4 ms·

Uber and Airbnb have made money?

by datavirtue 4y ago

amanj41 4y ago
Airbnb had an adjusted EBITDA of ~$230m in Q1, so Airbnb has turned a profit once. Not sure about Uber
- spywaregorilla 4y ago
  Adjusted means you made a profit if you ignore the fact that you made a loss.
  - Oxidation 4y ago
    Especially when servicing interest on debt (the I) isn't nearly as cheap as it used to be, unless the debt is locked in at a lower interest rate. Even if it is, but the term ends, a rosy-sounding EBITDA can turn ugly.
- ctchocula 4y ago
  Uber has been adjusted EBITDA profitable since 2021 and is close to GAAP profitability (might reach it this year or 2024).
- zinekeller 4y ago
  "Adjusted" EBITDA is frankly a sign that the company is making "magic" (read: misrepresentations) on its balance sheets. It's not surprising that Airbnb, Lyft and Uber are the only prominent companies using them.
kurthr 4y ago
They did for the early investors >:^P
rtpg 4y ago
my understanding is that Uber has a knob they can turn to just be profitable, and have chosen not to because they keep on wanting to grow and have access to more money.
- lumost 4y ago
  Many firms have been saying this for a long time… it’s unclear how easy it is to turn this knob. Investors seem to be demanding cash returns from mega caps now. At a minimum - if Uber has to raise money again, we’d expect it to be in worse terms.
  - danielmarkbruce 4y ago
    Folks who have spent time working in SV tech companies know that for many companies (AirBnB is absolutely one) there is a knob which can be turned. The cost structures have a lot... fat. The spending in many of these places is beyond belief.
    - lumost 4y ago
      Sure, but twitter is somewhat of a litmus test for this. When twitter started trying to cut fat they also crashed their revenue. Organizations love to accumulate fat, I don’t think anyone really has a clear idea of what is necessary fat and what isn’t. Your best bet would be getting consultants in to figure it out… who probably don’t know a heck of a lot about running a tech company.
      - danielmarkbruce 4y ago
        Additional tests will be Salesforce, Twilio, Docusign, Facebook - all have promised efficiency from here on out. My guess is they'll all start putting up very good numbers. Somewhat fair point. But there are entire areas (like product initiatives) that are extremely speculative and just pet projects which can be cut at many places. Google for example wasted a billion here or a billion there like it was nothing, on things that made little sense, years ago.
        airstrike 4y ago
        Salesforce has >30% EBITDA margins and annual revenue growth of 10-15%. They're massively profitable... if anything they are the aspirational benchmark nearly everyone else is trying to reach

Uber and Airbnb have made money?

amanj41 4y ago

Airbnb had an adjusted EBITDA of ~$230m in Q1, so Airbnb has turned a profit once. Not sure about Uber

spywaregorilla 4y ago
Adjusted means you made a profit if you ignore the fact that you made a loss.
- Oxidation 4y ago
  Especially when servicing interest on debt (the I) isn't nearly as cheap as it used to be, unless the debt is locked in at a lower interest rate. Even if it is, but the term ends, a rosy-sounding EBITDA can turn ugly.
ctchocula 4y ago
Uber has been adjusted EBITDA profitable since 2021 and is close to GAAP profitability (might reach it this year or 2024).
zinekeller 4y ago
"Adjusted" EBITDA is frankly a sign that the company is making "magic" (read: misrepresentations) on its balance sheets. It's not surprising that Airbnb, Lyft and Uber are the only prominent companies using them.

kurthr 4y ago

They did for the early investors >:^P

rtpg 4y ago

my understanding is that Uber has a knob they can turn to just be profitable, and have chosen not to because they keep on wanting to grow and have access to more money.

lumost 4y ago
Many firms have been saying this for a long time… it’s unclear how easy it is to turn this knob. Investors seem to be demanding cash returns from mega caps now. At a minimum - if Uber has to raise money again, we’d expect it to be in worse terms.
- danielmarkbruce 4y ago
  Folks who have spent time working in SV tech companies know that for many companies (AirBnB is absolutely one) there is a knob which can be turned. The cost structures have a lot... fat. The spending in many of these places is beyond belief.
  - lumost 4y ago
    Sure, but twitter is somewhat of a litmus test for this. When twitter started trying to cut fat they also crashed their revenue. Organizations love to accumulate fat, I don’t think anyone really has a clear idea of what is necessary fat and what isn’t. Your best bet would be getting consultants in to figure it out… who probably don’t know a heck of a lot about running a tech company.
    - danielmarkbruce 4y ago
      Additional tests will be Salesforce, Twilio, Docusign, Facebook - all have promised efficiency from here on out. My guess is they'll all start putting up very good numbers. Somewhat fair point. But there are entire areas (like product initiatives) that are extremely speculative and just pet projects which can be cut at many places. Google for example wasted a billion here or a billion there like it was nothing, on things that made little sense, years ago.
      - airstrike 4y ago
        Salesforce has >30% EBITDA margins and annual revenue growth of 10-15%. They're massively profitable... if anything they are the aspirational benchmark nearly everyone else is trying to reach