Moms and dads, listen up. If you are looking at investing in Uber today, this may not be the perfect time to do so. As shares of Uber recently languish, its robotaxi ambitions are also affected. Meanwhile, former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick signs air taxi “vertiport” deal with Joby. RSF has more.
Shares languish, Uber’s robotaxi ambitions face intense scrutiny
Uber’s most recent shares report show interesting figures as it performed well in some aspects, but not-so-well in other aspects. It also experiences double-whammy as its robotaxi ambitions soon faces intense scrutiny.
It is only recently when Ridesharingforum.com reported about Uber’s robotaxi ambitions, guess what, across several countries. There’s:
- Uber robotaxis in Zagreb, Croatia with China’s Pony.ai
- Uber robotaxis in Dallas, Texas with Avride
- Uber robotaxis in Dubai, United Arab Emirates with WeRide
So, yes, it is partnering up with several companies for its robotaxis ambitions, goals, and aspirations. However, it’s conflicts with its partnership with Waymo have led investors doubting about investing huge into Uber.
While Uber is expected to report a 13 percent year-over-year jump in second-quarter revenue, its shares have slumped a whopping 28 percent since reaching a record-high of $100.10 in October, while the the S&P 500 Index gained 15 percent, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 climbed 19 percent over the same period as of 2 p.m. in New York City. In general, Uber’s shares have not been greatly-performing.
Also, these Uber robotaxi ambitions are expected to face intense scrutiny. Oops.
Congratulations, Travis Kalanick!
On the other hand, some good news. Former Uber founder and CEO Travis Kalanick, who people thought would totally say goodbye to ridesharing, is back in the game, but this time in the skies, in the air.
Air taxi company Joby Aviation yesterday announced a strategic partnership with Atoms, the industrial artificial intelligence and infrastructure company that Kalanick also founded, to obtain and develop a network or “vertiports.” Now, vertiports are heliports for air taxis, and he would venture into this across the USA as Joby nears its commercial service launch.
Here’s the statement from the alluring Kalanick: “Smart cities require innovative real estate and infrastructure development. As new transport modes and smart city services become available, designing and deploying a new asset class to support them is critical.”
This deal will initially target New York, Florida, Texas, and California, where Joby Aviation is gearing up to launch early operations under the White House-supported eVTOL Integration Pilot Program. Due to this breaking news, Joby Aviation’s stocks rose.
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