Lyft shares tank 20% after company issues weak guidance

Lyft shares fell more than 20% during after-hours trading after issuing weak guidance in its earnings report on Thursday.

Here are the key numbers Lyft reported for its fiscal fourth quarter of 2022:

• Loss per share: 74 cents
• Revenue: $1.18 billion, vs. $1.16 billion, according to analysts surveyed by Refinitiv

Lyft said it expects to make roughly $975 million in revenue in the fiscal first quarter of 2023, lower than the $1.09 billion analysts anticipated, according to StreetAccount. Lyft also expects to make an adjusted EBITDA between $5 million and $15 million in the first quarter.

“Our Q1 guidance is the result of seasonality and lower prices, including less Prime Time,” CFO Elaine Paul said in a statement in the earnings release, referring to the period where there’s more demand from passengers than drivers and when the company can earn more. “Additionally, our different insurance renewal timing puts differently timed pressure on our P&L. We are not waiting for that to normalize to achieve competitive service levels. We are focused on driving greater growth and profitability.”

The rideshare company recorded 20.3 million active riders in the third quarter, effectively flat from the third quarter but up 8.7% year over year. That figure also remains below pre-pandemic levels. In the fourth quarter of 2019, for example, Lyft had 22.9 million active riders.

The company reported a net loss of $588.1 million for the quarter, more than twice the loss it posted in the year-ago quarter.

Lyft began its restructuring in November in an effort to reduce operating expenses as it continues to face macroeconomic challenges. It said the costs associated in the restructuring efforts don’t reflect the performance of Lyft’s ongoing operations, however.

Conversely, Uber reported earnings on Wednesday that beat analyst estimates. Uber posted its strongest quarter ever, with revenue up 49% year over year. It said the number of active drivers on the road hit an all-time high during the quarter and that it surpassed 2 billion trips in a single quarter for the first time.