Lyft’s Q3 Sees Boost In Revenue, Riders

Lyft announced its Q3 earnings results, which showed a rise in revenue and ridership.

The company reported Q3 revenue of $955.6 million versus $585 million in the third quarter of 2018, an increase of 63 percent year over year. In addition, Lyft reported 22.3 million “active riders” in Q3, compared to estimates of 22.1 million. Revenue per active rider rose 27 percent year over year to $42.82.

“Our third quarter results demonstrated the significant progress Lyft has made on our path to profitability. Record revenue was generated by strong growth in both active riders and revenue per active rider, as we continue to increase engagement through product innovation and execution,” said Logan Green, co-founder and chief executive officer of Lyft, in a press release. “Our continued focus on consumer transportation is yielding meaningful improvements in monetization and strong operating leverage. As a result of the continued strength of our execution, we are updating our outlook for 2019.”

Looking ahead to Q4, Lyft is estimating that its earnings revenue will be between $975 million and $985 million, and revenue is expected to be between 46 percent and 47 percent year over year. For 2019, the company predicts revenue to be between $3.57 billion and $3.58 billion (up from between $3.47 billion and $3.5 billion), and annual revenue growth rate is expected to be approximately 66 percent (up from between 61 percent and 62 percent).

As CFO Brian Roberts told CNBC, the company is focused on achieving profitability. “We’re not doing food, not doing trucking,” he said. “We are 100 percent focused on our transportation network and platform scale to unlock more efficiency.”

It appears that Lyft might be closer to achieving its goal. Last week, the company said it would turn a profit by the end of 2021, one year earlier than expected.

“We’ve never laid out our path to profitability, and we know that’s a question on a lot of investors’ minds,” said Green. “We’re going to be profitable on an adjusted EBIDTA basis a year before analysts expect us to. We’re going to hit this target in Q4 2021.”