Lyft is working directly with companies and cities to try to help get people back to work at the office, according to David Risher, CEO, speaking on a second quarter earnings call. A former executive at Amazon, he joined the rideshare company in April. He said he recently met with the mayor of San Francisco to discuss helping people get back to work because it’s so important for the city’s downtown.
When Risher joined Lyft, the company laid off 26% of its workforce, focused on competitive pricing and introduced new features. This approach, he said, “is really paying off.” One new feature was a “preordering” option available to customers when landing at select airports during the second quarter. Though the option was available only since May, Lyft had the highest volume of quarterly airport rides since 2019, in this past quarter, according to Erin Brewer, who joined the company as CFO in May.
Lyft reported $1 billion in second-quarter revenue, up 3% year over year. The company credited its “strong growth” in rideshare, which was up 18% versus a year prior. Lyft’s net loss was $114.3 million, down from a loss of $377.2 million in the second quarter of 2022, and less than the $187.6 million loss reported for the first quarter.
For the third quarter, Lyft projects revenue of $1.13 billion to $1.15 billion, up 7% to 9% year over year, reflecting “rideshare ride growth of approximately 20% year over year,” Brewer said. She also provided a “directional outlook” for the fourth quarter, with revenue growth anticipated to be in the low to mid single-digit percentages quarter over quarter.
