Quality Equities
Quality Equity Investor, Concentrated Portfolios
Uber's network effects could make it the app robotaxi fleets need to keep their cars fully operational. It is one of the best platforms on earth and a five-year buy at today's valuation, with opportunity too compelling to pass up despite shares falling about 25% in the past year on robotaxi fears. Bookings grew 24% last quarter and trailing free cash flow exceeded $10 billion. Waymo and Tesla could choose to bypass Uber; Waymo already runs its own app in most of its cities. x.comÂ
Tesla's Cybercab may command a premium because it offers a much better ride. It seems to earn over $3 per mile, making Tesla a cash generator for now, though that pricing may not last. Q4 robotaxi miles already appear above Q3 with less than a third of the quarter elapsed; paid miles are tracking for over 3x quarterly growth. Grok roughly estimates Tesla's robotaxi annual revenue run rate at $100-150M versus Waymo's $390-500M; Tesla is on pace to overtake Waymo within months. x.com x.com x.com … Show more
Uber's trips could keep growing even without a Waymo partnership because the ride-hail market may expand faster than Waymo takes share. Based on estimated inputs and Waymo's reported fleet plans, every modeled scenario has Uber trips growing, though its US trip share falls from about 73% to 69% by Q4 2028 in the target case. The model excludes take rate, pricing and Uber's AV capex. x.comÂ
Uber looks rather negative because driver reclassification, consumer cutbacks and easy switching threaten its business. Making drivers employees could raise costs and push ride prices up around 40%. Food delivery and comfort rides are cut when budgets tighten; riders switch to Lyft or Bolt for a few euros. Tesla or Waymo could bypass Uber with their own apps, and Google can scale quickly. Despite being a great company, Uber has too many unknowns; it is preferable to stay on the sidelines. x.comÂ
Scaling Tesla's robotaxi fleet to 5,000 could yield a $584 million annual revenue run rate by year-end. The model assumes 24/7 operation, 40 daily rides per vehicle averaging five miles, 70% utilization, and current fares of $3 plus $1 per mile. A 5,000-vehicle fleet by year-end is now the expectation; introducing Cybercabs in other states could keep growth going at its current pace. x.com x.com x.comÂ
Tesla's FSD uptake could add recurring software revenue to its vehicle base, while Robotaxi could earn on each ride. This could be Tesla's most important inflection point, missed amid weak auto profits. North American attach rates rose to 75% from 55% in Q2; subscriptions hit 1.74 million, up 67% year over year, and Cybercab rides began in Austin. Trials may not become lasting paid subscriptions; Robotaxi needs safe operation, steady paying demand and attractive returns at scale. x.comÂ
Uber cannot be owned until its robotaxi strategy and economics are clearer, including whether it stays asset-light or pivots to asset-heavy. Calling it 10 times 2027 free cash flow may be unfair if an asset-heavy pivot sends that cash into capex. Google puts global ridesharing at $150-180 billion in gross bookings a year, reaching $200 billion by decade's end, likely not big enough for Waymo, Tesla and Uber to all win while each spends tens of billions on fleets. x.com x.com x.comÂ
Uber looks cheap, and insiders who know the company best are buying, a point @SteurJonas69716 raises. The stock is a solid buy as long as robotaxis do not kill the business, which is doubtful. x.com x.comÂ
Tesla's Austin robotaxi rollout looks to have hit an inflection point because activity is scaling rapidly. A RtaxiTracker chart shared by Jason Scharf shows Tesla at 438,000 per week in the week to October 18, versus Waymo's 406,000-per-week Q2 2026 average. Waymo's figure is older and quarterly averaged, so the periods are not directly comparable. x.com x.comÂ
Uber's network could unravel as riders go straight to Waymo and Tesla Robotaxi apps and driver earnings collapse. Uber lobbies against autonomy while telling investors it will win it, and its flagship Waymo partnership has soured. Robotaxi apps are becoming the interface to the car, which a generic broker app cannot replicate. At about 17x earnings, Uber looks overvalued when it may not exist in its current form in 17 years; 5-10x trailing earnings is the most it deserves. x.com x.com x.com … Show more
Uber trades at its lowest valuation since its IPO on fears that autonomous vehicles will make it obsolete, yet it is firing on all cylinders and positioning as the AV distribution layer. It already has 14 AV partners including Waymo, and city-by-city regulation favors its global network. Its driver-rider flywheel gives it 75% US share against Lyft. Uber One's 30 million members spend twice as much and drive 40% of bookings, and free cash flow has gone from negative to strongly positive. x.comÂ
