Lyft: Q1 Loss Narrows as Bookings Climb

Lyft executed about 187.7 million rides in the first quarter, an increase of 23 percent year over year, with gross bookings of nearly $3.7 billion, up 21.1 percent from a year prior, the company reported on Tuesday. 

Ride growth reflected “strong demand across use cases,” Lyft CFO Erin Brewer said during a Tuesday evening earnings call. “Growth in early morning commute and weekend evening trips was particularly strong, which is a continuation of the trends we saw in the back half of 2023.”

The number of active riders in the first quarter were 21.9 million, up 12 percent year over year, “reflecting an improvement in rider retention along with an increase in new riders,” according to Lyft. 

The company also had “more drivers use our platform in Q1 than we’ve had in about four years, and driver hours have returned to 2019 levels,” Lyft CEO David Risher said. In addition, “pick-up times in Q1 were the fastest they have been in four years.”

Lyft Q1 Metrics

Lyft reported first-quarter revenue of nearly $1.3 billion, up about 27.7 percent year over year, with gross bookings of about $3.7 billion, up 21.1 percent from a year prior. 

The company’s net loss was $31.5 million, compared with a loss of $187.6 million in Q1 2023. 

Lyft’s outlook for the second quarter of 2024 included gross bookings of $4 billion to $4.1 billion, up 16 percent to 19 percent year over year, Brewer said, with an assumption of rides growth of about 15 percent. Full-year 2024 outlook includes rides growth of mid-teen percentages year over year. Gross bookings are projected to grow slightly faster than rides growth. 

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