By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – Lyft stock (NASDAQ:LYFT) traded 4.2% lower in premarket Wednesday after its passenger numbers fell in the December quarter, overshadowing a first ever annual breakeven at the basic operating level.
The company reported 18.7 million active riders in the quarter, down 1% from the previous quarter, as the winter wave of Covid-19 again turned people off non-private transport, while the onset of colder weather hit demand for its bikes and scooters.
On a year-on-year basis, that was still up 49%, but ridership remains 30% below pre-Covid levels, according to Reuters.
On a year-on-year basis, revenue climbed 70% to $970 million, reflecting both higher user numbers and average revenue per ride. Revenue per active rider jumped 14% to nearly $52, an all-time high. According to Bloomberg, co-founder and President John Zimmer attributed this to improvement in the mix of shorter rides and generally pricier airport trips, which doubled from last year.
Lyft has raised its prices recently, not least to fund higher incentives for drivers, whose availability has dwindled during the pandemic.
Lyft closed the year with its first annual profit before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and other adjustments. That totalled $93 million, a reversal from a loss of $755 million in the previous year. However, its bottom line remains firmly in the red, at $259 million - albeit that it substantially narrower than the loss of $458 million a year earlier.