Fourth-quarter revenue and ridership for Lyft improved from third-quarter levels, as the ride-hailing company prepares for a recovery led by leisure travelers and high-frequency users, the company reported Tuesday.
Lyft expects demand, driven primarily by leisure, to jump-start in Q2. “Based on Covid recovery expectations, in Q1 we plan to invest in driver supply to improve service levels and prepare for stronger demand beginning in Q2,” said Lyft co-founder and CEO Logan Green. “As individuals return to activities like leisure and entertainment in the second half of the year, we are taking steps today to ensure we are ready to support this anticipated demand when the time comes.”
“We anticipate Q1 should be the last quarter of negative revenue growth in 2021,” said Lyft CFO Brian Roberts. With Covid-19’s impact on Lyft’s earnings starting in March of Q1 2020, Roberts said, “We expect to generate exceptional year-over-year growth in Q2 as we begin to come to the first full quarter impacted by Covid-19. We expect significant organic growth to continue in Q3 and Q4 as well.”
We expect to generate exceptional year-over-year growth in Q2 as we begin to come to the first full quarter impacted by Covid-19. We expect significant organic growth to continue in Q3 and Q4 as well.”
Lyft’s Brian Roberts
Lyft reported fourth-quarter revenue of $569.9 million, down 44 percent year over year. Compared to Q3 2020, revenue rose 14 percent quarter over quarter, Lyft reported. Much of the revenue improvement came from more usage by high frequency riders, said Lyft co-founder and CEO Logan Green.
In the latter part of Q4 2020, demand slowed due to the surge in Covid-19 cases and the reintroduction of restrictive measures intended to curb the spread. In response, Lyft reduced driver acquisition and incentive spend, helping shore up its financial results. Lyft reported net loss for the quarter was $458.2 million, compared to a net loss of $356 million in Q4 2019.
“In the fourth quarter, we successfully eliminated $360 million in fixed costs on an annualized basis versus our original 2020 plan, exceeding our target cost reduction by 20 percent,” said Roberts. “Our Q4 results also outperformed our most recent outlook.”
Lyft reported full-year 2020 revenue of $2.4 billion in revenue, down 35 percent year over year drop from $3.6 billion in 2019. The company posted full-year net loss of $1.8 billion, an improvement from 2019, which saw a net loss of $2.6 billion.