Lyft's fourth quarter topped Wall Street's expectations, but no update on its path to profitability left investors unenthused
- Lyft on Thursday reported fourth-quarter 2019 results that topped Wall Street's expectations
- Shares of the ride-hailing company fell 4% immediately following the announcement.
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Lyft on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter financials that largely topped Wall Street expectations while raising its guidance for 2020.
Still, the numbers weren't enough to impress investors after Uber's accelerated profit the previous week, and the company's stock fell roughly 4% in late trading.
Here are the important figures:
- Revenue: $$1.02 billion million versus an expected $985.8 million
- Adjusted EBITDA loss: $130.7 million versus an expected $163.2 million
For the quarter, Lyft had 22.9 million active riders, a 23% jump from the same period the year prior. Revenue per active rider also grew in-step to $44.40, the company said.
Lyft's results follow its larger competitor Uber which earlier in February reported results slightly ahead of expectations while accelerating its plan to reach a highly adjusted profitability metric. Its stock climbed on the news and likely left many Lyft investors if the company can do the same.
The path to profits for both companies has been pegged to a process called rationalization. In other words, its the willingness of consumers to pay higher fares for rides, as company's capitulate to pressure from investors to shrink losses and end the coupons that helped them grow market share over previous years as privately funded companies.
"Fiscal 2019 was an exceptional year across the board," Logan Green, Lyft's CEO, said in a press release. "We significantly improved our path to profitability while simultaneously reaching critical milestones toward our long-term strategy."
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