The case for shorting Uber
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Making burgers is a low-margin business, too, yet McDonalds makes big $$$.
I don't know about Uber's future in particular or what it should be worth, but there is of course business potential in the idea of "eliminating the middle man" in the taxi business and offering that service at an unprecedented scale. And of course there is value in having an established base of drivers and customers and brand recognition; this is not easy to replicate for a new competitor.
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@mik said in The case for shorting Uber:
"The absurd proposition: Uber could use apps to reinvent taxis and turn a low-margin business into a high-margin business by sprinkling it with high-tech pixie dust. "
Indeed. I prefer taxis or Dial 7 cars.
Uber has a shot at operating an AI-driven fleet of taxis and make a significant dent on the cost of operating taxis (potentially far away in the future). This may not be sufficient to justify Uber's valuation, but it is a qualitative difference when compared to tradition taxi companies.
No, I am not expressing any opinion on Uber's valuation here, just addressing the comparison between Uber and traditional taxi companies.