Uber earned $3.1 billion but still ended up a staggering $1.01 billion in the hole in the first quarter of this year. The company also expects those kinds of losses to continue for the rest of the year. The main culprits behind the cash drain are the expansion of Uber Eats (which requires not only paying drivers, but restaurants too) into more cities and restaurant chains, as well as increased rideshare competition from Lyft and smaller companies.
The bright spot for technologists in the earnings report was the fact that the autonomous division (ATG) is not seeing any cuts or reductions as the company continues to stake its future on self-driving cars. The company recently relaunched its autonomous test fleet after a fatal accident and is continuing to make strides into a driverless pickup service.
This is Uber’s first earnings report since going public early this year. The stock price has gone down by 12% since that initial public offering (IPO), but after-hours trading today was positive as that massive $1.01 billion loss was exactly what the company had predicted when they initially went public. Uber’s revenue of $3.1 billion was better than the expected $3.04 billion, and the potential of the Uber Eats business reassured investors and led to the stock rally after the earnings were announced. Another good sign was the fact that Uber increased its monthly active consumers by 33% from last quarter’s 93 million.
Uber bookings during the quarter totaled $14.65 billion – meaning the company took in $14.65 billion before having to pay most of that out in driver payouts, taxes, and fees (but not tips), to wind up with $3.1 billion in revenue. Clearly, having drivers to pay is a major cash drain on the company, and many investors (and Uber itself) are pinning their hopes on the autonomous division to someday slash costs for the company by removing the expense of those human drivers.
While there is still no clear path to immediate profitability, Wall Street was very relieved by these numbers and the accuracy of the financial predictions made when the company went public early this year. How long that relief lasts for a company loosing $1 billion each quarter remains to be seen.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.