December 7, 2022

Lyft Reports First-Ever Full-Year Adjusted Earnings

Ride-sharing platform Lyft announced its fourth-quarter 2021 and fiscal 2021 results after the bell on Tuesday, marking its first-ever profitable year in terms of adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The company reported a figure of $92.9 million after losing more than $750,000 in 2020.

A significant portion of this profit was made in the fourth quarter. Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2021 was $74.7 million, up from losses of $150 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 and topping Lyft’s record gains of $67.3 million in the third quarter 2021.

Lyft’s contribution margin and revenue per active passenger also hit record highs in the fourth quarter. Contribution (defined by Lyft as revenue less cost of revenue adjusted to exclude several metrics, such as amortization of intangibles) for Q4 2021 was $578.8 million on a margin of 59.7% , up more than 4 percentage points year over year and beating the company’s outlook of 59%. Revenue per average passenger reached $51.79, an increase of 14.1% compared to the fourth quarter of 2020.

“2021 has been a great year. We strengthened our financial position and continued to invest in exciting growth initiatives. I’m proud of the team for what we’ve accomplished together and look forward to building on our momentum,” said co-founder and CEO Logan Green. “We are also delighted that Elaine Paul has joined our management team as Chief Financial Officer. She is a perfect fit for the culture and we will leverage her expertise to scale the best disruptive companies as we enter our next phase of growth. »

“We had a strong fourth quarter and achieved 36% revenue growth in 2021,” Paul added. “Revenue per active passenger, contribution margin and adjusted EBITDA all reached new highs in the fourth quarter, driven by improved service levels and increased ride volumes in our market. Despite omicron’s short-term headwinds, we remain optimistic for 2022.”


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Lyft (NASDAQ: LYFT) revenue for fiscal 2021 was $3.2 billion versus $2.4 billion in 2020, up 36%. Of that amount, $969.9 million came in the fourth quarter, compared to $569.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Net loss for the year, meanwhile, was even $1 billion, an improvement from the company’s loss of $1.8 billion the previous year. Net loss for Q4 2021 was $258.6 million, compared to $458.2 million in Q4 2020.

Adjusted net income for fiscal 2021 was $82.2 million, compared to an adjusted net loss of $828.9 million in 2020. Lyft reported adjusted net income of $32.1 million for its latest quarter, compared to a loss of $185.3 million in the same period in 2020 and good for 9 cents per diluted share, just above consensus analyst estimates of 8 cents per diluted share. Last quarter, the company recorded a net loss of 21 cents per diluted share.

Lyft also reported an increase in its active rider base of nearly 50% year over year. The company reported a total of around 18.7 million active passengers at the end of 2021, compared to around 12.6 million at the end of 2020.

While that number was down slightly from the third quarter and missed StreetAccount analyst expectations of 20.2 million, it was offset by those runners spending more than ever despite concerns about COVID-19 and the omicron variant.


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According to Lyft co-founder and president John Zimmer, this is partly due to the doubling of expensive airport rides from the previous year. In a statement to Barron’s, Paul said the jump was “driven by improved service levels and increased ride volume,” noting that Lyft remains confident it can deliver a profitable second year despite the challenges. term of omicron.

While the number of runners was below consensus estimates, the number of drivers increased. According to Zimmer, active drivers in the fourth quarter increased 34% year over year, and the number of new drivers who had never worked for Lyft increased 50% over the same period.

Lyft reported $2.3 billion in unrestricted cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, similar to the prior year.

Additionally, Lyft’s earnings report noted the company’s transaction with Woven Planet Holdings, a subsidiary of Toyota that acquired its self-driving car division in April. Through this transaction, Lyft will enter into non-exclusive, multi-year commercial agreements with Woven Planet, receiving $515 million in cash over a five-year period.

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