5 Analysts Dissect Lyft Strategy: October 'Sustained Strength' Bodes Well For Q4

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Shares of Lyft Inc (NASDAQ: LYFT) continued to decline in early trading on Thursday, after tanking in the previous trading session on the company's third-quarter earnings.

The results came amid an exciting earnings season. Here are some key analyst takeaways from the earnings release.

  • Truist Securities analyst Youssef Squali maintained a Hold rating, while raising the price target from $12 to $13.
  • Wedbush Analyst Scott Devitt reiterated a Neutral rating, while lifting the price target from $11 to $12.
  • Roth Capital analyst Rohit Kulkarni reaffirmed a Neutral rating, while raising the price target from $11 to $12.
  • RBC Capital Markets analyst Brad Erickson maintained a Sector Perform rating and price target of $12.
  • Needham analyst Bernie McTernan reiterated a Hold rating on the stock.
Truist Securities: "Lyft's strategy to lean in on pricing and on product improvements as a differentiator earlier this year seems to be working, with 3Q results showing accelerating growth in rides, riders and rides' frequency, and driving better top and bottom line results," Squali wrote in a note.

"Sustained strength in October bodes well for 4Q and supports a slightly higher than expected guide," he added.

Wedbush: Lyft's third-quarter adjusted EBITDA came in around $10 million higher than expectations, while total revenue was 1.3% above consensus, Devitt said.

The company's fourth-quarter guidance was above expectations, "reflecting healthy improvements in ride growth and the impact of cost-cutting initiatives through the year," the analyst stated. "Following results, we have incrementally raised our estimates for 4Q23 and 2024 on a stronger growth trajectory and sustained cost leverage," he added.

Roth Capital Partners: Lyft's third-quarter results were better than feared, Kulkarni said. The company provided "4Q Revenue outlook slightly below and 4Q EBITDA slightly above expectations," he added.

"We applaud mgmt. for providing Gross Bookings disclosure, and believe that Lyft's perceived growth-and-profitability-adjusted valuation discount vs. Uber (NYSE: UBER) would narrow once the investment community fully digests these disclosures," the analyst further wrote.

RBC Capital Markets: "Positively, the company modestly beat & raised, execution is improving & the company provided long-awaited bookings & rides disclosure which investors have wanted since the IPO," Erickson wrote in a note.

"Less positively, the incremental disclosure may not necessarily work in LYFT's favor where bookings could shine a greater light on structural challenges vs. UBER, take rate is getting significant help from non-core drivers and recent driver incentive differences represent the majority of EBITDA," he added.

Needham: "Rides accelerating throughout the year but offset by declining pricing as bookings growth stays in the low to mid teens," McTernan said.

"We assume bookings growth is down ~100bps in '24E and the take rate compresses modestly as we assume LYFT continues to focus on keeping prime time drives down," he added.

LYFT Price Action: Shares of Lyft had risen by 0.14% to $10.70 at the time of publication Thursday.