Toronto, Ontario — Ford throws seven million more Rivian shares up for sale while Uber tries to offset its losses in Collision Repair’s weekly Tuesday Ticker.
Red-tag item, Rivian
Last week, it was reported Ford Motor Co. had offloaded eight million shares in electric vehicle startup Rivian. On Monday, May 16, the automaker sold a further seven million shares, increasing its profits from the share drop from US$214 million to approximately US$402 million.
In this latest transaction, Ford sold the seven million shares for US$26.88 each, for a total of around US$188.2 million. The OEM’s move followed the end of the insider lockup for Rivian’s stock after the startup’s IPO, which was the largest IPO of the year and raised about US$12 billion.
“We think it’s prudent at this point to monetize a small portion of the investment,” Ford spokesman Ian Thibodeau said in a statement following the first share sale. The company did not share anything further following last Monday’s announcement.
Uber’s curious drop
Uber stock has dropped 30 percent in the last month despite the fact its driver sign-ups were up 121 in April, according to CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.
The rideshare company reported its Q1 2022 financial results on May 4, revealing a loss of US$5.9 billion, largely due to its investments in other companies, it said.
Khosrowshahi said new driver sign-ups were up 121 percent in April.
“We’re bringing new drivers on, not as Uber Rides, not as Uber Eats, but as Uber as a platform and to earn in any way shape or form on the platform.”
Uber was initially scheduled to hold its earnings call on May 4 after the market closed, but moved the call to pre-trading hours in an alleged effort to offset Lyft’s negative reports. Lyft’s announcements pushed its shares to drop 31 percent; Uber’s own shares dropped 25 percent during its competitor’s earnings call.
Khosrowshahi alluded to the scenario on Uber’s earnings call.
“You heard I think last night one of our competitors in the U.S. having challenges or at least looking to lean into driver supply,” he said.
