Lyft's stock falls to record low
By Levi Sumagaysay
Ride-hailing company's market cap is now almost sixfold less than what it was when it went public almost three years ago
Lyft Inc.'s stock closed at a record low Thursday, after also hitting its lowest intraday trading level ever.
The ride-hailing company's market capitalization is now almost sixfold less than what it was when it went public almost three years ago.
Less than a month ago, Lyft (LYFT)reported fourth-quarter results and an outlook that fell short of Wall Street expectations, causing its shares to tank 36%. Since then, the ride-hailing company's stock has closed lower in regular trading more times than it has closed higher.
Lyft shares closed the day down 1.2% to $9.78. They traded as low as $9.52 Thursday, an all-time low. Their previous record low, reached on Dec. 27, 2022, was $9.87.
Though the company last month reported record fourth-quarter revenue for the second quarter in a row, its first-quarter revenue forecast fell below the $1 billion analysts expected, and its executives signaled they would need to increase spending to remain competitive with the company's bigger rival, Uber Technologies Inc. (UBER).
Several analysts downgraded Lyft's stock and cut their price targets after the company's earnings call, with Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives calling it a "top 3 worst call we have ever heard."
This week, Bernstein analysts wrote: "Uber continues to take market share, with healthy incremental margins; investors worried about price competition from Lyft but for now we think risk is low, and view Lyft's actions as more of an effort to close the gap to Uber."
Lyft's stock is down 11% year to date and is off 75% from its 52-week closing high of $40.16 on March 29, 2022. Uber's stock is up about 34% so far this year.
Lyft, whose market capitalization after its initial public offering in March 2019 was $21 billion, now has a market cap of $3.57 billion.
-Levi Sumagaysay
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 02, 2023 17:34 ET (22:34 GMT)
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