing them, but I'm sure the C-suite is also padding their bank accounts nicely, just in case the IPO doesn't pan out.