Lyft Q1 earnings beat expectations, but gloomy outlook sends shares falling

Lyft (LYFT) reported its fiscal first quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday, beating expectations on the top and bottom line, but offering a gloomier than anticipated outlook for the second quarter.

The company is calling for between $1 billion and $1.02 billion in revenue in Q2, below the $1.08 billion Wall Street expected.

Here are the most important numbers from the report compared to what Wall Street was anticipating, based on Bloomberg data.

  • Revenue: $1 billion versus $977 million expected

  • Losses per share: $0.50 versus $0.57 expected

  • Average revenue per user: $51.17 versus $49.77 expected

Shares of Lyft were off 12% following the announcement.

Thursday marked newly-minted CEO David Risher’s first earnings report since taking over from founder Logan Green in April.

In his first weeks as CEO, Risher has focused on slashing costs at Lyft, laying off 1,072 employees, or 26% of the company’s total workforce. The firm also closed more than 250 open positions as part of the effort.

Lyft is working to steal back market share from rival Uber (UBER), which has continued to eat into Lyft’s own customer base. Uber has continued to perform well by exploiting its own Uber Eats food delivery service to draw in more customers. That, coupled with its international presence, makes Uber a difficult Goliath to topple for Lyft.

Lyft CEO David Risher poses for a photo at the company's headquarters on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, in San Francisco. Even before he joined Lyft's board in 2021, Risher had taken hundreds of trips as a passenger so he felt like he knew a lot about the ride-hailing service. (AP Photo/Michael Liedtke)

Lyft CEO David Risher poses for a photo at the company’s headquarters on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, in San Francisco.(AP Photo/Michael Liedtke)

In a March interview with Yahoo Finance Live, however, Risher told executive editor Brian Sozzi that “the battle is back.”

But Risher’s moves could be a precursor to a potential sale of the ride-hailing company. The CEO was previously noncommittal when asked about selling, telling Yahoo Finance Live that he is focused on creating a great service “either as a standalone company or something else.”

Uber, meanwhile, reported a strong quarter on Tuesday, with gross bookings climbing 19% and its Mobility business revenue jumping 40% year-over-year.

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By Daniel Howley, tech editor at Yahoo Finance. Follow him @DanielHowley

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Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/lyft-q1-earnings-143301253.html