The Airtasker Ltd (ASX: ART) share price has cooled off significantly during the trading day. However, shares remain well above their initial listing price. Airtasker officially IPOed this morning after a false start this week and months of anticipation. The company had a listing price of just 65 cents, but opened this morning at $1.01 a share, meaning company insiders and investors were treated with a 55% win right off the bat.

At the time of writing, the Airtasker share price is currently sitting at $1.05, up 0.48%. 

Airtasker share price rockets

However, it wasn't all smooth sailing for investors looking to get into this IPO after trading commences (which is almost all retail ASX investors).  Airtasker's share price then went as high as $1.16 a share. This was prior to falling as low as 88 cents soon after market open. This company had a more volatile start to life than a giraffe!

At the time of writing, Airtasker shares are back to $1.02 a share, almost where they started the day.

IPOs can be ART-fully dangerous for new investors

Of course, Airtasker's listing is nothing the ASX hasn't seen before. Last year saw a smorgasbord of new companies hitting the ASX boards. These included Doctor Care Anywhere Group (ASX: DOC), Booktopia Group Ltd (AS:X BKG), Plenti Group Ltd (ASX: PLT), Nuix Ltd (ASX: NXL), Payright Ltd (ASX: PYR) and Laybuy Holding Ltd (ASX: LBY).

With the exception of Doctor Care, all of these companies are today trading below the price they IPOed at. And even Doctor Care was down 17% at one point from its IPO price before recovering. Laybuy has been a clanger, currently more than 47% below its IPO price.

We have seen a similar trend play out in the United States. Companies like Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE: UBER), Lyft Inc (NASDAQ: LYFT), and Snowflake Inc (NYSE: SNOW) have all IPOed in the last couple of years, and have been highly volatile in the months and/or years since.

IPOs can be dangerous things for retail investors to get involved in at the starting gate, despite all of the hype and buzz they generate. Remember, its often the motivation of those pushing the IPO to offload their shares for the highest price possible. So for any investor thinking about jumping on the Airtasker train, it might be prudent to keep all of this in mind!

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If you're a fan of (or more importantly an investor in) ridesharing services, this is a week to make sure that you're awake at the wheel. Lyft Inc (NASDAQ: LYFT) reports its fourth-quarter results shortly after the close on Tuesday. Larger rival Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE: UBER) pulls over for its fresh financials the following day.

Lyft and Uber seem to be joined at the hip in the eyes of Wall Street. They are the two undisputed leaders in the US car-hailing market. They also went public just five weeks apart in the springtime of 2019. But pop open the hoods, and you'll find two different engines in action. Lyft will take some time to warm up in the new normal, but Uber should impress you.

Lyft you higher

Lyft was the first of the two ride-hailing platforms to go public, and since it reports first this week, we may as well start there. The coronavirus pandemic has naturally hit the personal mobility market hard. With more people working, learning, and playing at home to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus, demand has dropped sharply since mid-March of last year.

As the smaller of the two players, Lyft stood out when it hit the market by growing a lot faster than Uber. Lyft's business has also been the harder hit of the two companies on the way down. We've seen revenue at Lyft decline 61% in the second quarter of last year, the first full period under the grip of the pandemic. The top line took a 48% year-over-year hit in the third quarter. Analysts see that improving marginally to a 45% decline when it reports on Tuesday afternoon.

The climate is getting kinder, but for now, the problem is the temporary pause on conventional ride-pooling. UberPool and Lyft's shared-ride feature were suspended in March of last year. The ride-pooling was a win-win for the platforms. Riders willing to share a car with others going in the same direction would receive lower fares. Drivers would make more money by lumping overlapping routes in the same vehicle. This doesn't fly in the new normal, where strangers shouldn't be sharing the backseat even if they are donning the now-required masks.

The market's been kind. Despite the brutal year, Lyft shares moved 14% higher in 2020, and the stock enters this trading week 23% higher than where it was at the start of last year. Investors assume we will resume our ridesharing ways as the vaccination rollout gnaws away at the pandemic as 2021 plays out. For now, expect another sharp quarterly deficit to accompany the 45% revenue hit on Tuesday.

Super Uber

Investors will get a very different report out of Uber after the market close on Wednesday. It's expected to follow Lyft in posting a quarterly loss that is narrower than the same period a year earlier, but analysts see a mere 12% decline in revenue. 

The difference here is that Uber has emerged as the country's second-largest player in restaurant delivery. We're not hailing rides these days, but with indoor dining unsafe (if not entirely off the menu), there's been an explosion in the popularity of third-party apps that pick up takeout orders and bring them to hungry customers. 

Uber's third quarter is a perfect illustration of the state of things. Uber's 18% decline in revenue for the period – way kinder than Lyft's 48% slide – was the combination of a 53% drop in passenger rides that was largely offset by a 125% increase for Uber Eats. It works. It's why Uber stock has trounced Lyft, nearly doubling (up 97%) since the beginning of last year. 

It's not just Uber Eats that is helping the larger of the two players, which now trades at a much higher revenue multiple than Lyft. Uber is an international player, and many overseas markets are closer to bouncing back to pre-pandemic levels. Both stocks should be growing their top lines again at some point later this year, but right now Uber is the one that's shining brighter than Lyft.  

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

The post Uber and Lyft: A tale of two earnings reports appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Earlier this year, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) purchased Zoox, a six-year old start-up seeking to create autonomous driving vehicles from the ground up. It reportedly paid over $1.2 billion in the deal, making it one of Amazon's largest ever acquisitions.

On Monday, the company revealed the Zoox vehicle and its plans for the fully autonomous electric vehicle. Amazon is planning to compete with Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE: UBER) and Lyft Inc (NASDAQ: LYFT) using the Zoox electric vehicle (EV) as a driverless robotaxi, according to a Bloomberg report.

The EV can carry up to four people, travel in either direction, doesn't contain a steering wheel, and has a maximum speed of 75 miles per hour. Its two battery packs are enough for the vehicle to run up to 16 hours on a single charge. The company plans to launch an app-based ride hailing service in some U.S. cities, including San Francisco and Las Vegas, as well as overseas. 

Zoox chief technology officer Jesse Levinson said the vehicle has passed all safety crash tests, according to the Bloomberg report. It navigates using spinning laser sensors and cameras on each corner of the vehicle, giving it the ability to see a complete field of vision at all times. 

CEO Evans also said the EV "could move packages" at some point, referring to the possibility of creating a fleet of autonomous delivery vehicles, though she said there are no current plans for that. 

This article was originally published on Fool.com. All figures quoted in US dollars unless otherwise stated.

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