Lyft’s Unbelievable Loss in Q1

Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ: LYFT) released its most recent quarterly results after markets closed Tuesday. The company said that it had an adjusted net loss per share of $9.02 with revenues of $776.0 million, which compares to consensus estimates calling for a net loss of $1.81 per share on $739.48 million in revenue. The first quarter from last year had a net loss of $11.40 per share adjusted and $397.2 million in revenue.

Note that the net loss for the first quarter includes $894 million of stock-based compensation and related payroll tax expenses, primarily due to restricted stock unit (RSU) expense recognition in connection with the initial public offering. As a result, net loss for the first quarter was $1.14 billion versus a net loss of $234.3 in the same period of 2018.

Looking ahead to the second quarter, the company expects to see revenue in the range of $800 million to $810 million and adjusted EBITDA loss in the range of $270 million to $280 million. Consensus estimates are calling for a net loss of $1.30 per share and $782.32 million in revenue for the coming quarter.

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Logan Green, Co-Founder and CEO of Lyft, commented:

The first quarter was a strong start to an important year, our first as a public company. Our performance was driven by the increased demand for our network and multi-modal platform, as Active Riders grew 46 percent and revenue grew 95 percent year-over-year. Transportation is one of the largest segments of our economy and we are still in the very early stages of an enormous secular shift from personal car ownership to Transportation-as-a-Service.

Shares of Lyft closed Tuesday at $59.34, with a 52-week range of $54.32 to $88.60. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $75.56. Following the announcement, the stock was down 2% at $58.06 in the after-hours session.

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