Lyft stock down more than 35%

Shares of Lyft fell more than 35% when markets opened Friday, a day after the company reported guidance for its first quarter of 2023 that fell short of analyst expectations.

The company expects to bring in about $975 million in revenue in Q1, while analysts had been anticipating $1.09 billion, according to StreetAccount.

Lyft’s CFO pointed to “seasonality and lower prices” to explain the guidance.

Lyft posted a revenue beat of $1.18 billion for the fourth quarter of 2022, compared with the $1.16 billion analysts were expecting, according to Refinitiv. It also posted earnings of 29 cents per share, adjusted, versus 13 cents per share expected in a Refinitiv survey of analysts.

Wall Street noticed the contrast between Lyft’s report and Uber’s earnings.

“Our positive thesis on Lyft had been based on post-pandemic recovery combined with an accelerated shift to profit through cost rationalization. However, rideshare is now approaching full recovery in the US, but Lyft is not,” JPMorgan’s Doug Anmuth said. It was hit with several downgrades from JPMorgan, KeyBanc, Loop Capital and Truist,

Rival Uber, by contrast, posted its strongest quarter ever in its earnings report earlier in the week, sending its stock up.

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