Stock Market News

Lyft’s operating profit surges on rideshare demand, hiring slowdown

2022.08.05 00:06

Lyft's operating profit surges on rideshare demand, hiring slowdown
FILE PHOTO: The Lyft Driver Hub is seen in Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 20, 2019. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson/File Photo

By Nivedita Balu

(Reuters) – Ride-hailing firm Lyft Inc (NASDAQ:LYFT) on Thursday reported a record adjusted operating profit, benefiting from a surge in demand for rides and a dramatic slowdown in company-wide hiring that helped manage costs, sending its shares up 5%.

Earlier this week, bigger rival Uber (NYSE:UBER) Inc reported upbeat quarterly results and turned cash flow positive for the first time, signaling demand for rideshare even as high inflation forces several consumers to cut back on spending.

Lyft last quarter said it would make investments to attract drivers as ride-hailing companies struggled with fewer cars on the road when consumers were returning to offices and taking more airport trips. Both Uber and Lyft are seeing more driver sign-up, as cost of living increases.

“We had the majority of new drivers come in organically … There is a tailwind as more and more people are enjoying this supplemental income,” Lyft President John Zimmer said in an interview with Reuters.

Zimmer said the growth also came as it focused on product and engineering to improve marketplace efficiency.

He said the company sees more room for growth as it works on how it matches riders and drivers and introduces new programs for users that come at different price points.

Lyft was also among a slew of tech companies that slowed hiring to cope with an economic slowdown.

The company’s adjusted EBITDA, a metric that excludes stock-based compensation and some other costs, was $79.1 million for the second quarter and surpassed its own forecast of a range between $10 million and $20 million.

Active riders were 19.9 million in the second quarter, up 12% from the prior quarter, and the highest on Lyft’s platform since COVID-19 began. Airport trips made up 10.2% of total rides, a historic high, Zimmer said, adding that there was strong demand for rideshares.

Revenue grew 30% to $990.7 million in the quarter ended June 30 from a year ago. Analysts on average had expected $990.5 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Source

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 95,922.70 1.94%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 3,309.79 3.15%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 1.00 0.07%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 247.35 3.66%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 647.28 1.57%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 1.34 10.35%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.410769 4.31%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 0.999711 0.06%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.966766 8.60%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 3,310.33 3.35%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.204319 4.55%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 39.50 5.92%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 6.07 5.93%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000025 4.35%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.475798 7.20%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 3,919.73 3.23%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 95,669.63 2.14%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 8.40 2.45%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 16.72 4.94%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 499.96 1.87%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 3,308.21 3.33%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 3.29 5.10%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000019 6.11%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 6.38 3.23%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 8.40 2.45%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 94.22 4.65%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 11.88 7.32%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 10.35 6.01%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 3,483.02 3.45%
hedera-hashgraph
Hedera (HBAR) $ 0.140129 9.15%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 1.00 0.28%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 10.87 5.50%
crypto-com-chain
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.182499 7.93%
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.537833 6.25%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 27.63 7.13%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.02%
render-token
Render (RENDER) $ 7.42 5.40%
fetch-ai
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 1.47 4.34%
kaspa
Kaspa (KAS) $ 0.149016 4.86%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 500.95 2.95%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 24.15 2.29%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 0.999388 0.10%
arbitrum
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.816294 5.49%
celestia
Celestia (TIA) $ 7.79 7.70%
bonk
Bonk (BONK) $ 0.000044 9.29%
mantra-dao
MANTRA (OM) $ 3.63 1.78%
vechain
VeChain (VET) $ 0.040447 3.63%
filecoin
Filecoin (FIL) $ 5.43 1.52%
cosmos
Cosmos Hub (ATOM) $ 8.22 0.32%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 52.80 3.71%