Lyft’s ride-hailing business is down 70 percent, year over year, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company’s chief executives said in an earnings call with investors Wednesday. The company’s ride volume hit a bottom in the second week of April, plummeting 75 percent year-over-year, and has since gradually risen in the final weeks of the month.
Lyft says its ride-hailing business is down 70 percent because of COVID-19
The company said it hit bottom the second week of April
The company said it hit bottom the second week of April
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
is transportation editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public transportation, and aviation. His work has appeared in The New York Daily News and City & State.
As the COVID-19 related shutdown continues with no clear end in sight, Lyft is projecting continued pain for its business. “We cannot predict the trajectory or timing of the eventual recovery,” CEO Logan Green said, “but it is clear that macro trends will continue to negatively impact our business.”
But Lyft’s earnings report for the first quarter of 2020 was slightly less grim than it’s ride-hailing business. The company brought in $955.7 million in revenue, up 23 percent over Q1 of 2019, and recorded a net loss of $398.1 million, 36 percent down from the $1.1 billion Lyft lost in Q1 2019. The company says it ended the quarter with 21 million active users, up 3 percent from last year. And it ended the quarter with $2.7 billion in unrestricted cash.
Last week, Lyft laid off nearly 1,000 employees, or about 17 percent of its workforce.
Developing...
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
