LYFT Q1 2022 Earnings

Call Details

• Call Title: Lyft, Inc. Q1 2022 Earnings Call
• Date: May 3, 2022 at 8:30 PM UTC
• Management Team:
  • Sonia Banerjee (Head of Investor Relations)
  • Logan Green (Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer)
  • John Zimmer (Co-founder and President)
  • Elaine Paul (Chief Financial Officer)

Call Summary

Financial Performance

• Lyft reported Q1 revenue of $876 million, which was up 44% year-over-year and exceeded the company guidance range of $800 to $850 million.
• Q1 revenue declined 10% sequentially versus Q4 2021 primarily due to Omicron-related softness in January and seasonality in bikes and scooters.
• Active riders in Q1 were 17.8 million, which was up 32% year-over-year and represented an increase of more than 4.3 million people versus Q1 2021.
• Contribution margin on a non-GAAP basis was 57.4% in Q1, which exceeded the company's guidance of 56.5% and produced contribution dollars of $503 million.
• Adjusted EBITDA for Q1 was a profit of $54.8 million, which exceeded the prior outlook of $5 to $15 million and was driven by revenue outperformance and expense savings.
• Unrestricted cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments were $2.2 billion at quarter end.

Guidance

• Lyft expects Q2 revenue between $950 million and $1 billion, implying quarter-over-quarter growth of 9% to 14%.
• The company expects Q2 contribution margin to be approximately 56%, reflecting planned investments to improve marketplace health.
• Lyft expects Q2 adjusted EBITDA to be between $10 million and $20 million given the planned investments in driver supply and marketing.
• Lyft stated it remains cautiously optimistic that full year 2022 revenue growth will accelerate versus the 36% achieved in 2021.
• The Q2 guide is informed by exit-rate weekly rides and assumes low single-digit growth in average weekly rides versus the end of Q1.
• Management warned that COVID, geopolitical dynamics, and inflation remain unpredictable and could change the outlook rapidly.