Shares of Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) gained in after-hours trading after the ride-hailing company reported earnings for its first quarter of Fiscal Year 2024. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $0.15, which beat analysts’ consensus estimate of $0.09 per share. In addition, sales increased by 30% year-over-year, with revenue hitting $1.3 billion. This beat analysts’ expectations by $140 million.
These results were driven by a 21% increase in Gross Bookings and a 23% jump in rides. Demand was particularly strong during the early morning, weekend evening, and commute hours. Interestingly, the number of active riders increased by 12% to 21.9 million. This indicates that Lyft is doing a good job of retaining riders despite competing against Uber (NYSE:UBER), which is the current market leader.
Looking forward, management now expects Gross Bookings and adjusted EBITDA for Q2 2024 to be in the ranges of $4 billion to $4.1 billion and $95 million to $100 million, respectively. Lyft also sees free cash flow as being positive for the year.
Is Lyft Stock a Buy Now?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Hold consensus rating on LYFT stock based on five Buys, 22 Holds, and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 94% rally in its share price over the past year, the average LYFT price target of $16.50 per share implies that shares are fairly valued. However, it’s worth noting that estimates will likely change following today’s earnings report.
