Lyft said Tuesday that it lost $1.1 billion in the first three months of the year, primarily due to stock-based compensation and other expenses connected to its initial public offering. In other news, Lyft struck a ride-sharing deal with Google self-driving car spinoff Waymo.
Excluding those costs, Lyft’s net loss for the quarter was $211.5 million, roughly on par with the same period a year earlier. Revenue nearly doubled in the first quarter to $776 million.
It’s the first time Lyft has reported earnings since going public at the end of March. The stock is now trading more than 15% below its IPO price.
“Let’s not sugarcoat it, Lyft’s stock has been a head-scratching train wreck since the IPO,” wrote Wedbush analysts Daniel Ives and Ygal Arounian in a report last week.
The performance doesn’t bode well for its larger rival Uber, which is set to debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday. Uber is losing even more money than Lyft.
Google self-driving car spinoff, Lyft team up for rides
Google’s self-driving car spinoff Waymo is teaming up with Lyft in Arizona to attempt to lure passengers away from ride-hailing market leader Uber.
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The alliance announced Tuesday will allow anyone with the Lyft app in the Phoenix area to summon one of the 10 self-driving Waymo cars that will join the ride-hailing service by end of September.
Waymo’s robotic vehicles will still have a human behind the wheel to take control in case something goes awry with the technology. But their use in Lyft’s service could make more people feel comfortable about riding in self-driving cars.
Both Lyft and Uber consider self-driving cars to be one of the keys to turning a profit, something neither company has done so far. Meanwhile, Waymo has been slowly expanding its own ride-hailing service in the Phoenix area that so far has been confined to passengers who previously participated in free tests of its self-driving technology.
“We’re committed to continuously improving our customer experience, and our partnership with Lyft will also give our teams the opportunity to collect valuable feedback,” Waymo CEO John Krafcik wrote in a blog post.
Lyft President John Zimmer described the Waymo partnership as “phenomenal” in a Tuesday conference call. Uber didn’t respond to a request for comment.
