CORRECTING and REPLACING Lyft Announces Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2023 Results

Full-year Gross Bookings, riders reach all-time highs

Lyft to host first Investor Day in June 2024

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Fifth bulleted list, third bullet of release should read: Adjusted EBITDA margin expansion (calculated as a percentage of Gross Bookings) of approximately 50 basis points year-over-year. [instead of Adjusted EBITDA margin expansion (calculated as a percentage of Gross Bookings) of approximately 500 basis points year-over-year.].

The updated release reads:

LYFT ANNOUNCES FOURTH QUARTER AND FULL-YEAR 2023 RESULTS

Full-year Gross Bookings, riders reach all-time highs

Lyft to host first Investor Day in June 2024

Lyft, Inc. (Nasdaq:LYFT) today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full-year ended December 31, 2023.

“In 2023, the Lyft team set ambitious goals and the results speak for themselves. We reached the highest level of annual riders in our history, delivered over 700 million rides, and helped drivers take home over $8 billion,” said CEO David Risher. “This year we’ve already launched a new pay standard for drivers and expanded Women+ Connect to over 240 markets – and it’s only February 13th. In 2024, we’ll prove that Lyft’s customer obsession will drive profitable growth.”

“Lyft’s outstanding Q4 performance demonstrates our team’s incredible work to build a solid foundation for profitable growth,” said CFO Erin Brewer. “We’ve entered 2024 with a lot of momentum and a clear focus on operational excellence, which positions the company to drive meaningful margin expansion and our first full-year of positive free cash flow.”

Fourth Quarter 2023 Financial Highlights

  • Gross Bookings of $3.7 billion grew 17% year-over-year.
  • Revenue of $1.2 billion grew 4% year-over-year.
  • Net loss of $26.3 million compares with a net loss $588.1 million in Q4’22. Net loss includes $93.3 million of stock-based compensation and related payroll tax expenses. Net loss as a percentage of Gross Bookings was (0.7%) and compares with (18.4%) in Q4’22.
  • Adjusted EBITDA of $66.6 million compares with $(248.3) million in Q4’22. Adjusted EBITDA margin (calculated as a percentage of Gross Bookings) was 1.8% and compares with (7.8%) in Q4’22.

Full-Year 2023 Financial Highlights

  • Gross Bookings of $13.8 billion grew 14% year-over-year.
  • Revenue of $4.4 billion grew 8% year-over-year.
  • Net loss of $340.3 million compares with $1.6 billion in full-year 2022 and includes $497.0 million of stock-based compensation and related payroll tax expenses. Net loss as a percentage of Gross Bookings was (2.5%) and compares with (13.1%) in full-year 2022.
  • Adjusted EBITDA of $222.4 million compares with $(416.5) million in full-year 2022. Adjusted EBITDA margin (calculated as a percentage of Gross Bookings) was 1.6% and compares with (3.5%) in full-year 2022.

Operational Highlights

  • Rides of 191 million in Q4: Grew 26% year-over-year, our fourth consecutive quarter of accelerating growth driven by strong rideshare demand. For full-year 2023, Rides were 709 million, up 18% year-over-year.
  • Active Riders of 22.4 million in Q4: Grew 10% year-over-year. For full-year 2023, with more than 40 million riders, we had the highest annual ridership in company history.
  • On-time pickup promise: Scheduled rides to the airport were covered by our on-time pickup promise in many major markets starting in November. Either your driver would be there within 10 minutes of your scheduled pick-up time, or you’d be compensated up to $100 in Lyft credits. 98% of rides covered by this promise were on-time and scheduled airport drop-offs in Q4 reached an all-time high.
  • Women+ Connect: Highly-requested feature that prioritizes matching women and non-binary drivers and riders. The response since the initial launch in September has been outstanding, with 67% of eligible drivers opting in and keeping the feature on 99% of the time. Women+ Connect is one of our highest-rated driver features, with nearly 7 million rides completed to date.
  • Lyft Media: Launched in-app video ads in Q4 with strong results in terms of views and click-throughs. Lyft Media revenue in Q4 2023 surpassed the level achieved in all of 2022. We are working closely with partners to create great experiences for customers, tapping into our lifestyle and destination targeting capabilities.
  • Helping People Connect: Getting people out of their homes and connecting in-person continues to be core to Lyft’s purpose. Last year, fans flocked to stadiums, with these rides growing by more than 35% year-over-year, driven by high-attendance stadium events including Taylor Swift and Beyoncé concerts, the US Open, and football games.

Q1’24 Outlook:

  • Gross Bookings of approximately $3.5 billion to $3.6 billion
  • Adjusted EBITDA of $50 million to $55 million and an Adjusted EBITDA margin (calculated as a percentage of Gross Bookings) of approximately 1.4% to 1.5%.

FY’24 Directional Commentary:

  • Rides growth in the mid-teens year-over-year.
  • Gross Bookings growth that is slightly faster than Rides growth year-over-year.
  • Adjusted EBITDA margin expansion (calculated as a percentage of Gross Bookings) of approximately 50 basis points year-over-year.
  • Given these factors, along with our plans for slightly lower capital expenditures for 2024 relative to 2023, we anticipate that Lyft will generate positive Free Cash Flow for the full-year for the first time. In terms of the magnitude, we expect that roughly half of Adjusted EBITDA will convert to Free Cash Flow for full-year 2024.

Lyft to Host First Investor Day

Lyft will host an Investor Day on June 6, 2024 in New York City. A live audio webcast and presentation slides will be posted on the day of the event to the Company’s Investor Relations page at https://investor.lyft.com/.

We have not provided the forward-looking GAAP equivalent to our Adjusted EBITDA outlook or a GAAP reconciliation as a result of the uncertainty regarding, and the potential variability of, reconciling items such as stock-based compensation and income tax. Accordingly, a reconciliation of this non-GAAP guidance metric to its corresponding GAAP equivalent is not available without unreasonable effort. However, it is important to note that the reconciling items could have a significant effect on future GAAP results. We have provided historical reconciliations of GAAP to non-GAAP metrics in tables at the end of this release. For more information regarding the non-GAAP financial measures discussed in this earnings release, please see “GAAP to non-GAAP Reconciliations” below.

Financial and Operational Results through the Fourth Quarter of 2023

 

 

 

Three Months Ended

 

Year Ended December 31,

 

 

Dec. 31, 2023

 

Sept. 30, 2023

 

Dec. 31, 2022

 

2023

 

2022

 

 

(in millions, except for percentages)

Active Riders

 

 

22.4

 

 

 

22.4

 

 

 

20.4

 

 

 

 

 

Rides

 

 

190.8

 

 

 

187.4

 

 

 

151.1

 

 

 

709.0

 

 

 

598.5

 

Gross Bookings

 

$

3,724.3

 

 

$

3,554.1

 

 

$

3,191.0

 

 

$

13,775.2

 

 

$

12,057.3

 

Revenue

 

$

1,224.6

 

 

$

1,157.6

 

 

$

1,175.0

 

 

$

4,403.6

 

 

$

4,095.1

 

Net loss

 

$

(26.3

)

 

$

(12.1

)

 

$

(588.1

)

 

$

(340.3

)

 

$

(1,584.5

)

Net loss as a percentage of Gross Bookings

 

 

(0.7

)%

 

 

(0.3

)%

 

 

(18.4

)%

 

 

(2.5

)%

 

 

(13.1

)%

Adjusted EBITDA

 

$

66.6

 

 

$

92.0

 

 

$

(248.3

)

 

$

222.4

 

 

$

(416.5

)

Adjusted EBITDA margin (calculated as a percentage of Gross Bookings)

 

 

1.8

%

 

 

2.6

%

 

 

(7.8

)%

 

 

1.6

%

 

 

(3.5

)%

Adjusted Net Income (Loss)

 

$

71.1

 

 

$

92.3

 

 

$

(270.8

)

 

$

250.7

 

 

$

(531.4

)

Free cash flow

 

$

14.9

 

 

$

(30.0

)

 

$

(66.2

)

 

$

(248.1

)

 

$

(352.3

)

Note: Information on our key metrics and non-GAAP financial measures are also available on our Investor Relations page.

Definitions of Key Metrics

Gross Bookings

Gross Bookings is a key indicator of the scale and impact of our overall platform. Lyft defines Gross Bookings as the total dollar value of transactions invoiced to rideshare riders including any applicable taxes, tolls and fees excluding tips to drivers. It also includes amounts invoiced for other offerings, including but not limited to: Express Drive vehicle rentals, bike and scooter rentals, and amounts recognized for subscriptions, bike and bike station hardware and software sales, media, sponsorships, partnerships, and licensing and data access agreements.

Adjusted EBITDA margin (calculated as a percentage of Gross Bookings)

Adjusted EBITDA margin (calculated as a percentage of Gross Bookings) is calculated by dividing Adjusted EBITDA for a period by Gross Bookings for the same period. For the definition of Adjusted EBITDA, refer to “Non-GAAP Financial Measures”.

Rides

Rides represent the level of usage of our multimodal platform. Lyft defines Rides as the total number of rides including rideshare and bike and scooter rides completed using our multimodal platform that contribute to our revenue. These include any Rides taken through our Lyft App. If multiple riders take a private rideshare ride, including situations where one party picks up another party on the way to a destination, or splits the bill, we count this as a single rideshare ride. Each unique segment of a Shared Ride is considered a single Ride. For example, if two riders successfully match in Shared Ride mode and both complete their Rides, we count this as two Rides. We have largely shifted away from Shared Rides, and now only offer Shared Rides in limited markets. Lyft includes all Rides taken by riders via our Concierge offering, even though such riders may be excluded from the definition of Active Riders unless the ride is accessible in that rider’s Lyft App.

Active Riders

The number of Active Riders is a key indicator of the scale of our user community. Lyft defines Active Riders as all riders who take at least one ride during a quarter where the Lyft Platform processes the transaction. An Active Rider is identified by a unique phone number. If a rider has two mobile phone numbers or changed their phone number and that rider took rides using both phone numbers during the quarter, that person would count as two Active Riders. If a rider has a personal and business profile tied to the same mobile phone number, that person would be considered a single Active Rider. If a ride has been requested by an organization using our Concierge offering for the benefit of a rider, we exclude this rider in the calculation of Active Riders, unless the ride is accessible in that rider’s Lyft App.

Webcast

Lyft will host a webcast today at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time (4:30 p.m. Eastern Time) to discuss these financial results and business highlights. To listen to a live audio webcast, please visit our Investor Relations page at https://investor.lyft.com/. The archived webcast will be available on our Investor Relations page shortly after the call.

About Lyft

Lyft is one of the largest transportation networks in North America, bringing together rideshare, bikes, and scooters all in one app. We are customer-obsessed and driven by our purpose: getting riders out into the world so they can live their lives together, and providing drivers a way to work that gives them control over their time and money.

Available Information

Lyft announces material information to the public about Lyft, its products and services and other matters through a variety of means, including filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, press releases, public conference calls, webcasts, the investor relations section of its website (investor.lyft.com), its X accounts (@lyft and @davidrisher), and its blogs (including: lyft.com/blog, lyft.com/hub, and eng.lyft.com) in order to achieve broad, non-exclusionary distribution of information to the public and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or Lyft’s future financial or operating performance. In some cases, you can identify forward looking statements because they contain words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “going to,” “could,” “intends,” “target,” “projects,” “contemplates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions that concern Lyft’s expectations, strategy, priorities, plans or intentions. Forward-looking statements in this release include, but are not limited to, Lyft’s guidance and outlook, including for the first quarter and full fiscal year 2024, and the trends and assumptions underlying such guidance and outlook, Lyft’s plans and expectations for fiscal year 2024, including statements about new products and features, growth, Lyft’s expectations regarding rideshare market growth and Lyft’s beliefs regarding its future goals. Lyft’s expectations and beliefs regarding these matters may not materialize, and actual results in future periods are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, including risks related to the macroeconomic environment and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and risks regarding our ability to forecast our performance due to our limited operating history and the macroeconomic environment. The forward-looking statements contained in this release are also subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in Lyft’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended September 30, 2023, and in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the full year 2023 that will be filed with the SEC by February 29, 2024. The forward-looking statements in this release are based on information available to Lyft as of the date hereof, and Lyft disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement Lyft’s financial information presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America, or GAAP, Lyft considers certain financial measures that are not prepared in accordance with GAAP, including Adjusted Net Income (Loss), Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin (calculated as a percentage of Gross Bookings) and free cash flow. Lyft defines Adjusted EBITDA as net loss adjusted for interest expense, other income (expense), net, provision for (benefit from) income taxes, depreciation and amortization, stock-based compensation expense, payroll tax expense related to stock-based compensation and sublease income, as well as, if applicable, restructuring charges, costs related to acquisitions and divestitures and costs from transactions related to certain legacy auto insurance liabilities. Adjusted EBITDA margin (calculated as a percentage of Gross Bookings) is calculated by dividing Adjusted EBITDA for a period by Gross Bookings for the same period and is considered a key metric. Lyft defines Adjusted Net Income (Loss) as net loss adjusted for amortization of intangible assets, stock-based compensation expense (net of any benefit), and payroll tax expense related to stock-based compensation, as well as, if applicable, restructuring charges and transaction costs related to certain legacy auto insurance liabilities and cost related to acquisitions and divestitures. Lyft defines free cash flow as GAAP net cash provided by (used in) operating activities less purchases of property and equipment and scooter fleet.

During the second quarter of 2021, Lyft entered into a Quota Share Reinsurance Agreement (the “Reinsurance Agreement”) for the reinsurance of legacy auto insurance liabilities between October 1, 2018 to October 1, 2020, based on the reserves in place as of March 31, 2021. During the first quarter of 2020, Lyft entered into a Novation Agreement for the transfer of certain legacy auto insurance liabilities between October 1, 2015 and September 30, 2018.

Losses ceded under the Reinsurance Agreement that exceed the combined funds withheld liability balance and collateralized amount established by DARAG for the benefit of PVIC, which was $346.5 million at the execution of the Reinsurance Agreement, but are below the aggregate limit of $434.5 million may result in the recognition of a deferred gain liability. The deferred gain liability is amortized and recognized as a benefit to the statement of operations over the settlement period of the ceded reserves. The settlement period of the ceded reserves is based on the life-to-date cumulative losses collected and likely extends over periods longer than a quarter. The amount of the deferral is recalculated each period based on loss payments and updated estimates of the portfolio’s total losses. Consequently, cumulative reserve adjustments for claims ceded under the Reinsurance Agreement in subsequent periods may result in significant losses to the statement of operations unless a deferred gain is also recognized in the same period to offset said losses. Lyft believes that the net amount recognized on the statement of operations associated with claims ceded under the Reinsurance Agreement, including any reserve adjustments and any benefit recognized for the related deferred gains, should be excluded to show the ultimate economic benefit of the Reinsurance Agreement. This adjustment will help investors understand the economic benefit of our Reinsurance Agreement on future trends in our operations, as they improve over the settlement period of any deferred gains. Therefore, in the event that the net amount of any reserve adjustments and any benefits from deferred gains related to claims ceded under the Reinsurance Agreement is recognized on the statement of operations in a subsequent period, those amounts will be excluded from the calculation of Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Net Income (Loss) through the exclusion of “Net amount from claims ceded under the Reinsurance Agreement”. As of December 31, 2023, there were no deferred gain related to losses ceded under the Reinsurance Agreement. As of December 31, 2022, we had $2.4 million of deferred gain related to losses ceded under the Reinsurance Agreement which was included within accrued and other current liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets.

During the second quarter of 2022, we completed a transaction which effectively commuted and settled the Reinsurance Agreement. The commutation transaction resulted in a $36.8 million gain recorded to cost of revenue on the condensed consolidated statement of operations. We believe the adjustment to exclude this gain associated with the commutation of the Reinsurance Agreement from Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Net Income (Loss) is useful to investors by enabling them to better assess our operating performance in the context of current period results and provide for better comparability with our historically disclosed Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Net Income (Loss) amounts. The gain associated with this commutation transaction, which commuted and settled the Reinsurance Agreement, will be excluded from the calculation of Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Net Income (Loss) through the exclusion of the “Net amount from claims ceded under the Reinsurance Agreement.”

Lyft subleases certain office space and earns sublease income. Sublease income is included within other income, net on the condensed consolidated statement of operations, while the related lease expense is included within operating expenses and loss from operations. Lyft believes the adjustment to include sublease income in Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors by enabling them to better assess Lyft’s operating performance, including the benefits of recent transactions, by presenting sublease income as a contra-expense to the related lease charges that are part of operating expenses.

In November 2022 and April 2023, Lyft committed to plans of termination as part of efforts to reduce operating expenses. Lyft believes the costs associated with these restructuring efforts do not reflect performance of Lyft’s ongoing operations. Lyft believes the adjustment to exclude the costs related to restructuring from Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Net Income (Loss) is useful to investors by enabling them to better assess Lyft’s ongoing operating performance and provide for better comparability with Lyft’s historically disclosed Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Net Income (Loss) amounts.

Lyft uses its non-GAAP financial measures in conjunction with GAAP measures as part of our overall assessment of our performance, including the preparation of our annual operating budget and quarterly forecasts, to evaluate the effectiveness of our business strategies, and to communicate with our board of directors concerning our financial performance. Free cash flow is a measure used by our management to understand and evaluate our operating performance and trends. We believe free cash flow is a useful indicator of liquidity that provides our management with information about our ability to generate or use cash to enhance the strength of our balance sheet, further invest in our business and pursue potential strategic initiatives. Free cash flow has certain limitations, including that it does not reflect our future contractual commitments and it does not represent the total increase or decrease in our cash balance for a given period. Free cash flow does not necessarily represent funds available for discretionary use and is not necessarily a measure of our ability to fund our cash needs.

Lyft’s definitions may differ from the definitions used by other companies and therefore comparability may be limited. In addition, other companies may not publish these or similar metrics. Furthermore, these measures have certain limitations in that they do not include the impact of certain expenses that are reflected in our consolidated statement of operations that are necessary to run our business. Thus, our non-GAAP financial measures should be considered in addition to, not as substitutes for, or in isolation from, measures prepared in accordance with GAAP.

 

Lyft, Inc.

Consolidated Balance Sheets

(in thousands, except for share and per share data)

(unaudited)

 

 

December 31,

 

 

2023

 

 

 

2022

 

Assets

 

 

 

Current assets

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents

$

558,636

 

 

$

281,090

 

Short-term investments

 

1,126,548

 

 

 

1,515,702

 

Prepaid expenses and other current assets

 

892,235

 

 

 

786,067

 

Total current assets

 

2,577,419

 

 

 

2,582,859

 

Restricted cash and cash equivalents

 

211,786

 

 

 

109,368

 

Restricted investments

 

837,291

 

 

 

1,027,506

 

Other investments

 

39,870

 

 

 

26,390

 

Property and equipment, net

 

465,844

 

 

 

313,402

 

Operating lease right of use assets

 

98,202

 

 

 

135,213

 

Intangible assets, net

 

59,515

 

 

 

76,208

 

Goodwill

 

257,791

 

 

 

261,582

 

Other assets

 

16,749

 

 

 

23,903

 

Total assets

$

4,564,467

 

 

$

4,556,431

 

Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity

 

 

 

Current liabilities

 

 

 

Accounts payable

$

72,282

 

 

$

107,801

 

Insurance reserves

 

1,337,868

 

 

 

1,417,350

 

Accrued and other current liabilities

 

1,508,855

 

 

 

1,561,609

 

Operating lease liabilities — current

 

42,556

 

 

 

45,803

 

Total current liabilities

 

2,961,561

 

 

 

3,132,563

 

Operating lease liabilities

 

134,102

 

 

 

176,356

 

Long-term debt, net of current portion

 

839,362

 

 

 

803,207

 

Other liabilities

 

87,924

 

 

 

55,637

 

Total liabilities

 

4,022,949

 

 

 

4,167,763

 

 

 

 

 

Stockholders’ equity

 

 

 

Preferred stock, $0.00001 par value; 1,000,000,000 shares authorized as of December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022; no shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022

 

 

 

 

 

Common stock, $0.00001 par value; 18,000,000,000 Class A shares authorized as of December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022; 391,239,046 and 361,552,359 Class A shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively; 100,000,000 Class B shares authorized as of December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022; 8,566,629 and 8,602,629 Class B shares issued and outstanding, as of December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022

 

4

 

 

 

4

 

Additional paid-in capital

 

10,827,378

 

 

 

10,335,013

 

Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)

 

(4,949

)

 

 

(5,754

)

Accumulated deficit

 

(10,280,915

)

 

 

(9,940,595

)

Total stockholders’ equity

 

541,518

 

 

 

388,668

 

Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity

$

4,564,467

 

 

$

4,556,431

 

 

Contacts

Sonya Banerjee

investor@lyft.com

Media

press@lyft.com

Read full story here

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