The prices of assets are having a bad day. The stock market is falling down all over the place. Early morning trading on the stock market here in the United States shows equities following suit. In response to the long-awaited reality check, tech stocks are suffering further losses, and attitude among the investment classes has gone from chilly to frigid. Let’s utilize a few equities as markers to determine the extent of the suffering. Today’s trading began for less than $100 a share for Coinbase, whose value soared to as much as $368.90 after its public listing. Zoom, whose valuation surged to $406.48 in the previous year, is currently valued at about $93 per share.
In general, the value of software shares is not any better. From record highs reached in November of last year, the Bessemer Cloud Index has fallen more than 50%. The value of internet businesses peaked and then crashed in much less than a year, thus. The decline has been swift but uneven, since startups have been able to maintain their position for months longer than their publicly traded competitors. That is altering. Investor criticism has led to a recent strong sell-off in the realm of blockchains and digital assets.
All surrounding doom, gloom, and sadness? Definitely, but not fully. While IT asset values are flatlining globally, there will be a significant shakeout in the upcoming quarters, which is excellent news. It will be illuminating and shed light on a ton of nonsense. So call it joker recognition. I’ll explain.
From a lull to a shakeout. Porcine cosmetics are useless; we may be entering a severe initial correction similar to the one that occurred in March 2020 but over a longer timeframe and with more significant individual reductions. So what are the benefits? A reduction in bulls**t.
There were many things worth chewing on in the message Uber’s CEO wrote to his workforce over the weekend, but one in particular stuck in my craw (emphasis added by): Investors want security during unpredictable times. They are aware that we are the scaled leader in our categories, but they have no idea what it means in terms of value. We must demonstrate the money, in the spirit of Jerry Maguire. We established a goal of $5 billion in Adjusted EBITDA in 2024, which we have achieved in terms of profitability, but the objectives have since altered. It now concerns free cash flow. We can (and ought to) arrive there quickly.
