Topline
Lyft shares rose over 14% Wednesday to a three-year high after the rideshare company announced a partnership with autonomous ride-hailing service Waymo.
General view of Lyft signage during the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2023 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images)
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Key Facts
Lyft shares traded up 11.9% to $22.60 about thirty minutes before market close Wednesday.
The surge in share price brings Lyft’s stock to its highest point since May 2022, when it dramatically fell from a post-COVID lockdown boom the year prior.
The Lyft and Waymo partnership brings Waymo’s robotaxi service to Nashville, adding on to the company’s service in the cities of Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco, Atlanta and Austin.
Lyft will provide vehicle maintenance, infrastructure and depot operations under the agreement.
Riders will be able to use Waymo’s robotaxi service first through the company’s app and later through Lyft’s app as the Nashville service grows.
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Tangent
Shares of Uber, Lyft’s ridesharing competitor, fell 4.2% at 2:30 p.m. EDT, erasing gains made in the last week of trading. Uber’s stock is up more than 53% this year.
Key Background
Lyft’s stock has been on a tear since the company announced its second quarter earnings in August, when it missed analyst expectations on revenue ($1.6 billion) and earnings per share ($0.10), but posted $4.5 billion in gross bookings—an all-time high that represented a 12% increase year-over-year. Waymo is looking to expand the market for its autonomous rides next year, with plans to bring its service to Washington, D.C., Miami and New York City. It has also been testing in cities like San Diego, Las Vegas and Houston. Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana told The New York Times podcast “Hard Fork” in August “we’re currently giving hundreds of thousands of rides every week and, in all likelihood, by the end of next year, we will be offering around one million rides per week.” Waymo has received $12 billion in investments from parent company Alphabet and other investors, and could see $300 million in ride revenue this year, according to a Forbes estimate.
Further Reading
Waymo Is A Trillion-Dollar Opportunity. Google Just Needs To Seize It. (Forbes)