Ride-sharing company Lyft Inc. (LYFT) is scheduled to announce its results for the fourth quarter of 2024 after the market closes on Tuesday, February 11. LYFT stock has risen 14% over the past year. The company is under pressure due to intense competition from Uber Technologies (UBER) and the threat from autonomous vehicles (AV). Nonetheless, Lyft is expected to gain from the improvement in the ride-sharing market and its cost reduction measures. Analysts expect the company’s Q4 EPS (earnings per share) to come in at $0.21.
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Further, Wall Street expects the company’s revenue to rise about 28% to $1.56 billion. Lyft has exceeded analysts’ expectations for the past seven consecutive quarters.
Analysts’ Sentiment Ahead of Lyft’s Q4 Earnings
Ahead of Lyft’s Q4 earnings print, Wolfe Research analyst Shweta Khajuria reiterated a Hold rating on the stock. The analyst said that she remains constructive on Lyft stock. Khajuria noted that Lyft has surpassed the high end of its bookings outlook in three of the last four quarters and the high end of its EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization) guidance in each of the last 12 quarters.
For Fiscal 2025, Khajuria doesn’t view the loss of the Delta Air Lines (DAL) partnership as a meaningful headwind to Lyft’s income statement. Overall, the analyst expects Q4 bookings to grow 16.9% year-over-year compared to the consensus estimate of 15.7%. Khajuria estimates EBITDA margin to expand 61 basis points year over year to 2.4%, in line with the Street’s estimate.
Recently, Bank of America analyst Mike McGovern reiterated a Buy rating on Lyft stock but reduced the price target to $19 from $21, given growing competition and uncertainty around autonomous vehicle (AV) adoption. He expects Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Waymo’s future launch of freeway rides to the public to eventually be a negative for Lyft. However, he contends that the Street might be overestimating the timeline for Waymo’s public launch.
McGovern also expects Uber’s development of a Price Lock feature, similar to Lyft’s successful offering, to intensify competition. Nonetheless, he is bullish on Lyft as he believes that the company remains a long-term beneficiary of AV adoption.
Options Traders Anticipate a Major Move on LYFT’s Q4 Earnings
Using TipRanks’ Options tool, we can see what options traders are expecting from the stock immediately after its earnings report. The expected earnings move is determined by calculating the at-the-money straddle of the options closest to expiration after the earnings announcement. If this sounds complicated, don’t worry, the Options tool does this for you.
Indeed, it currently says that options traders are expecting a 17.4% move in either direction in reaction to Lyft’s Q4 2024 results.
Is LYFT Stock a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Overall, Lyft Technologies scores a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on six Buys and 14 Holds. The average LYFT stock price target of $18.41 implies about 30% upside potential.
