Lyft will hit the stock market on Friday - here's what the first Wall Street analysts to cover the stock are saying

Like Davidson's White, Daniel Ives of Wedbush points to massive growth in the transportation sector as a whole in setting his $80 price target for shares of Lyft.

"The ridesharing industry has become one of the most transformational growth sectors of the US consumer market over the past five years with Lyft establishing itself as a clear #2 player behind the worldwide leader Uber," Ives said in a note to clients Wednesday.

Ives says Lyft has a "golden opportunity" in the $1.2 trillion transportation market, where US consumers spend $95 billion annually on public transportation.

"We think ultimately saying that the full amount of consumer spend being disruptable is a bit disingenuous but also doesn't mean that the opportunity isn’t massive," Ives wrote. "The full amount is disrupted would mean consumers stop spending on cars completely."

That opportunity, however, doesn't come without competitive pressure from Uber, which could be as much as five times larger when it goes public later this year.

"There are also a number of risks/uncertainty that we see in the crystal ball for Lyft including: competitive pressures, lack of a path to profitability in the near-term, regulatory uncertainty, and positioning within the next generation autonomous driving arms race," Ives said

Morningstar, traditionally a more conservative sell-side firm, has the highest target yet for Lyft's yet-to-trade stock but says the company's economic moat may be smaller than investors may want.

"Lyft warrants a narrow economic moat and a stable moat trend rating, thanks to the network effect around its ride-sharing platform and intangible assets associated with rider, rides, and mapping data, which we think can drive Lyft to profitability and excess returns on invested capital in the future," analyst Ali Mogharabi said in a note to clients earlier this month.

Like others, Morningstar points to a well-rounded network of transportation options inside the Lyft app. The company's acquisition of Motivate gave it the upper-hand on Uber, whose Jump Bikes are in a smaller footprint compared to Motivate, which operates in most major US cities.

"In contrast to Uber, Lyft is not focused on food transportation or logistics," Mogharabi said. "We like Lyft's relatively narrower focus on consumer transportation but still note that Uber has an edge on Lyft in terms of an earlier start, higher market share, and a stronger network effect around its service. "

This list will be updated as more analysts launch coverage of Lyft...