Cars and Drivers

Uber Valuation Drops, Again -- WSJ

Douglas A. McIntyre

Published: April 26, 2019 4:52 am

Last Updated: January 6, 2020 5:13 am

Uber Technologies, the greatest of all unicorns, dropped its valuation, as the ride-sharing company begins a roadshow to sell its shares to the public. Part of the reason may be the collapse in the price of rival Lyft Inc. (NASDAQ: LYFT), which went public several weeks ago. Another may be its massive losses, which have caused investors to wonder if it can ever make money.

Lyft’s share price is down 28% since its IPO. Like Uber, it posted a huge valuation based on investments by venture capitalists. At one point, Uber had a private value of as much as $100 million. The Wall Street Journal reports that has gone much lower.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Uber:

… ratcheted down its target valuation to a range of about $80 billion to $90 billion for its initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter. The ride-hailing giant is seeking to price its shares between $44 and $50 apiece, the people said. It aims to raise $8 billion to $10 billion in the IPO, one of the people said. Uber had previously given documentation to holders of its convertible notes outlining a potential price of $48 to $55 a share, which would have been a valuation between $90 billion and $100 billion on a fully diluted basis.

Uber still faces the potential skepticism of investors on its early trading days. If the shares start to sell off and move down the way Lyft’s did, the valuation venture capitalists gave it may be over 25% too high.