Lyft Shares Up on Rides Demand Surge

In Lyft’s Q2 results, the ride-share company saw profits rising as demand surged due to continued reopenings of the economy after the pandemic, a company release said. 

The company also said it had seen more drivers signing up as people need money with the rising costs of living. 

“We leaned in hard in Q2 and the team did fantastic work to drive strong results,” said Logan Green, co-founder and CEO of Lyft. “We generated the highest Adjusted EBITDA in our company’s history and saw COVID highs for Active Riders, drivers and rides. It’s clear consumer transportation is a good long-term business with a massive addressable market.” 

Chief Financial Officer Elaine Paul said the company was confident that it could “continue navigating macroeconomic headwinds and deliver strong long-term business results.” 

The revenue for Q2 was at $990.7 million, a rise from $765 million from the same time last year, a 30% increase, the release said. 

Lyft has also recently teamed with Hertz to offer more ways to ease summer air travel, PYMNTS wrote in June, with Lyft now offering “Priority Pickup” for users in some markets heading to airports. 

Read more: Lyft, Hertz Team on New Summer Travel Offerings 

It’s also begun allowing shared trips for airport runs. 

The Hertz arrangement will also help Lyft customers arrange rental cars without leaving their Lyft smartphone app. 

Lyft Rentals customers will also be able to add a second driver for car reservations with no charge — and customers returning the cars booked through the app will get $10 in Lyft credits. 

Lyft’s and Hertz’s deal opened up with a few locations like Austin, Texas, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Nashville, Tennessee, but had plans to open nationally. 

In addition, the company also recently added a cash payment option, PYMNTS reported in June. 

Read more: Lyft Adds Cash Payment Option 

This will help people who need or want to pay with cash rather than with a digital payment option through a phone. 

Lyft is partnering with more than 35,000 retailers in the U.S., including Walmart, ACE Cash Express and Kroger Family of Stores, to do this. 

Users can present a barcode or ID member from the Lyft app to add cash to their Lyft balance. That can be used to book rides from a user’s account, with no added fees or charges.