UBER - Uber Technologies, Inc.

Uber Technologies (UBER) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

In the latest trading session, Uber Technologies (UBER) closed at $33.14, marking a -0.03% move from the previous day.

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  Marvell Technology (MRVL) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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  Livongo Health (LVGO) Stock Sinks As Market Gains: What You Should Know

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With SoftBank Rally, Masa Son Adds $12 Billion to Fortune

(Bloomberg) -- SoftBank Group Corp. founder Masayoshi Son has enjoyed a $12 billion renaissance the past three months, easing the pressure on his intricately engineered personal finances.With SoftBank Group’s shares surging to their highest price in two decades on Thursday, Son’s net worth hit $20 billion, more than doubling from $8.4 billion in March, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. It is the first time the 62-year-old’s fortune has topped $20 billion since January 2013, when the ranking first started tracking his wealth.The calculation excludes about $13.3 billion of his SoftBank Group shares pledged as collateral, representing some 40% of his stake, according to regulatory filings. A further 26% of his holding is lent out for a fee to different entities, mostly brokerages, likely to add liquidity to the market. Those shares are included in Son’s net worth calculation because he retains control over them.“For those lending shares, it’s about creating incremental revenue,” said Andrew Dyson, chief executive officer of the International Securities Lending Association. He noted such transactions ease the execution of trades, while enabling hedging and shorting strategies. “Lending out securities generates hundreds of millions of dollars in fees a quarter.”SoftBank Group shares have surged 133% from a low in March, taking the Tokyo-based company’s market value to $123 billion. While its Vision Fund lost almost $18 billion in the latest fiscal year as it wrote down the value of investments in WeWork, Uber Technologies Inc. and others, record equity buybacks and a series of wins have helped the stock recover. SoftBank Group sold part of its stake in T-Mobile US Inc. last month, and an online home-insurance provider that it’s backing more than doubled on its U.S. debut earlier in July.While Son’s strategies are common among the wealthy, market volatility earlier this year showed that personal stock pledges, coupled with a heavy debt load, can bring risks. The pandemic-induced turmoil that sank equities resulted in some margin calls. Some individuals had to stump up collateral to avoid defaulting, and others had to liquidate at depressed prices. Chinese mogul Lu Zhengyao and Markus Braun of German fintech company Wirecard AG offer extreme examples of the risks of pledging shares.Even stock lending worries some. Japan’s largest pension fund said in December it would stop the practice because it creates a vacuum in ownership when equities change hands.SoftBank Group’s buoyant share price means such risks are remote for now. Son’s pledged stock is valued at almost triple the loan amount he said in a May earnings presentation he has received, according to calculations by Bloomberg.SoftBank Group declined to comment on Son’s personal finances.(Updates stock move and market cap in fifth paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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  SoftBank’s $2.7 Billion June Buyback Pushes Stock to Highest in Two Decades

  Bloomberg
• AMJ Hall Global Reports On SoftBank Climbing To 20-Year Record High Of $68 Billion

  Business Wire

How Uber Buying Postmates Shakes Up the Food Delivery Space

Jul.09 -- Steve Jang, founder and managing partner at Kindred Ventures, discusses Uber Technologies Inc.’s deal to acquire Postmates Inc. and what it means for the delivery space going forward. He speaks on "Bloomberg Technology."

Uber Partners With London Ferry Business to Launch Boat-Based Commuter Service

Uber Technologies (NYSE: UBER) is launching a fixed-schedule commuter service in London after buying the naming rights to the Thames Clippers ferry service, which will be rebranded as Uber Boat by Thames Clippers. The new boating service would be yet another attempt to branch out into areas other than ridesharing, as declining numbers of fares caused Uber to report a $2.9 billion quarterly loss earlier this year. Uber has been leaning hard into meal delivery with its Uber Eats service that was carried along by the COVID-19 pandemic as restaurants were forced to rely on takeout and delivery to survive during the crisis.

This food-ordering app aims to help restaurants keep profits amid COVID-19

Seated Co-Founder & Executive Chairman Bo Peabody Yahoo Finance’s Zack Guzman to discuss how his food delivery app is taking on competitors like GrubHub and Uber Eats amid the coronavirus.

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  How Uber Buying Postmates Shakes Up the Food Delivery Space

  Bloomberg Technology
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  A glint of hope for India's food delivery market as Zomato projects monthly cash burn of less than $1M

  TechCrunch

Uber Beefs up for Food Fight with $2.65B Acquisition

Earlier this week, Uber unveiled plans to pile on US$2.65 billion worth of muscle in its purchase of Postmates, the San-Francisco-based food delivery company, that will complement Uber Eats. The combined entity is expected to give DoorDash, the US food-delivery market leader, a run for its money.

Study suggests most Uber, Lyft drivers in Seattle not poorly paid

The Cornell University study, published on Monday, comes as lawmakers in several U.S. cities and states debate the future of the gig economy and whether workers should be treated as employees rather than independent contractors. The study examined 14,000 drivers during one week in October 2019 and showed that 75% of Seattle drivers work fewer than 20 hours per week, with only 5% working full-time. The authors say it was the first time real-world data directly provided by Uber Technologies Inc <UBER.N> and Lyft Inc <LYFT.O> has been analyzed.

Crisis Management: Grocers partnering with Uber 'makes a lot of sense'

Yahoo Finance Canada's Alicja Siekierska and strategy expert Mark Satov discuss the launch of Uber's new grocery delivery service. If you’re a business owner and have a question about how to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, leave it in the comment section below and it will be answered in the next episode of Crisis Management.

Take a Bite of Uber-Postmates Deal With These ETFs

Mergers and acquisitions in the global food delivery space have been heating up. The consolidation of Uber Technologies Inc (UBER) and Postmates is a new development in the segment.

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  Tim Hortons® U.S. Partners with Grubhub for Delivery in Select Markets

  Business Wire
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  Uber Acquires Postmates and 14 Other Biggest Business Moves of 2020

  GOBankingRates

Uber Launches Grocery Delivery in Latin America & Canada

Given the coronavirus-induced slump in rides business, Uber's aim to bolster its delivery services is encouraging.

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  Uber Acquires Postmates and 14 Other Biggest Business Moves of 2020

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  Take a Bite of Uber-Postmates Deal With These ETFs

  Zacks

Postmates CEO Says Deal With Uber Is a Great Combination

Jul.07 -- Bastian Lehmann, Postmates Inc. chief executive officer, talks about being bought by Uber for $2.65 billion. He says the deal should close early next year and he's not sure what his role will be with the new company. He speaks to Emily Chang on "Bloomberg Markets."

3 Reasons Uber's Pursuing Postmates After Being Turned Down by Grubhub

Uber Technologies (NYSE: UBER) was not too happy when Grubhub (NYSE: GRUB) decided to sell its business to Just Eat Takeaway. Just Eat Takeaway offered a similar price, however, and Grubhub's owners felt the partnership made for a better exit. It instead focused on a smaller competitor in the U.S. food delivery space: Postmates.

Company News for Jul 7, 2020

Companies in The News Are: BRK.B, D, UBER, REGN, SINA.

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  AM Best Comments on Credit Ratings of Global Atlantic Financial Group Limited and Its Subsidiaries Following Acquisition Announcement

  Business Wire
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  Coronavirus afternoon update: July 9, 2020

  KCRA - Sacramento Videos

Uber grocery delivery launches in Latin America and Canada, US to follow later this month

A day after acquiring Postmates for $2.65 billion, Uber has officially launched grocery delivery in select Latin American and Canadian cities. The Santiago, Chile-based startup brought grocery delivery to the Latin American market before moving north to Toronto. Today’s launch covers 19 cities in  Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia and Peru, and is set to expand to the U.S. market at some point later this month — specifically to Miami and Dallas.

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  Uber Acquires Postmates and 14 Other Biggest Business Moves of 2020

  GOBankingRates
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  Take a Bite of Uber-Postmates Deal With These ETFs

  Zacks

Uber launches grocery delivery in Latin America, Canada with U.S. to follow

The company's latest foray into the delivery space is in partnership with Cornershop, a Chilean online grocery provider that Uber has held a majority stake in since October. Customers in Canada's Montreal and Toronto, eleven Brazilian cities, including Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, four Chilean cities, Colombia's Bogota and Peru's Lima will be able to order groceries from local stores and chains through the Uber Eats app. In Canada, groceries can be ordered from large chains Walmart Inc <WMT.N> and Metro Inc <MRU.TO>.

SoftBank Hits 20-Year High With $68 Billion Climb Out of Nadir

(Bloomberg) -- SoftBank Group Corp. shares touched their highest level in two decades as a series of buybacks helped the stock recoup losses suffered during the coronavirus market rout.The stock rose 4.6% to 6,190 yen ($58) on Tuesday, the highest since March 2000. That’s more than double the level in mid-March, which marked the virus-impacted low point for the company, whose market value has since surged by roughly $68 billion. The benchmark Topix index was little changed on the day.SoftBank’s recovery is something of a vindication for founder Masayoshi Son, who unveiled plans to sell 4.5 trillion yen of assets to reduce debt and bankroll record share buybacks. Son has frequently complained that SoftBank’s shares, even at their peak, have traded at less than the value of its portfolio of investments. Even after the recent gains, the stock still trades at a discount of about 50%, according to company’s own calculations.“It’s safe to assume part of today’s strong move was a result of buyback activity,” said Justin Tang, head of Asian research at United First Partners in Singapore. “A more positive global sentiment around tech also helped.”SoftBank has also had a series of wins over the same period, including merging its Sprint Corp. with T-Mobile US Inc. and seeing some bets pay off. Online home-insurance provider Lemonade Inc. surged as much as 86% in its U.S. initial public offering Thursday.SoftBank’s Vision Fund, with close to 90 companies in its portfolio, lost almost $18 billion in the fiscal year ended March 31, as it wrote down the value of investments in WeWork and Uber Technologies Inc., among others. Son himself has said he expects about 15 of the fund’s startups to go bankrupt while predicting another 15 will thrive.“SoftBank’s business model has evolved over the past 20 years to match the times, from software to wireless service and now to an investment fund,” said Naoki Fujiwara, chief fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management Co. “The way the coronavirus is reshaping our society, the winners will be communications infrastructure, networks and AI -- all businesses that SoftBank invests in.”(Updates with closing shares in second paragraph)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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  SoftBank’s $2.7 Billion June Buyback Pushes Stock to Highest in Two Decades

  Bloomberg
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  With SoftBank Rally, Masa Son Adds $12 Billion to Fortune

  Bloomberg

Why Grubhub Stock Rose 44% in the First Half of the Year

Shares of restaurant delivery marketplace Grubhub (NYSE: GRUB) jumped 44% in the first six months of the year, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. A buyout offer from Uber (NYSE: UBER) and a subsequent agreement to sell itself to Just Eat Takeaway, the European food delivery giant, was the main reason for the surge. Grubhub limped into 2020 losing market share to rivals like DoorDash and Uber Eats.

Car-Sharing Startups Take U.S. Loans After Covid-19 Disruptions

(Bloomberg) -- Getaround Inc. and Turo Inc., car-sharing companies that have been valued at more than $1 billion by private investors, said Monday that each took at least $5 million through the U.S. Paycheck Protection Program, a government program intended to help small businesses ride out the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.The San Francisco-based startups are among the most valuable technology companies to say they applied for and kept financial aid from the loan program after Covid-19 levied a severe toll on the transportation business. Several large companies, including Shake Shack Inc., gave back the money under public pressure.According to federal data released Monday, each company received between $5 million and $10 million in federal loans approved in late April. Some companies included on the list of loan recipients have said they did not actually apply for or accept the money, casting some doubt on the official data, but Getaround and Turo both confirmed they’d taken the loans, though they didn’t respond to questions about their exact values. “On a global basis, our business was drastically impacted by the lockdowns and restrictions stemming from the coronavirus pandemic,” Getaround said in an emailed statement. “The PPP program helped reduce the otherwise severe impact on the health of our organization. In turn, this enabled us to continue providing an essential service to the communities we serve.”“PPP funds were a lifeline for our 244 employees and our community of hosts and guests who rely on Turo to offset the cost of owning a car and travel affordably,” Steve Webb, a spokesman for Turo, wrote in an emailed statement. “At a time when millions of Americans are struggling to make ends meet, we’re proud that our marketplace is still here to help folks generate extra revenue.” Investors once had high expectations for car-sharing. SoftBank’s $100 billion Vision Fund made a sizable investment in Getaround in 2018. But the industry, which had shaky financial prospects even before the pandemic hit, was devastated by Covid-19. Few people wanted to ride in someone else’s private vehicle, and local stay-at-home restrictions in major cities ground most automotive transportation to a standstill.Getaround and Turo both made sharp job cuts in March, and Getaround began shopping around for a potential acquirer. Some people who rented out their cars on Getaround complained that it had become increasingly difficult to get the company to pay for damages. While cars have begun to return to the roads in recent months, the startups still face major challenges.The Paycheck Protection Program was established in March as a series of loans for small businesses the would be forgiven if the recipients avoided staff cuts and met other criteria. The program was renewed in April after the initial $350 billion was quickly exhausted. Some startups—and even some Uber drivers—applied for loans, leading to a backlash, while others shied away from claiming them after deciding the conditions were too confusing.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

Uber, Postmates deal would dominate Los Angeles, Miami markets

Uber Technologies Inc's plan to buy Postmates Inc could pose problems in Miami and Los Angeles where the two dominate the food delivery market, according to antitrust experts who said it would be difficult to set up an asset sale to resolve the issue. Uber, the No. 3 in restaurant food delivery, said on Monday it would buy No. 4 Postmates for $2.65 billion after its plan to buy Grubhub Inc fell apart. With the deal, Doordash remains the industry leader at 45% of sales for May, Uber Eats becomes No. 2 at 30% and Grubhub would be No. 3 at 23%, according to research firm Second Measure.

Uber Charts Path to Long-Elusive Profit With Postmates Deal

(Bloomberg) -- Neither Uber Technologies Inc. nor Postmates Inc. are profitable. They’re hoping that a combination of the two businesses will somehow get them there.Uber said Monday it will spend $2.65 billion for the San Francisco-based food delivery company Postmates. The all-stock transaction is a bid to accelerate a path to profitability set by Uber Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi and deliver growth rates once typical of Uber’s ride-hailing operation. Both aspects of that strategy rely on food delivery, which has gotten a boost from the coronavirus pandemic.The deal is a relatively modest outcome for Postmates, a pioneer of the gig economy that was outmaneuvered by deep-pocketed competitors. The privately held company had been valued at $2.4 billion in an investment last year, a person with knowledge of the matter said at the time.For Uber, the purchase comes at a reasonable price and could help lead to a rational—and perhaps someday, profitable—market, said Benjamin Black, an analyst at Evercore ISI. “You had four players who were very aggressive on price and were essentially giving away food for free,” said Black. “Rational pricing will start to kick in after consolidation.”Uber estimates that it will issue about 84 million shares of common stock for 100% of the fully diluted equity of Postmates, the company said in a statement Monday. Shares of Uber rose about 5% during trading Monday.Early this year, Uber was expecting to turn its first quarterly profit by the end of 2020. The virus forced a swift reassessment of that plan. Uber revised the estimate in May targeting a quarterly profit in 2021.Since the start of the pandemic, Uber has cut more than a quarter of its staff and exited or pared back some businesses, such as electric bikes and financial services, so it could focus on core areas: ride-hailing and food delivery. Growth in Uber’s core rides business was slowing even before the pandemic drove a first ever decline in bookings in the first quarter. Global rides plummeted 70%, Khosrowshahi said in June.Uber Eats has been a bright spot for the company as stay-at-home orders and restaurant closures have prompted more customers to order in. Food-delivery bookings more than doubled for Uber in the second quarter and rose about 67% for Postmates, Khosrowshahi said in the statement Monday.The company sees advantages from the Postmates deal beyond meal delivery. Postmates was a pioneer in so-called delivery-as-a-service, complementing Uber’s efforts in shuttling groceries, essentials and other goods, the company said. Restaurants and other retailers will benefit from tools and technology to connect with a bigger customer base, according to the statement.“Platforms like ours can power much more than just food delivery—they can be a hugely important part of local commerce and communities, all the more important during crises like Covid-19,” Khosrowshahi said.Postmates wasn’t Uber’s first choice. A proposed acquisition of Grubhub fell through last month when European rival Just Eat Takeaway.com NV bought it instead for $7.3 billion. Uber’s bid for Grubhub, one of the larger players in the U.S. food delivery market, was likely to have raised antitrust concerns, according to industry analysts. The two together would have controlled more than half the U.S. market.An acquisition of Postmates is less likely to raise regulatory scrutiny because it wouldn’t change the market as much. Postmates, a distant fourth, would give Uber a firm lead over Grubhub, but the combined company would still trail SoftBank-backed DoorDash Inc., the nationwide leader. Postmates would strengthen Uber’s position in Los Angeles and the American Southwest, two markets where the brand is strongest.Still, the deal has drawn some criticism. “Uber and Postmates’s business model is built on the exploitation of restaurants, workers, and consumers,” said Sarah Miller, executive director of the anti-monopoly group American Economic Liberties Project. “The Federal Trade Commission should refuse to rubber stamp this power grab.”Uber executives have been vocal for months about wanting to drive consolidation in the food delivery market. JPMorgan Chase & Co. was the financial adviser to Postmates, and Latham & Watkins LLP was its legal counsel. Uber’s legal counsel was Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.In addition to competitive threats, the industry faces regulatory risks relating to worker classification. Uber and Postmates sued California last year, alleging a state law that took effect this year designed to give gig workers unemployment protections is unconstitutional.The acquisition of Postmates is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021, pending regulatory approval, Uber said. Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, the head of Uber’s food-delivery business, is expected to remain in that role, a person with knowledge of the plan said Sunday night. Under their agreement, Postmates co-founder Bastian Lehmann and his team will stay on to manage the Postmates service, said another person, both of whom asked not to be identified discussing a private deal.In its statement, Uber said it plans to keep the Postmates app running separately, supported by a more efficient, combined merchant and delivery network.(Updates with profit context in the sixth paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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  Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi says ride-hailing will make up only 50% of the company's business moving forward as food delivery growth surges

  Business Insider
• Uber: Delivering Food and My 4 Seconds of Fame on PBS (not PBS Kids, unfortunately)

  Insider Monkey

Uber Eats + Postmates Offers Amazon-Sized Opportunity

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Uber Technologies Inc.’s deal to acquire Postmates Inc. isn’t just about the need for consolidation in the food-delivery industry. The company also has its eyes on a bigger prize: nabbing business from Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc. in the local commerce market.Early Monday, and following reports of a deal last week, Uber announced it was buying Postmates for $2.65 billion in an all-stock transaction. A combined Uber Eats-Postmates would vault the company to second place in the U.S. food-delivery market with total share of about 30%, versus DoorDash’s 45% share, according to the latest Second Measure data. I previously wrote about how Uber should acquire Postmates, even though the option wasn’t as ideal as its failed merger with Grubhub, as it would still move the needle for the company by rationalizing the overly promotional industry environment and generating significant cost synergies. And in fact, Uber confirmed Monday that the merger would result in more than $200 million annualized savings after the first year, primarily through cuts in marketing and administrative expenses. Uber shares rose 6% following the acquisition news.But as important as the merger is in creating a bigger player with the chance of improving profitability and increasing scale, it also opens the door for an even more important longer-term opportunity to compete with big retailers for all categories in local commerce, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi  told investors on a call Monday. He explicitly called out Amazon and Walmart.Uber Eats has experimented with non-food deliveries. Earlier this year, the company expanded partnerships with supermarkets and local stores in a small number of markets to deliver groceries and certain essential items. But the merger will help to accelerate such efforts because of Postmates’ advanced technology platform, which offers better capabilities for batching orders together and increasing efficiencies. “The vision for us is to become an everyday service,” he said. Postmates is a “great step along that vision” of delivering anything to consumers homes within a couple hours.The Postmates’ website offers more clues on this future. The upstart already delivers groceries, alcohol and drug-store items in some markets, so for the combined company, grocery may be the best area of focus to start. But Postmates’ platform also can be used for other retail products such as home goods as well. Investors should take note of this, especially given Uber management’s clear message that the deal has much deeper ramifications beyond food delivery. As the pandemic is structurally boosting the trends towards all things digital, the deal may pay bigger dividends for Uber —  and make Postmates less of a consolation prize.This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.Tae Kim is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering technology. He previously covered technology for Barron's, following an earlier career as an equity analyst.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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  Uber Acquires Postmates and 14 Other Biggest Business Moves of 2020

  GOBankingRates
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  How Uber Buying Postmates Shakes Up the Food Delivery Space

  Bloomberg Technology