The one annoying part about the Uber quarterly report is that there is a huge amount of variability coming from the "other income" part, which is basically where it accounts for it's investments in Didi, Zomato, Grab and other ride hailers.
I really hate this trend of divesting operations by taking an equity stake(remember the Shopify logistics sale to flexport for equity ?Many other examples) in the buyer. You haven't gotten rid of the unprofitable operation, you have just given it to another company for an ownershipstake instead of cold hard cash, so now the variability/loss from operations gets moved to other income, and instead of loosing actual money you are holding unrealized losses on your stock investments.
These equity stakes also present potential upside. For Uber, the equity stakes in Didi, Zomato, Grab and others provide them with exposure to these markets without bearing the operational risks and costs. If these companies thrive, Uber will profit from the increase in value of its stake. Strategic partnerships can bring in additional benefits.
Still, I agree that this trend does complicate the analysis of reports. It also raises questions about the transparency and predictability of future earnings, as these are tied to the performance of other companies that investors may not fully understand or have visibility into. As always, it's a delicate balance between potential upside and added complexity.
I really hate this trend of divesting operations by taking an equity stake(remember the Shopify logistics sale to flexport for equity ?Many other examples) in the buyer. You haven't gotten rid of the unprofitable operation, you have just given it to another company for an ownershipstake instead of cold hard cash, so now the variability/loss from operations gets moved to other income, and instead of loosing actual money you are holding unrealized losses on your stock investments.