SAN FRANCISCO — Uber is about to embark on a wild ride on Wall Street with the biggest and most hotly debated IPO in years.

The world’s leading ride-hailing service set the stage for its long-awaited arrival on the stock market by pricing its initial public offering at $45 per share late Thursday.

The price is at the lower end of its targeted range of $44 to $50 per share, a decision that may have been driven by the escalating doubts about the ability of ride-hailing service’s ability to make money since Uber’s main rival, Lyft, went public six weeks ago.

Even at the tamped-down price, Uber now has a market value of $82.4 billion — significantly more than century-old automakers General Motors and Ford.

Uber will face its next test Friday when its shares begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

No matter how the stock swings, the IPO has to be considered a triumph for the company most closely associated with a ride-hailing industry that has changed the way millions of people get around while also transforming the way millions of more people earn a living in the gig economy.

Uber has lost about $9 billion since its inception and acknowledges it could still be years before it turns a profit.