What's going on?

Ride-hailing behemoth Uber missed revenue forecasts late on Thursday � ride-failing to match arch-enemy Lyft�s better-than-expected second-quarter results.

What does this mean?

Uber�s revenue was much lower than investors expected last quarter � unlike Lyft’s, which exceeded expectations on Wednesday. Now both companies are public, they�re under pressure to make a profit sooner rather than later. They�ve called time on the hefty discounts they�d been offering riders and drivers to lure them in, and instead raised prices in several markets. But that didn�t do Uber much good: it suffered a bigger quarterly loss than forecast, perhaps because it can�t afford not to offer competitive prices in major markets like the UK.

Why should I care?

For markets: Locked up � but investors can still flee.
Investors initially bought Lyft�s stock in a big way following its update on Wednesday (and Uber�s too � what�s good for the goose is good for the gander, after all). But some made a sharp U-turn after the company announced that its �lock-up� � the period for which investors commit to holding on to newly listed shares � would expire earlier than planned. That means there�s a chance more of Lyft�s shares will hit the stock market, but without enough demand to stop their price from falling. And if investors were looking for shelter in Uber�s stock, they didn�t find it: its share price initially fell 10% on Thursday after its update.

The bigger picture: Uber�s fighting battles on all fronts.
While ride-hailing firms might not be tussling over the lowest prices anymore, competition may only just be hotting up in Uber�s food delivery segment. Just Eat and Takeaway.com have now officially agreed their mega-merger, and Deliveroo recently added Amazon to its investor base. That�ll help them both in their efforts to take on Uber � which, for all its ride-sharing woes, still managed to more than double its Eats customers compared to a year ago.