News 
Market Data 
Discover
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
Lyft Net Income 2018-2020...
By: Charlie Bilello | February 9, 2021
• Lyft Net Income...
Q4 '20: -$458 million
Q3 '20: -$460 mil.
Q2 '20: -$327 mil.
Q1 '20: -$398 mil.
Q4 '19: -$356 mil.
Q3 '19: -$463 mil.
Q2 '19: -$644 mil.
Q1 '19: -$1.1 billion
Q4 '18: -$249 mil.
Q3 '18: -$249 mil.
Q2 '18: -$179 mil.
Q1 '18: -$234 mil.
Read Full Story »»»
DiscoverGold
Lyft sticks to year-end profitability goal, projects rides recovery in second quarter
By: Reuters | February 9, 2021
Lyft Inc (NASDAQ:LYFT) said on Tuesday it stood by its goal to become profitable on an adjusted basis by the end of this year despite the pandemic, forecasting a rebound in ride-hail demand beginning in the second quarter of 2021.
Lyft expects COVID-19 vaccine distribution to scale up in the second quarter, allowing more people to return to pre-pandemic normality, and said it expects its own cost cuts to help it achieve a profit.
"Based on current recovery expectations, we should experience a growth inflection beginning in the second quarter that strengthens in the second half of the year," Lyft Chief Financial Officer Brian Roberts said in a statement.
The company reported roughly $570 million in fourth-quarter revenue, a 44% decline on a yearly basis, but an uptick of 14% compared with the third quarter. Analysts on average had expected the company to post revenue of $562 million, according to Refinitiv data.
Lyft reported a loss in adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $150 million in the fourth quarter, indicating it must improve to reach its year-end target of adjusted EBITDA profitability. That compares with a $185 million adjusted EBITDA loss projected by analysts on average.
The smaller-than-expected loss is largely due to Lyft shaving off more costs than originally anticipated, including for software hosting services, payment processing and insurance, John Zimmer, the company's president, told Reuters in an interview.
Those cuts of $360 million in fixed costs and additional decreases in variable costs would allow the company to continue operating more efficiently once riders return.
"As riders increase ... those lower costs will also help drive higher contribution margins," Zimmer said.
Lyft shares have recovered from their record lows during the early months of the virus outbreak in the United States and are trading at roughly the same level as a year ago. Shares of larger rival Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER) Inc have gained more than 47% over the past 12 months.
Unlike Uber, Lyft has not been able to offset the drop in ride-hail revenue with food delivery services. Uber is scheduled to report results on Wednesday after the bell.
Lyft executives in the past have said they remained squarely focused on moving people, not goods, but last quarter the company announced it was working on a white-label or non-Lyft-branded platform to allow deliveries between different businesses for groceries, food and packages.
Zimmer told Reuters on Tuesday that Lyft's delivery platform was still early in the process and that the business would just be additive, with the company hoping to announce partners by the middle of this year.
Zimmer said Lyft was confident that retail businesses and restaurants were looking to avoid the fees charged by food delivery platforms, including Uber Eats, GrubHub (NYSE:GRUB) Inc and others.
"They don't want to pay the 20% to 30% to Uber Eats to do that long-term," he said. "Those retailers are investing in their own infrastructure, of which we would be part."
Read Full Story »»»
DiscoverGold
Uber and Lyft's long wait for a rebound in demand signals slow economic recovery
By: Reuters | February 8, 2021
With the pandemic still suppressing ridesharing demand, Wall Street is keen to know how soon Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER) Inc and Lyft Inc (NASDAQ:LYFT) expect a rebound and how they plan to keep costs under control until then.
Investors are also hoping for more insight on Uber's successful food delivery operations and Lyft's efforts to set up a delivery business when the companies report fourth-quarter results this week.
Analysts generally do not expect ride-hail demand to rebound before the second half of 2021, when more people have been vaccinated and offices and businesses have reopened, which suggests a somewhat gloomy outlook for the broader consumer-based economy.
The sluggish recovery also complicates Uber and Lyft's efforts to become profitable on an adjusted basis by the end of this year.
Lyft, scheduled to report results on Tuesday afternoon, already disclosed that rising COVID-19 infections have resulted in 47% and 50% fewer rides in October and November, respectively.
Analysts expect a similar trend for Uber, which reports results after market close on Wednesday. As a global player, Uber is also impacted by renewed lockdown measures imposed across its European markets.
"Cost-cutting is perhaps the main factor which investors watch these days when they decide to trade ride-hailing stocks," Investing.com analyst Haris Anwar said in a note.
Bernstein analysts cautioned investors to ignore the short-term volatility in the pace of recovery.
Unlike Lyft, Uber has been able offset its ride-hail losses with a surge in food-delivery orders at its Uber Eats business, where revenue has doubled during the pandemic.
Uber has expanded its footprint in the competitive space and acquired smaller food-delivery rival Postmates and alcoholic beverage delivery service Drizly.
The company has also launched grocery, package and prescription deliveries in some North American cities.
Lyft last quarter announced it was working to offer a delivery service for restaurants without launching a full-fledged consumer-facing platform for food delivery.
Asked about details during a December investor conference, Lyft President John Zimmer said the company was working on a white-label or non-Lyft-branded platform to allow deliveries between different businesses for groceries, food and packages.
Lyft has not provided further details and Zimmer in December said the company was still in the very early stages of the process.
Analysts on average expect Uber to post $3.58 billion in fourth-quarter revenue and a $949 million net loss, according to Refinitiv data.
Lyft is expected to post $562 million in quarterly revenue at a net loss of $226 million, Refinitiv data showed.
Read Full Story »»»
DiscoverGold
Wells Fargo & Company raised Lyft price target on the stock from $48.00 to $56.00
By: MarketBeat | January 29, 2021
Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT)'s share price rose 6% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $48.00 to $56.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Lyft traded as high as $46.86 and last traded at $46.22. Approximately 6,462,398 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 2% from the average daily volume of 6,334,050 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.62.
Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Lyft from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 5th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Lyft from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Lyft from $46.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 16th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Lyft from $34.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 11th. Finally, BTIG Research boosted their price objective on shares of Lyft from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 7th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $51.18.
Read Full Story »»»
DiscoverGold
Noteworthy Friday Option Activity: TDOC, BOOM, LYFT
By: Nasdaq | January 29, 2021
Looking at options trading activity among components of the Russell 3000 index, there is noteworthy activity today in Lyft Inc (Symbol: LYFT) options are showing a volume of 31,411 contracts thus far today. That number of contracts represents approximately 3.1 million underlying shares, working out to a sizeable 51.2% of LYFT's average daily trading volume over the past month, of 6.1 million shares. Especially high volume was seen for the $35 strike put option expiring July 16, 2021, with 4,395 contracts trading so far today, representing approximately 439,500 underlying shares of LYFT. Below is a chart showing LYFT's trailing twelve month trading history, with the $35 strike highlighted in orange:
Read Full Story »»»
DiscoverGold
'Poverty Mode': App-Based Drivers Slam Lyft's Latest Pay Cut Scheme
By: Brett Wilkins | January 25, 2021
• "The digital economy today is part of the problem and not the solution," argues one labor advocate. "It's not too late to change that."
Labor advocates on Monday pointed to Lyft's latest driver pay reduction scheme as proof that the Biden administration needs to focus on more effectively regulating the so-called gig economy.
On Friday, CNET reported the ongoing partial nationwide rollout of Lyft's new "priority mode," in which drivers are promised more rides, but with the caveat of having to agree to accept 10% less pay for each fare.
Some drivers on online forums have been derisively calling Lyft's latest effort to cut their pay "poverty mode."
"I knew that this just was another way for the company to take more money from the drivers," Earla Phillips, a longtime Lyft driver in Toronto, told CNET. "The first week I didn't even bother turning it on."
It's a familiar story for many longtime Lyft and Uber drivers, who have seen numerous cuts in pay and bonuses over recent years as the app-based companies, which went public in 2019, try—and fail—to turn a profit.
In the mid-2010s, app-based drivers could easily earn $20 or more an hour in many metropolitan areas. Both Lyft and Uber offered weekly bonuses, which could be as high as $500 for completing over 150 rides, with some conditions including peak-hour and weekend rides.
Full-time drivers in the San Francisco Bay Area regularly reported gross earning of more than $2,000 per week until the latter years of the 2010s. New driver and referral bonuses added thousands of dollars to many drivers' earnings. Some drivers in more lucrative markets reported earning over $100,000 annually before expenses.
Those days are long gone. According to a 2019 study by the Economic Policy Institute, Uber drivers now earn around $9 per hour after factoring in expenses. Additionally, the cut taken by ride-hailing companies from each fare has risen from as low as 20% to sometimes more than half.
The declining pay and bonuses that some drivers and critics have called a "race to the bottom" was in full gear even before the coronavirus pandemic dramatically reduced passenger demand. However, Covid-19 pushed many drivers to the breaking point. Phillips told CNET that she drives around for hours waiting for passengers.
Labor advocates argue that the app-based companies' businesses models require a response in the form of more robust regulation of the so-called gig economy. They say that when state and local efforts to rein in ride-hailing, delivery, and other gig companies fail—as occurred in California last year when voters approved a $204 million corporate-funded ballot measure preventing drivers from being classified as employees—it is up to the federal government to step in.
In a Monday op-ed originally published at Inequality.org, Bama Athreya, an expert on economic inequality at the Open Society Foundations, asserts that "governing the gig economy will require both a committed labor policy team and a committed digital policy team, and they will have to work together."
"For too long, the platform giants have exploited the space between the experts on labor law and those focused on the digital economy, cloaking themselves in claims that their product was simply technology," writes Athreya, who argues that the Biden administration should take steps including supporting a $15 minimum wage, taking strong action against "disguised employment and rampant misclassification," protecting non-traditional organizing, and regulating data ownership.
"The way forward with respect to some platforms may be to turn them into public utilities," Athreya continues. "In other cases, governments must break data monopolies on the principle that data is part of the public 'commons.'"
"If gig companies can't make their business model work in ways favorable to the public interest, they should go out of business and clear the field for genuine innovators who aren't simply making their profits off scofflaw practices," Athreya concludes. "The digital economy today is part of the problem and not the solution. It's not too late to change that."
Read Full Story »»»
DiscoverGold
General Counsel Kristin Sverchek Sells 5,000 Shares of Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) Stock
By: MarketBeat | December 28, 2020
Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ:LYFT) General Counsel Kristin Sverchek sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.08, for a total value of $250,400.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.
Read Full Story »»»
DiscoverGold
MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR to ALL!
DiscoverGold
Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) Price Target Raised to $58.00
By: MarketBeat | December 22, 2020
Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) had its price target increased by investment analysts at DA Davidson from $42.00 to $58.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, The Fly reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the ride-sharing company's stock. DA Davidson's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 17.10% from the stock's current price.
Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler upgraded Lyft from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $39.00 to $61.00 in a research report on Monday, December 7th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Lyft from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 9th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Lyft from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 3rd. Citigroup Inc. 3% Minimum Coupon Principal Protected Based Upon Russell upped their price target on Lyft from $49.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 3rd. Finally, Truist reduced their price target on Lyft from $49.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 10th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $49.17.
LYFT stock traded down $0.38 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $49.53. 115,457 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,870,962. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.73 billion, a PE ratio of -9.29 and a beta of 2.27. Lyft has a 52 week low of $14.56 and a 52 week high of $54.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $40.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.54.
Read Full Story »»»
DiscoverGold
The broken business model of Uber and Lyft is taking a heavy toll on society
By: Fortune | December 19, 2020
What would a safety net look like for gig workers in the Internet-based economy?
It would provide health insurance, naturally, and a retirement plan, sick leave, and injured worker and unemployment compensation. And it would be equitable and portable: A person working part-time for different companies would have robust benefits that travel with them from job-to- job.
The good news is that we know how to design that sort of safety net. The bad news is that the digital platform companies keep missing opportunities to make it a reality.
Uber and Lyft are well aware of proposals to build better benefits systems. Following the publication of my book, Raw Deal: How the ‘Uber Economy’ and Runaway Capitalism Are Screwing American Workers in 2015, I met with executives at both ride-sharing firms. A central part of the discussions was my proposal for an “Individual Security Account,” a portable safety net for drivers and for other freelance workers.
My idea was that each worker would have a mandatory, government-regulated Individual Security Account, and that any business that hires a worker would contribute an amount pro-rated to the number of hours worked for that business. The worker would then use those funds to pay for safety net needs such as health care, Social Security, sick leave, injured worker and unemployment compensation.
Instead of pitting flexibility against security—making a gig worker choose between the work they want and the benefits they need—a portable safety net based on this kind of an “hours bank” system would allow for both. (The Screen Actors Guild, the Service Employees International Union, and the Teamsters all manage these kinds of multi-employer plans). The Individual Security Account, as I envisioned it, would fill in the gap when there is no labor union to coordinate contributions.
President Barack Obama endorsed my idea in his 2016 State of the Union address. Forty business and government leaders—including the co-founders of Lyft—signed a statement of principles calling for a portable safety net. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi also called for enacting a portable safety net plan.
But when bills for portable safety nets were introduced in states, Uber and Lyft, rather than contributing 20% of a worker’s wages (the minimum necessary to fund an adequate safety net according to federal actuarial tables) offered to contribute 2.5%.
One study found that if their California drivers had been classified as employees rather than contractors these last five years, Uber and Lyft would have paid more than $400 million into the state unemployment insurance fund alone. Instead, California taxpayers have had to foot the bill for the significant wage and benefit gaps created by these companies.
Without a serious offer from the companies, the California legislature passed AB5, which attempted to solve the problem by reclassifying drivers as employees rather than independent contractors. Uber and Lyft refused to implement the law, and pursued Proposition 22 instead.
Why can’t these companies, rich enough to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a ruinous ballot measure, do better by their workers?
The answer is that Uber and Lyft are in huge financial trouble. They lose billions of dollars every year. Profit margins are inherently low in the taxi business, and their predatory model subsidizes more than half the cost of every ride in a bid to undercut competition.
With the passage of Prop 22, the companies have now legislated into existence another miserly version of a portable safety net, along with a face-saving attempt at a minimum wage. The value of Proposition 22’s health benefit is estimated at about $1.20 an hour—well below the $4 to $6 hourly value of benefits mandated for employees under state and federal laws.
Proposition 22 also appears to offer to drivers a new hourly minimum wage of at least $16.80 per hour. But read the fine print: A complex formula will be used in which only “engaged hours” (when the driver has a passenger in the car) will be counted as hours worked when calculating the minimum wage.
A driver, in a 10-hour shift, might only have passengers for five hours. If the driver earns $100 in that shift, that would amount to only $10 per hour—less than California’s legal minimum wage of $12 per hour. Yet the Prop 22 formula will calculate that wage as $20 per hour, meaning the companies will have no obligation to top it up.
None of Prop 22’s offerings come close to what drivers would receive if voters had rejected the initiative and drivers had remained regular employees instead of independent contractors.
The CEOs of Uber and Lyft talk a good game, saying they are “ready to do their part” to help their drivers. But they are hamstrung by their own unprofitable business model, which has also turned out to be bad for many of their drivers, for traffic congestion, for the environment, and for transportation. How much longer can society afford to allow this business model to continue?
Read Full Story »»»
DiscoverGold
Lyft aims to bring fully driverless cars to multiple US cities in 2023
By: Engadget | December 16, 2020
• Motional has helped the company carry out more than 100,000 self-driving rides.
Lyft has completed more than 100,000 self-driving rides in Las Vegas over the last few years. Now, the company has revealed plans to bring fully driverless cars to multiple cities in the US, starting in 2023.
The Las Vegas rides have taken place with a safety driver at the wheel, ready to take over in an emergency. Motional, which is a joint venture between Aptiv and Hyundai, is Lyft's partner on that project (formerly under the Aptiv banner). It recently received permission to test autonomous vehicles on Nevada's roads without safety drivers in cars, and it plans to do so in the coming months.
The two companies will continue to work together on bringing those vehicles to multiple cities within the next few years. Lyft says this is the "first deployment partnership between a rideshare company and a driverless technology provider for a transportation service." It will handle the rideshare side of things, including the rider experience, while Motional will manage the cars.
It’s unclear in which cities the companies plan to deploy fully autonomous vehicles at first. Of course, they’d need approval from regulators in each jurisdiction before doing so.
Read Full Story »»»
DiscoverGold
Uber and Lyft roll out new benefits for California drivers under Prop 22
By: The Verge | December 14, 2020
• The companies will provide guaranteed minimum wages and health care subsidies
Following their victory last month in California on the Prop 22 ballot measure, Uber and Lyft have unveiled the new “benefits” for California drivers on their platforms, including guaranteed minimum earnings and stipends for health care.
“Even though we’ve won the vote, we’re still not done,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a blog post announcing the benefits. “In fact, we’ve only just begun to improve independent work together.”
Gig economy companies, including Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash, spent more than $200 million on the “Yes on 22” campaign. Prop 22 exempts them from AB5, a California state law requiring them to treat their workers as employees. The companies said AB5 would increase wait times and prices for customers, while taking flexibility away from drivers.
Prop 22 allows the companies to continue categorizing drivers as independent contractors and also provide some additional benefits. Opponents argued that the provisions in Prop 22 were not equal to the economic security of full-time employment.
Under Prop 22, gig workers — including ride-share drivers — will be paid 120 percent of California’s minimum wage of $13 per hour, which increases to $14 per hour in 2021. For ride-share drivers, this applies only during active hours: when they have a passenger in their vehicle or are en route to pick up a passenger. It requires workers with 15 active hours a week to receive a health care stipend.
Uber’s benefits program calls for drivers to be paid at least 20 percent more than the pickup city’s minimum wage plus 30 cents per mile for expenses. That 30 cents per mile doesn’t apply to delivery workers on foot or bicycle. Drivers who earn less than the guaranteed minimum over a two-week period will be paid the difference automatically.
Lyft’s pay schedule is similar, with its first guaranteed earnings period beginning on December 16th. At both companies, drivers who earn more than the guaranteed minimum will keep all of their earnings — there is no upper limit. They’ll also keep 100 percent of their tips
For health care, Lyft will provide a quarterly health care subsidy for drivers who drive an average of at least 15 hours per week. To qualify, drivers have to provide proof they are enrolled in a qualifying health care plan. Uber’s health care stipend also requires an average of 15 hours per week, and drivers have to prove they are the primary policyholder on a qualifying health insurance plan. Uber drivers receive 50 percent of the stipend — amount still TBD — if they average 15 active hours a week and 100 percent of the stipend when they average 25 active hours per week.
Drivers can qualify for the health care subsidies beginning on January 1st.
To cover the costs of the new benefits, Uber said it would apply a fee of up to $1.50 to the cost of rides and up to $2 on meal deliveries, the Financial Times reported. Lyft did not provide details on any additional customer fees.
Prop 22 mandates current ride-share drivers receive safety training before July 1st, 2021. Drivers who sign on after January 1st will be required to complete the safety course before they take their first trips. Drivers will also be required to take breaks of at least six hours if they drive more than 12 hours in a 24-hour period, and they will be enrolled in injury protection insurance that covers medical expenses, disability payments, and survivor benefits.
Read Full Story »»»
DiscoverGold
Should Investors Be More Cautious on Lyft After Updated Q4 Guidance?
By: 24/7 Wall St. | December 2, 2020
Lyft Inc. (NASDAQ: LYFT) has updated its fourth-quarter outlook in an SEC filing posted early on Wednesday. Its shares drifted higher in early trading.
The company’s outlook for the fourth quarter of 2020, discussed on the November 10 earnings call, implied an adjusted EBITDA loss of roughly $200 million at the midpoint and $190 million at the high end, based on sequential revenue growth of 11% to 15% relative to the third quarter.
In November, it said rideshare rides were down about 50% from last year, primarily due to rising COVID-19 case counts and the related impact on demand. Based on these recent trends and the reintroduction of restrictive measures designed to curtail the spread of COVID-19 in select cities, Lyft now expects sequential revenue growth will be at the lower end of the 11% to 15% range in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Lyft also now expects it can manage its adjusted EBITDA loss in the fourth quarter of 2020 to be better than $185 million. The firm attributes the improvement in its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization outlook for the fourth quarter to contribution margin, which is expected to be at the top end of the previously provided range. Lyft also now anticipates further contribution margin expansion in 2021 on a sequential basis, versus the fourth quarter of 2020, even before a full recovery.
Lyft’s revised outlook for the fourth quarter of 2020 assumes the operating environment does not materially deteriorate.
Looking ahead, the firm plans to release financial results for the fourth quarter in February 2021. So far, consensus estimates are calling for a net loss of $0.73 per share and $569.26 million in revenue for this quarter.
Lyft stock traded up about 4% at $41.18 Wednesday morning, in a 52-week range of $14.56 to $54.50. The consensus price target is $43.44.
Read Full Story »»»
DiscoverGold
Is Lyft Stock A Buy After Earnings? Here's What Fundamentals, Chart Show
By: Investor's Business Daily | November 16, 2020
With over 22 million active riders per quarter before the pandemic, Lyft (LYFT) built itself into one of the largest global ride-hailing platforms. But Lyft stock, like rival Uber stock, has been a laggard since its public debut in March 2019. The long-term picture for ride-sharing and self-driving cars looks compelling. But the coronavirus lockdowns led to a collapse in consumer demand. But is Lyft a buy after California's passage of Prop. 22?
Ridership somewhat recovered as stay-at-home orders have been relaxed. Still, Lyft and rival Uber (UBER) face an uncertain future amid the ongoing pandemic. That could mean the long path to profitability is now even further down the road for the two competitors.
State labor regulatory reforms are an additional headwind. They threaten to upend the ride-sharing model and could significantly impact the future viability of the ride-hailing companies.
But is Lyft stock a buy now? It's key to analyze the fundamental and technical picture first.
Lyft News: Regulatory Hurdles Threaten Profitability
Gig economy companies like Lyft and Uber are seeing increased regulatory pressure. The two ride-share giants just got a huge win as California voters passed a measure known as Prop. 22.
But first, a bit of background. This year, California enacted a labor law known as AB5 that targeted the ride-share platforms. That sparked intense backlash among the state's freelancers — and not just Uber and Lyft drivers.
The law mandates that companies reclassify many independent contractors as full-time employees. It makes them eligible for health benefits, minimum-wage guarantees, workers' compensation and a slew of other labor protections.
In May, California sued Uber and Lyft for violating the controversial AB5 labor law. On Aug. 10, a California judge issued a preliminary injunction against the two ride-hailing firms. The ruling ordered the companies to immediately stop classifying drivers as independent contractors.
In reaction to the ruling, Lyft announced plans to suspend service in the state. But a California appeals court issued an emergency court order blocking the injunction later that day. The ruling averted a shutdown in service of the popular ride-share apps in the state.
Amid the legal drama, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives described AB5 as "a major gut punch to the gig economy's future growth prospects."
Lyft Stock, Uber Stock Soar After Prop. 22 Win
Fast-forward to Election Day, and California voters rolled back those regulations for the ride-share companies by approving Proposition 22. The state ballot measure provides wage protections and other benefits to app-based drivers while maintaining their independent contractor status.
Lyft stock and Uber stock soared on the news.
"The underlying business models for Uber and Lyft were hanging in the balance if Prop. 22 did not pass in California," Ives wrote in a Nov. 4 note to investors.
He described the vote as a "landmark victory" for Lyft and Uber stock. The ride-share companies derive a significant portion of their revenue from California riders and delivery services.
Lyft Earnings Amid Covid-19 Storm
Lyft stock surged 26% on Nov. 9 amid positive coronavirus vaccine news, just before it reported Q3 earnings on Nov. 10. The ride-hailing company posted an adjusted loss of $1.46 per share on revenue of $499.7 million. Analysts expected Lyft to lose 93 cents a share on revenue of $487.6 million.
One bright spot for Lyft was the increase in active riders. The ride-share platform saw a 44% increase in ridership over the previous quarter.
"Even though ride-share rides are still down from pre-Covid levels, they have meaningfully recovered from the trough we observed in the second week of April," CEO Logan Green said on the Nov. 10 earnings call. "We remain confident that demand will continue to return to our platform as we progress through the recovery and vaccines are approved and become available."
Waymo Partnership 'Critical' To Lyft's Future
Looking ahead, autonomous-vehicle technology could boost revenue and provide a pathway to profitability for the ride-hailing platform.
Lyft in 2017 announced a partnership with self-driving-car company Waymo. The subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) provides a way to gain a foothold in the self-driving-car industry.
The first commercial rides of the Lyft-Waymo partnership began in 2019 in the Phoenix metro region. Lyft's early move into self-driving-car technology spurred competitor Uber to develop its own self-driving unit that same year.
Uber sank some $7 billion in funds into the development of self-driving technology. That's a big percentage of Uber's $56 billion market cap.
"Our investments in AV (autonomous vehicles) are critical to Lyft's future," CEO Green said to investors during a presentation on Lyft earnings. "We expect that they'll deliver strong returns in the long run despite Covid."
Other large-cap players also invested heavily in the self-driving-car space. E-commerce giant Amazon (AMZN) acquired Zoox, a company that specializes in self-driving robotaxis.
Additionally, Tesla (TSLA) founder Elon Musk says his electric-vehicle company is close to achieving Level 5 — or complete — self-driving-car capabilities.
But most autonomous driving experts have pushed back their timeline for when Level 5 self-driving will be reached.
Lyft Stock Fundamental Analysis
To determine whether Lyft stock is a buy now, fundamental and technical analysis is key.
The IBD Stock Checkup tool shows that Lyft stock has a Composite Rating of 38 out of a best-possible 99. The rating means Lyft stock ranks in the bottom 38% of all stocks. That's in terms of the most important fundamental and technical stock-picking criteria.
In comparison, Uber stock has a Composite Rating of 86.
Lyft stock also has a poor EPS Rating of 7 out of 99. The EPS Rating compares quarterly and annual earnings-per-share growth with all other stocks.
Lyft Stock Technical Analysis
Lyft stock made its Nasdaq debut in March 2019 at 72 a share. It closed its first day of trading at 78.29. Since Lyft's 2019 IPO, Lyft stock has been in a downtrend. It's largely underperformed the overall market.
Take Lyft's relative strength line. The line compares a stock's price action with that of the S&P 500. Aside from brief peaks in July 2019 and late January, the RS line has been in a downtrend since the beginning of Lyft's trading history.
However, Lyft stock has gotten a boost after the success of Prop. 22 in California and positive vaccine news. Shares of Lyft gapped up more than 26% on Nov. 9 and are forming a lopsided cup base with a 41.29 buy point, according to MarketSmith pattern recognition.
Even with its recent surge, Lyft stock is still 27% below its 52-week high. Still, Lyft stock is now above its downward-sloping 200-day line.
Though that's a move in the right direction, growth investors should focus on stocks in strong uptrends and trading above their upward-sloping 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
Lyft: Is It A Buy Right Now?
Despite good news out of the state of California, Lyft faces headwinds from the coronavirus pandemic as it struggles to attain profitability. Lyft stock has yet to break its downtrend since its 2019 IPO.
Bottom line? Lyft stock is not a buy right now, according to IBD analysis. Though shares are forming a cup pattern, the bulk of that base has formed below a downward sloping 200-day line and the base is lopsided.
Lyft stock also has a mediocre Relative Strength Rating of 70. Investors should focus on stocks with a stronger track record of outperforming the market.
Read Full Story »»»
DiscoverGold
Bear Of The Day: Lyft (LYFT)
By: Zacks Investment Research | November 13, 2020
Since November began, the ridesharing duopoly has been on a sugar rush with 2 momentum driving events trigging a massive rally in the space. Lyft (LYFT Quick QuoteLYFT - Free Report) and Uber (UBER Quick QuoteUBER - Free Report) have been met with enthusiastic traders & investors soaring 62% and 37% since last Monday, respectively.
It started with a big election win, as California's Prop 22 passes with ease. Then Pfizer announced a 'successful' COVID-19 trial, which put a light at the end of the tunnel for this devastating pandemic.
There is no question that ridesharing stocks are an excellent recovery play, but which enterprise do you want in your long-term portfolio?
I am choosing UBER over LYFT for a long-term investment all day. Uber's Eats business has kept the brand name relevant in consumers' minds throughout the pandemic, while Lyft stayed in the shadows amid the lockdowns. Analysts have been increasingly pessimistic about Lyft's future earnings, pushing this stock into a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
Let me be clear, I wouldn't short LYFT, and honestly, I think this stock could have some more room to run once a vaccine is deployable. Still, I am choosing Uber over Lyft in the ridesharing spread.
UBER Over LYFT
My pick is UBER because of its leading positioning in ridesharing and a firm #2 spot in the accelerating delivery space. The business has been able to turn and maintain an operational profit in its rides segment. It also has a seemingly endless stream of capital to continue investing heavily in autonomous vehicles, the future of ridesharing.
'Uber's little brother', Lyft, has not faired nearly as well as its more diversified competitor. Without a food delivery segment to hedge the business, it has hemorrhaged $100s of millions in 2020 with no market share gains to show. LYFT remains down 16% for the year, while its cohort UBER is up 50%.
Before the pandemic, I thought Lyft's pure-play ridesharing strategy was its advantage, as it would be hitting profitability before the diverse Uber enterprise, but it has been the company's downfall this year.
Lyft's management came out in its earnings report this week and said that they expect to reach a positive EBITDA by the 4th quarter of 2021, and analysts are pricing in full-year profitability by 2022.
My concern with this business's future is its lack of use during the pandemic that may cause its pre-COVID customers to choose Uber in the post-pandemic world. The Uber app has stayed at the forefront of consumers' minds during the lockdowns because of its Eats segment. I believe that this could have a psychological impact on consumers' subconscious ridesharing decisions moving forward, giving Uber a leg up in market share in the 'new normal.'
LYFT shares are hot right now, but they have a tough road ahead. Its pure-play approach appears to be one of its downfalls. Lyft's management discussed the possibility of entering the food delivery segment, but I think they are a little late to the already overcrowded party.
Final Thoughts
As I said, I am not advocating any action on LYFT shares as I think they may have some short-term potential as vaccine news continues to flow, but as a long-term ridesharing play, I would prefer to hold Uber, the pioneer, and leader of the space.
Read Full Story »»»
DiscoverGold
Making Technical Sense of Lyft (LYFT) Stock Post-Earnings
By: Schaeffer's Investment Research | November 11, 2020
• The stock is sitting in "oversold" territory, regardless of a slew of bull notes today
• Options traders could be using calls to hedge
The shares of LYFT Inc (NYSE:LYFT) are trading around $36.21 at last check, after the ridesharing giant reported third-quarter losses of $0.89 per share -- notably better than Wall Street's estimated losses of $0.91 per share -- as well as a revenue beat, even if the latter is down 48% from a year prior. The company attributed the upbeat results to a slow recovery in rides, and added that it is looking to tap into the food-delivery market. As a result, the stock earned no less than 15 price-target hikes this morning, including one from Wedbush to $38 from $47. It also received a price-target cut, though, from RBC to $46 from $48.
Digging deeper, Lyft stock has experienced its fair share of volatility over the past few months. Shares more than doubled during a June rally off their March 18 all-time-low of $14.56. Earlier this month, the shares cleared their 80-day moving average, a trendline that had been keeping a tight lid on the security since July. However, it's also worth noting that the stock sports a 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) of 72, which sits on "oversold" territory, meaning the stock could be due for a short-term breather.
Analysts were already majorly optimistic toward the equity coming into today. Of the 24 in question, 16 carried a "buy" or better rating, while eight carried a tepid "hold." Echoing this is the 12-month consensus target price of $42.80, which is an 18.8% premium to current levels. This puts LYFT at risk of downgrades should the stock stall out again.
That upbeat sentiment is reflected in the options pits, where calls are popular. This is per the security's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 4.71 that sits in the 97th annual percentile at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). This suggests calls are being picked up at a faster-than-usual clip. However, given 11% of LYFT's total available float is sold short, it's possible some of these calls could be shorts hedging against any unexpected upside.
Drilling down to today's trading, 54,000 puts have crossed the tape, which is twice the average intraday amount. Though the 11/13 40-strike call is still the most popular, the 35-strike put in the same weekly series is not far behind, with new positions being opened at the former.
Read Full Story »»»
DiscoverGold
Lyft (LYFT) Stock Dropping Off a Big Opportunity for Long-Term Investors
By: Schaeffer's Investment Research | November 6, 2020
• Lyft is due to report earnings next week on November 10
• LYFT could be well-positioned for massive stock growth in the long-term
Lyft Inc (NASDAQ:LYFT) is the developer of a popular ride-sharing app. The company is slated to report earnings after the close on Tuesday, November 10 after the closing bell, and will look to continue its impressive streak of post-earnings pops. Lyft stock is down about 30% year-to-date, but has still doubled off from its 52-week low of $14.56 on March 18.
Lyft has a market cap of $9.06 billion and a book value of $7.36 per share. The company has no forward or current price-earnings ratios.
Earnings reports continue to shine brightly for Lyft. The company has beat expectations on all four of its most recent earnings reports. Lyft beat expectations in the third quarter and the fourth quarter of 2019 by $0.09 and $0.19, respectively. The company's top-performing quarter over the past 12 months was the first quarter of 2020, when it beat expectations by $0.31. Lyft reported a loss of 32 cents instead of the expected loss of 63 cents. In its most recent quarterly report, the company beat their target by $0.14. The company has a trailing 12-month EPS of -$5.47.
Lyft consistently grew its revenue annually between 2016 and 2019. Lyft has seen a whopping 852% increase in revenue since 2016. The company went from producing $343.3 million in revenue to $3.27 billion during this time period. Lyft produced $1.06 billion in revenue in 2017, representing a 200% increase from the $343 million it produced in 2016. In 2018, the company more than doubled its revenue production, producing a total of $2.16 billion. In 2019, Lyft produced $3.62 billion in revenue, a 68% increase year-over-year. Lyft has produced $3.27 billion in revenue over the past 12 months. That is slightly below a 10% decrease in revenue production as compared to 2019.
While revenue growth has been exponential for Lyft, the company has not performed as well on the bottom line over the past four years. Lyft’s net losses grew on an annual basis between 2016 and 2019. In this time period, the company dropped its reported net income by nearly $2 billion. Lyft went from -$683 million in net income to -$2.6 billion. Lyft has produced a net income of -$1.66 billion over the past 12 months, which is nearly a $1 billion increase from what it produced in 2019.
Lyft currently has $2.78 billion in cash and $1.05 billion in total debt. The company’s balance sheet last had $5.69 billion in total assets and $2.84 billion in total liabilities. Lyft's total equity stands at $2.85 billion.
Lyft is still very much a company in its initial growth phase, allowing investors to excuse away the increasing net loss over the years. What matters most for Lyft is that the company continues its rapid revenue growth. Despite its biggest competitor, Uber Technologies (UBER), having a leg up on Lyft, the huge total addressable market allows for both to co-exist and thrive.
A lot has changed in the past year for ride-sharing companies. Earlier this week, LYFT gapped higher after legislation was passed in California that ruled drivers are classified as contracts. And although COVID-19 fears should fade in the future, the company will have to continue to work around the longer-term regulations that will come as a result of it. The company will also have more battles to face in order to keep its drivers considered contractors instead of employees. Due to the company's decent cash load, Lyft should be able to survive the pandemic. The company will likely ramp up its revenue growth for years to come and eventually reach profitability. Lyft remains poised for massive stock growth in the long-term.
Read Full Story »»»
DiscoverGold
Uber, Lyft Rise Amid Optimism for California Labor-Law Proposal
By: TheStreet | November 3, 2020
• Uber and Lyft shares are up as investors are optimistic that California will pass a proposition to classify their workers as contractors, not employees.
Shares of ride-hailing titans Uber Technologies (UBER) and Lyft (LYFT) rose amid optimism that California voters on Tuesday will approve Proposition 22, which would classify the companies’ drivers as contractors rather than employees.
That proposition would override a 2019 law that classified the drivers as employees of the San Francisco companies.
Lyft recently traded at $26.59, up 8.5%. The shares are off 39% year to date. Uber recently traded at $36.10, up 3.7%. The stock has climbed 21% year to date.
MKM Partners analyst Rohit Kulkarni cited a survey showing 57% voter support for Proposition 22, up from 47% in an earlier survey, Bloomberg reports.
The latest poll showed that the amount of undecided voters fell to 21% from 36% and that awareness among voters of Proposition 22 climbed to 89% from 78%.
Lyft is more exposed to the vote than Uber because about 15% of its pre-covid bookings came from California, Kulkarni said.
He has a buy rating on Uber, with a share-price target of $40, and a neutral rating on Lyft, with a target of $33.
Last month, German business publication Manager Magazin reported that Uber has offered more than 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) to purchase its European rival Free Now, which is jointly owned by BMW and Daimler.
Daimler was prepared to let Free Now go, while BMW was more open to the idea of offering Uber a stake in Free Now, the publication said.
Free Now is based in Hamburg and serves more than 100 European cities with both taxi and ride-hailing service.
Gaining hold of Free Now would give Uber a commanding position in the European taxi and ride-sharing market, MarketWatch reports.
Read Full Story »»»
DiscoverGold
Lyft is adding Venmo as a payment option
By: Engadget | October 22, 2020
• Splitting the cost of your rides is about to get a little easier.
In the coming weeks, Lyft riders in the US will be able to pay for their trips with Venmo. That should make it easier for you to split the cost of rides with your friends and family — at least when you feel safe enough to travel in groups again. You can use Venmo to pay for bike and scooter journeys too.
You’ll need the latest versions of both apps to link them, and it’ll take just a couple of taps to add Venmo as a Lyft payment option. Splitting a fare with someone else is as simple as finding the transaction in Venmo and choosing the person who’s covering part of the fee.
The more payment options there are for any service, the better, so this is a welcome move. You might even end up using Venmo to pay for your Lyft rides with bitcoin next year.
Read Full Story »»»
DiscoverGold
Uber and Lyft Downshift Following California Driver Ruling
By: TheStreet | October 23, 2020
• Uber and Lyft both trade lower after an appeals court rules they must treat their drivers in California as employees instead of independent gig workers.
Uber Technologies (UBER) and Lyft (LYFT) both traded lower Friday after an appeals court ruled they must treat their drivers in California as employees instead of independent gig workers, a significant blow that could lead both companies to shut down operations in their home state.
The ruling, handed down late Thursday, upheld a lower court’s order that the companies comply with Assembly Bill 5 and provide drivers with health and other work benefits that typically come with full-time employment status.
While Assembly Bill 5 went into effect in January, Uber and Lyft have not complied, arguing they are tech platforms and are not transportation businesses.
In August, a San Francisco Superior Court judge ordered the companies to employ their drivers. Executives at Uber and Lyft appealed that decision, arguing the injunction was “radical” or “unprecedented,” and that they could not meet that deadline.
In their ruling against that appeal, the three-judge panel said the injunction "was properly issued in accordance with enduring principles of equity.”
"It is broad in scope, no doubt, but so too is the scale of the alleged violations,” the judges said.
The decision comes less than two weeks before an election in which the ride-hailing companies are banking on California voters to approve a ballot measure that would partially exempt them from the labor law.
Proposition 22, which is set for a vote Nov. 3, exempts Uber and Lyft from paying full benefits that employees currently get under California law, such as unemployment insurance and workers compensation, while requiring a pay guarantee for drivers’ time on trips, health care contributions and medical and disability coverage.
Uber and Lyft have long argued that their freelance model allows drivers to drive only when they want to. But critics have said it places unreasonable financial burdens on drivers and gives Uber and Lyft unfair advantages over businesses that follow employment laws.
Both companies have said they may need to leave California if Proposition 22 doesn't pass, though both companies have also explored other options, including licensing their brands to vehicle fleet operators.
Shares of Uber were down 1.04% at $36.32 in premarket trading on Friday, while shares of Lyft were down 1.09% $25.30.
Read Full Story »»»
DiscoverGold
California, Reject Prop 22
By: New York Times | October 12, 2020
• Gig workers deserve the dignity of fair compensation.
Are gig workers employees or freelance contractors? It’s been a question for companies like Uber, Lyft, Instacart and DoorDash for nearly as long as “gig work” itself — or at least the Silicon Valley version — has existed. California voters next month may finally help settle the matter.
California lawmakers last year passed legislation that reclassified gig workers as employees. The backlash from gig economy companies was immediate, and Uber and similar app-based businesses have committed nearly $200 million to support a state ballot measure — making it the costliest in state history — that would exempt them from the law.
Voters should reject the measure, known as Prop 22.
A state court already upheld the merits of the current state law, and a federal judge dismissed Uber and Postmates’ suit against it. And Prop 22 is designed to exempt a few industry players from a statute that those same companies have improperly ignored since it was put in place. The ballot measure also would codify a system that denies workers full benefits, local minimum wage guarantees and stability — things that are especially crucial during the coronavirus pandemic.
Gig industry giants long ago settled on treating their workers as independent contractors, which allows flexible hours for workers but spares the companies the expense of extending benefits like employer-paid health insurance and reimbursement for fuel and vehicle expenses. That structure — along with not having to pay severance, payroll taxes and for unemployment insurance — helps to keep their costs low. It’s a decision that is essential for these companies’ bottom lines, especially given that the industry continues to lose billions annually anyway.
What happens in the battle over Prop 22 will cast a long shadow. Yes, there will be financial consequences for businesses driven by gig workers, but California is not the only state considering legislation to secure benefits for app-dependent drivers and delivery people. The year’s election and the ensuing legislative sessions could mean meaningful standards put in place for gig workers around both minimum wages and benefits. They could also result in protection from the market power amassed by a few industry players.
Nearly three-quarters of gig laborers work 30 hours a week or more — they are already effectively full time, but they enjoy virtually none of the protections that full-time employees do. Uber, DoorDash and others have spent lavishly to keep things that way.
The state law in question stems from a 2018 California State Supreme Court ruling that holds companies to a three-part test to demonstrate that workers are independent contractors: Companies must show that workers have control over how they work, that they are free to seek work elsewhere and that their labor isn’t central to a company’s business.
Rather than abide by the law, the gig companies turned to the courts, which agreed with legislators and ordered the companies to convert their workers to employees, with benefits. A subsequent stay to the ruling ahead of the election forestalled a cynical threat by Uber and Lyft to halt operations in the state.
Uber’s chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, summed up the situation well in a recent interview: “Once you employ someone, you essentially have to become responsible for their productivity,” he said. With reams of data at their disposal, it’s hard to argue that these companies’ taking on more responsibility for their workers’ output isn’t mutually beneficial.
Editors’ Picks
C.E.O.s Rediscover the Family Dinner Table
Fancy Cars, Fine Dining, Creator Mansions, Cash: Triller Is Shelling Out for Talent
The Island Brokers Are Overwhelmed
Uber and Lyft especially have exerted meaningful control over their workers, including by setting base fares, dictating which routes to take and even denying drivers access to the apps — all without recourse.
If the ballot proposal fails, the companies appear poised to increase prices after years of keeping them artificially low. A price increase should be viewed as a good thing, helping both the gig companies and the workers share in a more profitable system.
Companies backing Prop 22 insist that drivers aren’t central to their businesses because they are technology companies. But what exactly is Lyft without its rides, or Instacart without grocery deliveries? Uber Eats orders don’t deliver themselves.
Prop 22 would maintain workers as independent contractors, with some wage guarantees and a pool of money that certain workers could use for health care costs and sick days. Gig workers would be eligible for hourly pay 20 percent higher than local minimum wage, plus 30 cents per mile — but only during engaged times, meaning after they’ve accepted a fare and before they’ve dropped off a passenger. By some estimates, drivers spend more than one-third of their shift awaiting a fare, time the companies wouldn’t have to pay for. The full health care benefits would be accessible only to workers driving 25 hours per week of engaged time, suggesting they’d need to log nearly 40 hours on the app to be eligible.
One study estimated that, under Prop 22, drivers would be guaranteed to take in just $5.64 per hour, after factoring in down time and expenses. (Uber and Lyft have contested those findings.)
In ubiquitous advertisements, including on the Uber and Lyft apps, the industry has argued that, without the passage of Prop 22, drivers will lose the flexibility to log in and out of the app as they wish. But the California law at issue does not require that flexibility go away, and at any rate, the companies have had ample time since the 2018 State Supreme Court ruling to devise a workable shift system.
To further entrench the current system, the gig companies wrote into the ballot proposal an unnecessarily onerous requirement that amendments to the proposed law must pass by seven-eighths of the Legislature.
It seems that these companies would sooner destroy their own businesses than grant workers the dignity of comprehensive benefits, guaranteed wages or unemployment insurance. Rejecting Prop 22 is a chance finally to ensure gig workers the protections all workers deserve.
Read Full Story »»»
DiscoverGold
Uber and Lyft Offer Discounted Election Day Rides to Polls
By: TheStreet | September 15, 2020
• Uber and its rival Lyft are offering users discounted fares for rides to and from polling booths.
Uber (UBER) and Lyft (LYFT) will both offer cheaper rides to and from polling booths to address gaps in transportation needs on Election Day, the companies said on Tuesday.
On Nov. 3, Lyft said it would offer a 50% discount for a one-way ride worth up to $10 to any polling booth or ballot dropbox.
Lyft also will work with nonprofit groups, including the Black Women’s Roundtable, the National Federation of the Blind and the Student Veterans of America, to offer free and discounted rides to underserved communities, the company added.
"By providing access to free and discounted rides to arena voting sites in Atlanta, Charlotte, Detroit, Milwaukee, and Orlando, Lyft is making it easier for voters in key population centers to safely exercise their right to vote this fall," said Executive Vice President of Public Affairs Michael Tyler at More Than a Vote in a statement on the company blog.
More Than a Vote is a campaign led by National Basketball Association star LeBron James to address poll-worker shortages and encourage voting in black electoral districts.
Earlier on Tuesday, rival Uber said it would help people find their polling locations through its app and offer discounted rides to and from the polls. The company did not mention further details on the pricing of rides.
Uber will also offer in-app voter registration and requests for absentee ballots in partnership with independent voter registration platform, TurboVote, to help everyone who uses Uber and Uber Eats to register to vote or request a vote-by-mail ballot.
In the April to June quarter the number of active users of Uber’s services fell by 44% to 55 million.
Lyft said it had 8.7 million active riders in the three months ended June 30, compared with 21.8 million in the year-earlier quarter and 21.2 million in the previous quarter.
Uber’s chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, said the company wants to make sure American citizens have the opportunity to vote. "We hope this will help people have a stronger voice in our democracy," he said in a company blog post.
Uber is one of a number of companies to offer their employees time off on Election Day, Nov. 3. These include Facebook (FB), Apple (AAPL) and Twitter. (TWTR)
Yesterday Bloomberg reported that Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (BABA) - Get Report was considering investing as much as $3 billion into Southeast Asian ride-hailing giant Grab.
As part of the potential deal, Alibaba would scoop up $3 billion of stock currently owned by Uber, which first invested in Grab in 2018.
Last week Uber said it planned to spend $800 million over the next five years to help its drivers switch to battery-operated electric cars as the San Francisco ride-hailing and food-delivery service aims to become carbon-free by 2040.
And last month a judge in California ordered Uber and Lyft to reclassify their drivers as employees instead of contractors. As contractors, the drivers don't receive benefits that employees get. The companies argue that their drivers prefer the flexibility that comes with contract work.
At last check after hours, Uber stock was up 0.2%. It closed the regular session at $37.47, a drop of 1.3%. Shares of Lyft were down 0.5% at last check after hours. They closed the regular session at $30.23, a drop of 5.4%.
Read Full Story »»»
DiscoverGold
Lyft Rides Recover Slightly in August, Remain Down 53% From Last Year
By: New York Times | September 8, 2020
(Reuters) - Ride-hailing firm Lyft Inc said on Tuesday that its trips rose 7.3% in August from July as operations in Canada recovered faster than in the United States.
But the novel coronavirus pandemic is still crushing demand with overall August rides down 53% compared to a year earlier, said the company, which operates in the U.S. and Canada only.
Trips had dropped as much as 80% during the height of the coronavirus outbreak in April.
Lyft on Tuesday said it used fewer driver incentives in August as more drivers returned to service and said it expects lower incentive spending in the third quarter.
Lyft's President John Zimmer in May said Americans will turn to ride hailing as the first opportunity to make up for lost income as the U.S. economy reopens, with the oversupply in drivers allowing the company to cut costs.
Lyft expects adjusted loss for the third quarter to not exceed $265 million.
The company on Tuesday also said it has increased spending on Proposition 22, a November ballot measure in California which seeks to reverse a contested state law that forces gig economy companies to treat their workers as employees.
Lyft, Uber Technologies Inc, DoorDash Inc and Instacart each spent an additional $17.5 million on the measure, bringing total funding for the campaign to $181 million, according to a public state filing on Friday.
Read Full Story »»»
DiscoverGold
Lyft, others pour $70 million more for Yes on 22 ballot campaign
By: Carolyn Said | September 4, 2020
Gig companies have poured $70 million more into their ballot campaign to keep drivers and couriers as independent contractors — bringing the total funds for Yes on 22 to a breathtaking $181 million, and putting it on track as one of the biggest-ticket California initiatives ever.
“Voters better strap in — they’re in for a barrage of ads and sizzle from the pro-22 side,” said David McCuan, a professor of political science at Sonoma State University who studies California ballot measures. “This is an incredible amount of money and there’s a long ways to go. We’re still 60 days out from the election.”
Read Full Story »»»
DiscoverGold
$LFYT $35.00 Price Target
Potential long entry on break from channel at approx $31.00
Upside target @35.00
Lyft Stock in the Red Amid California Court Drama
By: Schaeffer's Investment Research | August 21, 2020
• LYFT options are affordably priced at the moment
LYFT STOCK IN THE RED AMID CALIFORNIA COURT DRAMA
A California court ruling gave Lyft some time to classify its drivers
by Jake Scott
UBER|LYFT
Share
Published on Aug 21, 2020 at 11:37 AM
The shares of Lyft Inc (NASDAQ:LYFT) are down 1.7% at $29.27 today, after the ride-sharing staple won an emergency stay ruling from a California appeals court. The ruling extended the time required for ride-sharing apps such as Lyft and rival Uber Technologies (UBER) to classify their drivers as employees rather than contractors. Lyft planned to cease its services in the state if they failed to lock down an emergency stay regarding their filing in the appeals court.
Lyft stock dipped to a three-month low of $25.74 yesterday while the court decision was still in progress. Back in early June, the round $40 level turned away a rally, with LYFT trading sideways between the $32 and $26.50 area over the last two summer months. Year-to-date, the equity has shaved off 31.7%, and is facing stiff pressure from its 40-day moving average.
Puts have been growing in popularity. Lyft stock's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 0.99 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), sits in the 75th percentile of readings from the past year. So while calls still just barely outnumber puts on an absolute basis, the high ratio indicates the rate of put buying relative to call buying has been accelerated.
Regardless of direction, LYFT also sports a Schaeffer’s Volatility Index (SVI) of 62%, which sits in the 15th percentile of its annual range. This suggests options have been pricing in relatively low volatility expectations right now -- a boon for premium buyers.
Read Full Story »»»
DiscoverGold
Uber, Lyft Granted Stay, Avoiding Shutdown in California
By: TheStreet | August 20, 2020
• 'We are glad that the court of appeals recognized the important questions raised in this case,' Uber said in a statement cited by Bloomberg.
Shares of Uber Technologies (UBER) and Lyft (LYFT) rose Thursday, after a California appeals court issued an emergency stay to a state law that would have required the ride-hailing titans to reclassify their drivers as employees by Friday.
The two companies will now be able to continue operating their businesses as they have been while the court weighs their appeal. Oral arguments in the case are set to begin in mid-October.
Uber recently traded at $31.39, up 6.68%, and has risen 6% year to date. Lyft stock recently traded at $29.80, up 5.90%, and has sunk 31% year to date.
Earlier Thursday, Lyft said it would have suspended its California operations at 11:59 p.m. PT Thursday to avoid having to abide by the law. And Uber had said it was considering the same strategy. Lyft confirmed Thursday that it would lift its suspension plans following the appeals court ruling, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“We are glad that the court of appeals recognized the important questions raised in this case, and that access to these critical services won’t be cut off while we continue to advocate for drivers’ ability to work with the freedom they want,” Uber said in a statement, cited by Bloomberg.
On a recent earnings call, Lyft president John Zimmer told investors that California makes up 16% of Lyft's overall rides, though management added that the state has been recovering more slowly from the coronavirus pandemic than most markets. Lyft, which operates only in the U.S. and Canada, saw revenue drop 61% last quarter, though it reported improvements in July.
“For multiple years, we’ve been advocating for a path to offer benefits to drivers who use the Lyft platform -- including a minimum earnings guarantee and a healthcare subsidy -- while maintaining the flexibility and control that independent contractors enjoy,” Lyft said in a blog post announcing its suspension.
Drivers have told the company that’s what they want, Lyft said.
“Instead, what Sacramento politicians are pushing is an employment model that four out of five drivers don’t support. This change would also necessitate an overhaul of the entire business model,” the company claimed.
The new law, known as AB5, means “passengers would experience reduced service, especially in suburban and rural areas, and 80% of drivers would lose work .”
Uber and Lyft have threatened to suspend operations in California until November, when state voters will decide on Prop 22 -- backed by a number of gig platforms including Uber, Lyft and DoorDash -- that would overturn key provisions of AB5.
The two companies are also reportedly looking to franchise their brands and technology to fleet operators in California as a way of getting around the new law.
Read Full Story »»»
DiscoverGold
Lyft to Suspend California Operations Just Before Midnight
By: TheStreet | August 20, 2020
• Lyft's move represents a protest against a state law requiring ride-hailing services to classify their drivers as employees.
Lyft (LYFT) shares fell after the No. 2 ride-hailing company said it’s suspending its California operations at 11:59 p.m. Thursday in protest of a state law requiring ride-hailing services to classify their drivers as employees rather than independent contractors.
Lyft stock recently traded at $26.72, down 5.05%, and has sunk 37% year to date.
On a recent earnings call, Lyft president John Zimmer told investors that California makes up 16% of Lyft's overall rides, though management added that the state has been recovering more slowly from the coronavirus pandemic than most markets. Lyft, which operates only in the U.S. and Canada, saw revenue drop 61% last quarter, though it reported improvements in July.
The suspension “is not something we wanted to do, as we know millions of Californians depend on Lyft for daily, essential trips,” the company said in a blog post.
“For multiple years, we’ve been advocating for a path to offer benefits to drivers who use the Lyft platform -- including a minimum earnings guarantee and a healthcare subsidy -- while maintaining the flexibility and control that independent contractors enjoy.”
Drivers have told the company that’s what they want, Lyft said.
“Instead, what Sacramento politicians are pushing is an employment model that four out of five drivers don’t support. This change would also necessitate an overhaul of the entire business model -- it’s not a switch that can be flipped overnight,” the company said.
The new law, known as AB5, means “passengers would experience reduced service, especially in suburban and rural areas, and 80% of drivers would lose work and the rest would have scheduled shifts, and capped hourly earnings,” the company claimed.
“Lower-income riders trying to make it to essential jobs and medical appointments would be faced with unaffordable prices.”
Uber Technologies (UBER), the No. 1 ride hailing service which operates around the world, has said that it might suspend California operations, too, but hasn’t given definitive word.
Uber and Lyft have threatened to suspend operations in California until November, when state voters will decide on Prop 22 -- backed by a number of gig platforms including Uber, Lyft and DoorDash -- that would overturn key provisions of AB5.
The two companies are also reportedly looking to franchise their brands and technology to fleet operators in California as a way of getting around the new law.
Uber recently traded at $29.38, down 0.14%, and has eased 1% year to date.
Read Full Story »»»
DiscoverGold
|
Followers
|
41
|
Posters
|
|
|
Posts (Today)
|
0
|
Posts (Total)
|
994
|
|
Created
|
03/04/19
|
Type
|
Free
|
| Moderators | |||
