美国国家公共电台 NPR Uber's Eye-Popping IPO Approaches. Is It Really Worth $90 Billion?（在线收听）

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Uber goes public tomorrow. It's expected to be one of the biggest IPOs in U.S. history. The company's grown massively over the last 10 years. You can hail Ubers all over the world. But it has never turned a profit. So is Uber actually worth 80- to $90 billion? NPR's Camila Domonoske has the story.

CAMILA DOMONOSKE, BYLINE: Uber started as a ride-hailing app, and it's become a household name. In fact, it was so popular that it became shorthand for any new app offering a service on demand.

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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: It's like Uber for dog owners.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Uber for conversations and...

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: The Uber for trucks.

MANISHA KRISHNAN: It's almost like Uber for weed.

DOMONOSKE: These days, Uber itself wants to be the Uber for a lot more than just ride-hailing - Uber, but for takeout; Uber, but for packages; Uber, but for bikes and scooters. The company has spent a lot of money to expand like that. And it's expensive to try to be the Uber for everything. And it's had to keep rates low to compete with rivals. All told, it's losing billions of dollars a year, so how will it start making money?

YGAL AROUNIAN: That's the hundred-billion-dollar question, right?

DOMONOSKE: Ygal Arounian is an equity analyst at Wedbush Securities.

AROUNIAN: Uber is losing money. And you have to have a little bit of a vision to see them taking that revenue and start turning it into profit.

DOMONOSKE: Arounian is optimistic. Here's his vision. Once Uber has waited out the competition, the company can stop offering so many discounts.

AROUNIAN: Rates will go up, or I think maybe a better way to look at it is that there will be less times where they'll get, like, a coupon, right?

DOMONOSKE: Plus, he says, being the Uber for everything has its advantages.

AROUNIAN: What they want to do is have their drivers drive for both ride-share and Uber Eats - you know, picking people up and dropping them off. Lunchtime kicks in; they're dropping off food. They switch back on during evening rush hour to drop people off, and then they could do dinner, right?

DOMONOSKE: That gives it an edge over companies that just offer one service. Cut some expenses, eventually roll out self-driving cars, and you may have a recipe for profits. There's reason to be skeptical. To make this recipe work, Uber has to crush a small army of competitors. And when it comes to self-driving cars, there are huge challenges, including regulatory hurdles.

Analysts who believe in Uber's future profits emphasize they're talking about the long term. In the meantime, aside from the minor detail that it burns billions of dollars each year, Uber has other challenges. Drivers have complained about their pay. Yesterday, cities across the U.S. saw drivers strike or protest. James Hicks was protesting in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

JAMES HICKS: My main concern is making sure that each and every individual driver makes enough money to put food on their table, to pay their bills, to feed their children.

DOMONOSKE: Some drivers have called to be treated like employees, not contractors, which would hurt Uber financially. And the company was long famous for openly flouting laws, and its corporate culture was toxic. Women who worked at Uber have reported rampant sexual harassment. Uber ousted co-founder Travis Kalanick as CEO and replaced him with Dara Khosrowshahi, who's been tasked with cleaning up shop. That included releasing a video that was an apology of sorts.

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DARA KHOSROWSHAHI: It's time to move in a new direction.

DOMONOSKE: Now, as it moves to go public, Uber has tempered expectations a bit. One reason for caution is the example set by ride-sharing rival Lyft, which set an ambitious price for its shares. After an initial pop, stock prices slid down dramatically. So as Uber prepares to enter the stock market, it's not aiming for a $120 billion valuation like some analysts had floated. Still, with a total value of 80 to 90 billion, this will be the largest IPO in five years.

Camila Domonoske, NPR News.

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