Lyft Shifts into High Gear: Record Ride Volume Fuels 31.5% Revenue Surge and Bright Outlook

U.S. Stock Investment Network learned that after the U.S. stock market closed on Wednesday, U.S. online ride-hailing giant Lyft (LYFT) released its third-quarter financial report that exceeded Wall Street expectations and provided an optimistic future outlook. The financial report shows that Lyft’s third-quarter revenue reached US$1.52 billion, a year-on-year increase of 31.5%, higher than market expectations of US$1.44 billion; adjusted EBITDA was US$107.3 million, a year-on-year increase of 17%, and higher than the expected US$94.24 million. Although the earnings per share loss was $0.03, it was slightly better than the consensus loss of $0.04 per share. Total orders during the period were US$4.1 billion, a year-on-year increase of 16%, and net loss was US$12.4 million, including US$36.4 million in restructuring costs.

Looking forward, Lyft expects total orders in the fourth quarter to increase by 15% to 17% year-on-year, and its adjusted EBITDA profit margin will be approximately 2.3% to 2.4%, both better than market expectations. At the same time, Lyft also updated its outlook for fiscal year 2024, predicting that the annual growth rate of ride volume is approximately 15%, the total order volume for the year is expected to increase by approximately 17% year-on-year, the adjusted EBITDA profit margin is approximately 2.3%, and free cash flow is expected to More than $65 million.

In terms of specific business operations, Lyft reported that in the three months to September, 24.4 million unique passengers completed 217 million trips, setting new highs for both indicators. Additionally, Lyft’s new price lock feature has exceeded expectations, with the number of active passes exceeding 200,000.

Commuters account for nearly half of Lyft’s weekday rides, and the price-locking feature helps avoid price increases during the busiest times, CEO David Risher said.

In sharp contrast to Lyft, its competitor Uber (UBER) reported disappointing results at the end of October. The growth of its online ride-hailing business was lower than expected, causing its share price to plummet by nearly 10% and dragging down Lyft’s share price. However, Lyft shares soared 20% in after-hours trading.

In addition, Lyft also announced that it will introduce self-driving cars to its ride-sharing platform starting in 2025, partnering with self-driving technology companies Mobileye Global (MBLY) and May Mobility, aiming to catch up with Waymo LLC’s autonomous driving that will be available in certain U.S. cities next year. The Uber of car services. Tesla Inc (TSLA) is also looking to get into self-driving taxis, while ride-hailing companies have been teaming up to capture share of the ride-hailing and delivery markets.

Analysts say Uber and Lyft could be beneficiaries as self-driving car companies seek to collaborate to expand the market rather than build their own ride-sharing networks to compete with Tesla. However, they also warned that the development and regulatory approval of the software would take years to come.

Overall, Lyft’s financial report and future outlook provide positive signals to investors, indicating that the company continues to maintain strong growth momentum in the online ride-hailing market and is expected to further expand market share in the next few years.

Information source: US stock investment network TradesMax.com US stock big data StockWe.com