Lyft Inc. (NASDAQ: LYFT), the ride-sharing company, is in trouble. While it announced poor earnings, its larger rival Uber released good ones. Being in second place has started to hurt the company and hurt it badly. After it released those results, its stock fell 30%
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For the most recent quarter, Lyft posted a $0.74 per share loss on revenue of $1.18 billion. While these results were not much better or worse than expectations, its forecast for the current quarter was grim. Revenue is expected to be $975 million, against expectations of $1.09 billion. That would be a significant miss.
Uber had revenue of $8.6 billion in the final quarter of last year, which was up 49% from the same period a year ago. Adjusted earnings were $665 million, compared to $86 million a year ago. (Click here for the 21 companies making the most profit per second.)
Lyft’s shares are off about 70% in the past year to about $11 apiece. This is because it is losing the market share war with Uber. Presumably, ride-sharing demand is growing, but Lyft is not getting those additional customers.
Lyft did not explain why it is doing so badly. One problem is that Uber has superior coverage. It operates across a much larger map. This gives it opportunities Lyft does not have. Lyft would have to spend a fortune to make its footprint as large as that of its rival, if it could do so at all.
According to some media, Uber also makes it easier for drivers to share fees. If this is the case, drivers have the incentive to stay away from Lyft.
For whatever reason, Lyft is losing ground fast.
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