Uber is pitching itself as the next Amazon as it loses billions

Leber up to public debut, Uber hopes investors will adjust the shares with Amazon's rather than its near competitor, Lift. Uber plans to compare with Amazon during the pre-IPO roadshow to justify billions of dollars, continuing to lose, The New York Times reported.

It is no wonder that Uber would choose Amazon as a model, judging by stock performance. The Amazon share price has multiplied from $ 1[ads1]8 per share on the debut in 1997 to nearly $ 2000. However, lifting has tumbled from the $ 72 debut in March to just over $ 57. Uber did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its roadshow pitch.

Amazon's success in the public market despite losing money for much of its existence is a favorite comparison for other companies that make no profit. But Amazon is the exception, not the rule.

Amazon's IPO serves as a handy reference point for Uber, which reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of $ 1.85 billion in 2018, along with weak revenue growth. It also reported a $ 1 billion loss for the first quarter of 2019 in its updated S-1 filing last week. Amazon also made its debut without winning profits and said it was planning to invest in building its business in new areas, which Uber has also said.

Uber, like Amazon, prided itself on diversifying beyond the core service for which it is known. Although Lyft has reduced its focus on sharing and personal mobility, such as electric scooters, Uber has expanded into food deliveries, shipping and even flying cars.

But for Amazon, profitability has been driven largely by Amazon Web Services, which represented 13% of total sales on Amazon and 50% of total revenue in the first quarter of 2019. It is not yet clear whether Uber has the same type breakout business that can lead to profits. Uber's other bets are not likely to add as much value as AWS has to Amazon, leading Wireless Funds manager portfolio manager Paul Meeks former CNBC.

"They will try to exploit the platform for other things, but the other things will be transport because it is their concert, and the transport business has many established players," Meeks said.

After Uber had priced its shares between $ 44 and $ 50, its valuation fell from an expected $ 100 billion to a range of $ 80.53 billion to $ 91.51 billion on a fully diluted basis. But even at lower valuation, Uber's Amazon comparison removes "the fear of missing out."

"It's a great fear," says Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives former CNBC. "It was a seminal event in investing in tech stocks over the last 20 years."

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Watch: How Uber looks at pitching himself to investors