[graeme]

Uber and Lyft aren’t unprofitable at the margins in developed markets. They instead spend money expanding.

Back in 2016 Uber says it was profitable in places like California. Why would VC spend billions to permanently give free rides to Californians? It just doesn’t make any sense.

https://fortune.com/2016/06/16/uber-profitable-markets/

[learc83]

That’s not what Forbes has been saying about Uber since 2017. Look up more recent Uber article by them.

One accuses Uber of creative accounting to attempt to make the rideshare business look profitable.

[graeme]

I looked. The articles aren’t actually saying that the rides have a negative profit. Only that margins are low (which is quite plausible)

The article is consistent with both of our beliefs, i.e. it’s vague as to whether losses are intrinsic to rides, or whether margins are low + there are expansion costs.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/lensherman/2019/08/22/ubers-dub...