Lyft Inc.’s first quarterly report on May 7 as a public company is expected to show investors its growth possibilities and competitive strength against rival Uber, whose initial public offering will hit the market later this week.
In March, the company beat Uber Technologies Inc to the market, but its stock has since languished—slipping below the IPO price of $72 on concerns about its ability to actually make a profit.
The loss-making ride-hailing company is trying to win back investors and show that it can stay on course and keep up with larger rival Uber, which could be valued at about $90 billion.
According to analysts, four major factors will be on everybody’s radar: revenue from active users; market share and updates in key U.S. cities; growth possibilities; and cost-saving plans.
Analysts expect Lyft to post a loss of $1.81 per share on an adjusted basis, on revenue of $739.4 million, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
For the company to gain traction with investors, Lyft has to beat Wall Street expectations and show that it can grow profitably in a not-so-distant future.
“Lyft is well positioned via its ridesharing app to scale further,” Cowen analysts said. They also expect to see rising profit per ride as Lyft expands over time.
However, missing those numbers will hit the company’s shares and likely tarnish the fortunes of Uber ahead of its debut on the New York Stock Exchange.
“There’s some signs that Uber has stepped up its own promotions so investors will be looking to see if this is making growth more expensive for Lyft,” Atlantic Equities analyst James Cordwell said.
Lyft had 30.7 million riders and 1.9 million drivers in more than 300 cities in the U.S. and Canada last year. In comparison, Uber had 75 million riders and 3.9 million drivers in 65 countries.
