Lyft on Wednesday reported second-quarter earnings that topped Wall Street’s expectations, while boosting its guidance for the full year.
Here are the important numbers:
- Revenue: $867 million ($809 million expected)
- Losses per share: $0.68 (adjusted) vs. $1.74 expected
- Active riders: 21.8 million
Shares of Lyft, which went public in March, rose as much as 10% in after-hours trading following the news.
For 2019, Lyft now expects revenues to be between $3.47 billion and $3.5 billion, with losses shrinking by about $300 million to an $875 million maximum.
Uber’s stock price also rose about 2.5% in after-hours trading as investors digested Lyft’s results as possible good news for the industry.
“Lyft’s second quarter was marked by strong execution and important advances in our product and platform,” CEO Logan Green said in a press release. “This translated to record revenue driven by better than expected Active Rider growth and Revenue per Active Rider monetization.”
Lyft previously said in its first-quarter earnings release, its first post-IPO, that it expects 2019 to be its worst year for financial losses.
“We anticipate 2019 will be our peak loss year as we then move steadily towards profitably on a consolidated basis,” chief financial officer Brian Roberts said at the time.
Lyft also disclosed that some insiders, who are generally locked into holding the stock for a set period of time following an IPO, will be able to sell their shares earlier than expected. Lyft’s lockup period was originally scheduled to end on September 24, the company said in a regulatory filing, but that date falls during the legally mandated quiet period ahead of its next earnings report.
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“Therefore, in accordance with the lock-up agreements with the underwriters, the lock-up period will end at the open of trading on August 19, 2019, which is ten trading days prior to the commencement of the Company’s quarterly blackout period,” the filing says.
Executives will answer questions from investors and analysts on a conference call at 5 pm Eastern Wednesday to give more color to the earnings release. They’ll likely have questions about Lyft’s continued fight with Uber for market share, as well as bikes and scooters.
“Key on the call will be updates on incentive spending and the competitive environment in U.S. ridesharing, with detail on market share gains,” JPMorgan told clients earlier this week. “As the industry moves to a focus on product differentiation instead of price, we will look for more commentary on the impacts Lyft’s recent product initiatives (matching platform, shared saver, etc.) have had on fueling growth.”
Lyft does not break out data for bike and scooter rentals in its quarterly reports, but analysts will likely have questions about the company’s continued investment in the programs, given that its electric bike re-launch has now been marred by fires in San Francisco.
“We remain focused on reshaping transportation and we are pleased with the continued improvement in market conditions,” Green continued in the press release. “This environment along with our execution is translating to strong revenue growth and sales and marketing efficiencies. As a result of this positive momentum, we anticipate 2019 losses to be better than previously expected and we are pleased to have updated our outlook.”