Lyft's first-quarter bookings forecast pressured by fierce competition with Uber

By Akash Sriram

(Reuters) -Lyft forecast current-quarter gross bookings below estimates on Tuesday, as its jostles for more riders with larger rival Uber Technologies, while wildfires and extreme weather events disrupted its business in some key markets.

Shares of the San Francisco-based firm fell about 10% in after-hours trading.

Lyft said it was expecting gross bookings between $4.05 billion and $4.20 billion in the first quarter, below estimates of $4.26 billion.

Uber also projected bookings below estimates for the same period last week. Lyft is locked in fierce competition with Uber to attract riders, prompting it to match prices with the larger rival to grab more market share.

"Our strategy is this: we price competitively and reliably, and we compete on service ... It's working and we are going to stick with it," CEO David Risher told Reuters.

He added that competitive pricing had helped Lyft hit all-time highs in rides and driver hours every quarter.

Lyft saw prices on a per mile basis fall in the fourth quarter, a trend that continued in the current three-month period, CFO Erin Brewer said on a conference call with analysts.

Still, the company's market share towards the end of 2024 was the highest since 2022, Risher said.

Lyft's December-quarter revenue was at a record high, rising 26.6% to $1.55 billion, and was in line with the estimates of $1.56 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

The company also recorded its first full year of positive free cash flow and profit in 2024. Its adjusted profit for the fourth quarter was 29 cents per share, well above estimates of 22 cents.

The ride-hailing platform also rolled out its first stock buyback worth $500 million.

On Monday, Lyft said it would partner with Japanese conglomerate Marubeni to roll out robotaxis with Mobileye hardware on its platform as early as 2026.

It forecast current-quarter adjusted core earnings of about $90 million to $95 million, the midpoint for which is slightly below expectations of $92.9 million.

Its adjusted core earnings of $112.8 million in the fourth quarter beat expectations of $104.1 million.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)