Uber: A Potential Waymo Exit Warrants Caution

Dilantha De Silva 13.21K Followers Follow Summary Waymo is reportedly exploring its options to end its partnership with Uber in Austin and Atlanta, which suggests Waymo is trying to own the customer through vertical integration. At the beginning of this decade, robotaxis were available in just 1 city in the entire world. Today, that number has risen to more than 20. Robotaxi growth is very real, and Waymo seems likely to maintain its position as a leading robotaxi developer in the long run. Uber wants to control the demand side of the equation and provide marketplace liquidity to AV developers and also control payments, pricing, and the customer experience. More than Waymo displacing Uber, the bigger risk is Waymo proving to the market that Uber's role will likely be limited to a secondary marketplace solutions provider, not a key player in robotaxi growth as expected. Getty Images Robotaxis are here to stay. Uber Technologies, Inc. ( UBER ) has not been oblivious to this reality. Uber's strategy, as clearly stated by the company management on recent earnings calls, is to emerge as the preferred commercialization platform for AV This article was written by Dilantha De Silva 13.21K Followers Follow Dilantha De Silva is an experienced equity analyst and investment researcher with over 10 years in the investment industry. He writes insightful articles for Seeking Alpha, GuruFocus, TipRanks, and ValueWalk, with a significant following on Seeking Alpha. Dilantha’s expertise spans across various sectors, with a particular focus on small-cap stocks that are overlooked by Wall Street analysts. He is a CFA Level III candidate and holds qualifications from the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment (CISI). Dilantha has been featured on CNBC and Bloomberg, and his work has been prominently showcased on Nasdaq, Yahoo Finance, and other leading investment platforms. When not analyzing stocks and writing, Dilantha is involved in private equity transactions, including acquiring and managing businesses. Analyst’s Disclosure: I/we have a beneficial long position in the shares of UBER either through stock ownership, options, or other derivatives. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. Seeking Alpha's Disclosure: Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No recommendation or advice is being given as to whether any investment is suitable for a particular investor. Any views or opinions expressed above may not reflect those of Seeking Alpha as a whole. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank. Our analysts are third party authors that include both professional investors and individual investors who may not be licensed or certified by any institute or regulatory body.