Lyft (LYFT) reported its Q4 2022 earnings on Feb. 9 after market close. The stock plummeted 30% in after-hours trade following the release.
The San Francisco-based company beat on key metrics, including revenue and its active rider count, but missed analysts' estimates for Q1 2023 revenue. Lyft said it expects to make about $975 million in revenue in the fiscal first quarter of 2023, lower than the $1.09 billion analysts anticipated.
Here's what the ride-hailing company reported, as compared to estimates compiled by Bloomberg:
Q4 revenue: $1.18 billion actual versus $1.16 billion expected
Q4 loss per share: -$1.61 actual versus 13 cents expected
Q4 active riders: 20.36 million actual versus 20.3 million expected
Q1 revenue guidance: $975 million actual versus $1.09 billion expected
“Our Q1 guidance is the result of seasonality and lower prices, including less Prime Time,” Lyft CFO Elaine Paul in a statement. Prime time refers to when there are more passengers than Lyft drivers — and prices are higher.
Lyft's gaping EPS miss is linked to how the company's insurance renewal played out, which Paul also noted. “Our different insurance renewal timing puts differently timed pressure on our P&L. We are not waiting for that to normalize to achieve competitive service levels."
'We are focused on driving greater growth and profitability'
Still, there were notably positive points in Lyft's release, particularly if you consider its trajectory. For instance, the company's Q4 revenue jumped 21% year-over-year, while its active ride count is up almost 9% year-over-year.
“In Q4 we achieved the highest revenues in our company’s history and we outperformed guidance on Adjusted EBITDA excluding the action we took to strengthen our insurance reserves,” Paul said.
Logan Green, co-founder and CEO of Lyft added, “In 2022 we took important steps to strengthen our business and delivered significant value to our customers. The better marketplace balance we see today creates significant opportunities for long-term profitable growth. To take advantage of this opportunity we must ensure competitive service levels. Reinforcing our competitive position, servicing more demand and reducing our fixed and variable costs will put us in the best position to deliver strong shareholder returns.”
For its part, Uber reported its Q4 earnings on Feb. 8, offering up key beats in both revenue and delivery bookings. The company's $8.61 billion Q4 revenue beat represented a 49% year-over-year jump. Uber's shares climbed about 5% throughout yesterday, falling very slightly in after-hours trading.
Allie Garfinkle is a Senior Tech Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter at @agarfinks and on LinkedIn.
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