Let’s say you’re a customer of Grab. You order food. You book rides. GrabPay is convenient to have on your phone. Very likely, you open the app at least once a day. You’re not only a customer. You’re a loyal customer.
You might like Grab because its services are all accessible in one place. You might like it because of the discounts you receive. Everything seems so reasonably priced!
That might give you an idea. With such great services, Grab surely has a bright future. You notice its shares are being traded on the Nasdaq. You can buy some of those shares, so you do. (This is not financial advice. Please do not ever buy into stock recommendations made by media outlets.)
But wow, Grab’s share price has been sliding ever since its SPAC merger late last year. You keep using Grab’s services because they’re all just right there, but the loss of your shares’ value might be subsidizing the discounts of your rides and boxed lunches and delivered dinners. There’s an analogy somewhere that adequately describes this cycle of capital and pure optimism that keeps Grab in business, but we haven’t quite nailed it.
Few Southeast Asian tech firms have a clear path to profit. Those that have gone public have been bruised over the past months. There’s a lot to unpack. Khamila has you covered. You can read her article here.
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