Gig economy and autonomous vehicle analysis: Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Tesla, Waymo, and the race for autonomous mobility.
Gig economy and autonomous vehicle analysis: Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Tesla, Waymo, and the race for autonomous mobility.
Waymo's running a pilot in Atlanta that pays DoorDash drivers around $11 to close robotaxi doors left open by passengers—a perfect snapshot of where "full autonomy" really stands when a six-figure robot gets stuck because a door didn't latch
Lyft's weak first-quarter forecast blamed winter weather disruptions, overshadowing a $1 billion buyback program and sending shares down 17% in the biggest drop since February 2025
Amazon's Ring canceled its planned integration with police surveillance provider Flock Safety after backlash over a Super Bowl ad that showed AI scanning neighborhood cameras to find a lost dog—making the surveillance stack too visible to ignore
Cathie Wood's ARK sold nearly $75 million worth of Airbnb in February 2026 and rotated the capital into Robinhood, Shopify, and crypto-adjacent plays—signaling ARK's shift from mature consumer platforms to volatile fintech and AI bets
Amazon announced $200 billion in capex for 2026—a 50% increase over 2025—to fund AWS's AI buildout, triggering a 9% stock drop as analysts project free cash flow will swing negative for the first time in years
Uber reported 22% growth in bookings and record cash flow in Q4 2025, but missed EPS estimates by 9 cents due to equity investment write-downs, sending shares down 7% as investors repriced margin expectations
Sonder filed for bankruptcy in October after burning through over a billion in capital. The problem wasn't the idea—it was the economics of renting apartments and pretending you're running a hotel
Sweetgreen just posted a $36.1 million loss for Q3—nearly double last year's loss. Same-store sales dropped 9.5%. They slashed their full-year revenue forecast from $700-715 million down to $682-688...
Tesla claims Cybercab production starts April 2026. The timeline probably slips. But if they pull it off, ride-sharing economics change fundamentally.
Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash all reported Q3 earnings November 4-5. Uber missed estimates for the first time in quarters. DoorDash posted its first profit as a public company but stock dropped 17%. Lyft hit $1 billion free cash flow but missed EPS. Three companies, three completely different stories.