LYFT Q3 2023 Earnings

Call Details

• Call Title: Lyft, Inc. Q3 2023 Earnings Call
• Date: November 8, 2023 10:00 PM UTC
• Management Team:
  • David Risher (Chief Executive Officer)
  • Erin Brewer (Chief Financial Officer)
  • Kristin Sverchek (President)
  • Sonia Banerjee (Head of Investor Relations)

Call Summary

Financial Performance

• Lyft supported 187 million rides in Q3 2023 and reported 22.4 million active riders for the quarter.
• Total rides grew 20% year-over-year in Q3 2023, and rideshare rides specifically grew 22% year-over-year.
• Gross bookings were $3,554,000,000 in Q3 2023, up 15% year-over-year.
• Revenue was $1,158,000,000 in Q3 2023, up 10% year-over-year and slightly above the high end of the outlook.
• Cost of revenue was $638,000,000 in Q3 2023, up 15% year-over-year driven by higher ride volumes and higher per-ride insurance costs.
• Operating expenses were $455,000,000 in Q3 2023, down 18% year-over-year and equal to 13% of gross bookings, an improvement of 5 percentage points versus Q3 2022.
• Adjusted EBITDA was $92,000,000 for Q3 2023, equivalent to 2.6% of gross bookings, reflecting positive momentum across the business.
• Lyft ended Q3 2023 with approximately $1.7 billion of unrestricted cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments.

Guidance

• Lyft expects Q4 2023 gross bookings of $3,600,000,000 to $3,700,000,000, representing year-over-year growth of 13% to 16%.
• The company expects Q4 2023 adjusted EBITDA of approximately $50,000,000 to $60,000,000 and adjusted EBITDA margin as a percentage of gross bookings of roughly 1.4% to 1.6%.
• Q4 2023 revenue is expected to grow mid-single digits quarter-over-quarter and low to mid-single digits year-over-year per the formal outlook.
• The outlook implies total rides growth will accelerate slightly year-over-year from Q3's 20%, driven by rideshare, but implies a slight sequential decline in total rides due to bike and scooter seasonality.
• Q4 2023 cost of revenue is expected to increase by approximately $100,000,000 quarter-over-quarter, primarily reflecting the full-quarter impact of third-party insurance contract renewals and higher rideshare volumes.
• Operating expenses are expected to be roughly flat quarter-over-quarter in Q4 2023.
• The company stated the Q4 outlook is consistent with prior directional comments delivered on the previous call.