Airbnb, Lyft and Uber: when to call a it a comeback
As Uber and Lyft reached their public-market nadir in mid-March, you would have been forgiven for thinking they were heading under. If the markets are somewhat efficient, why else would America’s top two ride-hailing companies shed two-thirds and three-quarters of their value, respectively, in just over a month?
As we know now, both companies quickly recovered and have since regained much of their former value. The two public firms have guided for a sharply unprofitable Q2 2020, but investors appear content to see their improving results as evidence that the worst is behind them.
Airbnb is another company that could be out of the worst of it and shared two data points lately that cast positive light on its operations. Three of the most-famous American unicorns that were hit among the hardest by the pandemic, then, are coming back to a degree.
Today I want to parse the three companies’ public notes regarding their performance so we can track how their fortunes have changed. This will help us understand how much have things improved since their collective value reached all-time lows. And, it turns out that Uber and Lyft might have some good news for Airbnb shareholders.
Uber, Lyft
In mid-March, on the same day that Uber and Lyft shares came off their record lows, Uber told investors that “ride volume has gone down by as much as 60%-70% in recent days in the hardest-hit cities like Seattle,” but that it could get through “even in the worst-case scenario of rides down by 80% for the year” with enough cash to survive.
As Uber and Lyft reached their public-market nadir in mid-March, you would have been forgiven for thinking they were heading under. If the markets are somewhat efficient, why else would America’s top two ride-hailing companies shed two-thirds and three-quarters of their value, respectively, in just over a month? As we…
