Lyft Q1 profit of $55M exceeds outlook by $40M

As Lyft prepares to mark 10 years since its founding, the company’s financial results in the first quarter of 2022 are substantially better than expectations shared during its last earnings report in February.

At the time the company predicted adjusted EBITDA for Q1 of $5 million to $15 million – but instead it came in at $55 million. That’s an improvement of nearly $128 million compared to the first quarter of 2021.

Q1 revenue of $876 million also exceeded the high end of the company’s outlook by about $26 million and is up 44% year-over-year.

“Our Q1 results meaningfully exceeded our outlook. This outperformance was driven by increased demand and resilient driver levels,” says Elaine Paul, chief financial officer of Lyft. 

“We will continue improving service levels to benefit our business in the near-term and put us in the best position to support increasing demand over the long-term. We also expect to strategically invest in key business initiatives to support our continued growth.”

Lyft’s active riders in the first quarter for rideshare, bikes and scooters were 17.8 million, up by more than 4.3 million people, which the company says reflects a mix of both new and returning riders. 

Revenue per active rider was $49.18, the second highest on record and just 5% off the peak revenue reached in Q4 2021.

Lyft also increased its driver pool in Q1, growing 40% year-over-year.

In a call with analysts to discuss the results, Lyft co-founder and CEO Logan Green says the company’s first decade consisted of two chapters – “being the first to launch and scale peer to peer ridesharing” and then reaching profitability on an adjusted EBITDA basis. 

“Now we’re turning the page to our most exciting chapter yet. In chapter three we plan to scale Lyft into the most impactful modern transportation network,” Green says. 

And says co-founder and president John Zimmer, this network will bring together all types of transportation services into one unified customer experience.

“This third chapter will be about completing the Lyft network – connecting rideshare, bikes, scooters, rentals, transit and even personal vehicles to maximize value for our customers,” he says. 

“Our singular focus on transportation is a big competitive advantage. It enables us to go deeper within the transportation ecosystem to build experiences that go beyond today’s status quo in every mode. These elevated yet simple experiences strengthen the network today and help us prepare to commercialize autonomous vehicles into the future.”