Lyft shares pull way back after CFO corrects major earnings release error

Lyft
shares
initially
soared
in
extended
trading
on
Tuesday
but
pulled
way
back
after
the
company’s
finance
chief
acknowledged
on
an
earnings
call
that
the
press
release
included
a
major
error.

Here’s
how
the
company
did
compared
to
estimates
from
analysts
according
to
LSEG,
formerly
known
as
Refinitiv:

• 
  Earnings
  per
  share:
  18
  cents
  adjusted
  vs.
  8
  cents
  expected
• 
  Revenue:
  $1.22
  billion
  vs.
  $1.22
  billion
  expected

Lyft
Chief
Financial
Officer
Erin
Brewer
said
on
the
earnings
call
that
the
company
had
misstated
its
margin
expansion
in
the

press
release.
Rather
than
500
basis
points,
or
5%,
of
growth
for
2024,
as
the
company
initially
indicated,
the
actual
increase
will
be
50
basis
points,
or
0.5%,
Brewer
said.

“This
is
actually
a
correction
for
the
press
release,”
Brewer
said.

The
adjusted
profit
margin
as
a
percentage
of
bookings
will
be
2.1%,
up
from
1.6%
in
2023,
Brewer
added.

Lyft’s
stock
soared
more
than
60%
minutes
after
the
earnings
release
hit
and
is
now
up
about
16%.
The
swift
drop
represents
a
market
cap
decline
of
well
over
$2
billion
for
a
company
that
closed
the
day
valued
at
less
than
$5
billion.

Revenue
increased
4%
from
$1.175
billion
a
year
earlier,
Lyft
said.

Gross
bookings
for
the
first
quarter
will
be
$3.5
billion
to
$3.6
billion,
topping
analysts’
estimates
of
$3.46
billion,
according
to
StreetAccount.

“Given
these
factors,
along
with
our
plans
for
slightly
lower
capital
expenditures
for
2024
relative
to
2023,
we
anticipate
that
Lyft
will
generate
positive
Free
Cash
Flow
for
the
full-year
for
the
first
time,”
Lyft
said.

The
company
has
struggled
since
its
initial
public
offering
in
2019,
as
it
has
bled
cash
to
pay
for
drivers
and
compete
with
larger
rival


Uber.
Even
with
Tuesday’s
after-hours
pop,
the
stock
is
still
more
than

80%
off
its
debut
price.

CEO
David
Risher,
who
took
the
helm
in
March
of
last
year,
said
the
company
reached
a
record
number
of
annual
riders.
The
number
of
rides
increased
26%
from
a
year
earlier
to
191
million
in
the
fourth
quarter,
and
active
riders
rose
10%
to
22.4
million.

Gross
bookings
for
the
year
increased
14%
to
$13.8
billion,
while
bookings
for
the
quarter
rose
17%
to
$3.7
billion.

Prior
to
Tuesday’s
report,
Lyft
shares
were
down
19%
to
start
2024.
Uber
shares
are
up
12%.

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