Uber, Lyft suspend services amid protests

Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi, Alexis Christoforous, and Ines Ferre discuss Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash after the companies said they’re suspending operations.

Video Transcript

BRIAN SOZZI: We're watching food-delivery platform DoorDash and ride-sharing apps Uber and Lyft as these companies are suspending services in cities across the US to comply with local curfew orders.

Ines Ferre is back with the details. Ines, the worrying aspect, at least from an investment standpoint, these companies are already not make money.

INES FERRE: That's right, Brian. And we went through COVID-19, and now with these curfews, they have to comply with these curfews in the cities where those have been instilled because of the protests.

Lyft says that it is complying with curfews and local directives. If you can take a look right now, Lyft stock is just up 3/10 of a percent. And Uber also has suspended services during curfews in LA, Oakland, San Francisco, also part of Minneapolis.

And in a statement, Uber said, "Some cities have requested that we suspend operations completely while others want to ensure that Uber is available for essential workers." So the concern is that essential workers would be able to get around during this period.

Also, it went on to say, "We're also using the Uber app to educate riders and drivers about city curfews and remind them Uber should only be used for emergency purposes only during this time."

And just looking at some of the cities that have instilled curfews over the last couple of days, New York being one of them; Philadelphia; Washington, DC; Atlanta; Detroit; Phoenix. So quite a few cities that now have curfews because of the protests. And so these companies are complying with directives and, in some cases, telling people only use this if an emergency or if necessary. And in some cases, the local directives are please keep them going for essential workers.