INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Hello and welcome to an Equity Shot, a short-form episode of the show where we dive into a single breaking news story
Guess what we&re talking about today! It Lyft
You guessed correctly.
The Lyft S-1 is the very first major S-1 event of 2019
As you might recall, the government shutdown gummed the IPO process by halting the Securities and Exchange Commission, an agency that plays
the most active role in helping a company go public
Now the government is open, and Lyft formerly private filing is now a public filing.
You can read Kate deep dive hereor mine here, but what
follows is an overview of what we chatted about on the show
Here the SEC filing if you want to follow along.
Up top are revenue and growth
Lyft revenue grew from $1.06 billion to nearly $2.2 billion from 2017 to 2018
That impressive.
Next is costs
Lyft costs rose dramatically during 2018, compared to the year prior
In fact, Lyft total cost profile rose from $1.77 billion in 2017 to a staggering $3.13 billion in 2018
That a lot, and each figure is far higher than its revenue.
Which lead us to losses
Sure those revenue numbers look hot, but Lyft, at the same time, lost $911 million on 2018 revenue and $688 million the previous year
Though, as Alex points out, that ratio is improving, pointing to a positive (maybe even profitable) future for Lyft.
However, while the S-1
had its ups and downs, two data points stood out that weren&t GAAP, but did make us appreciate Lyft work a bit more
As we explain, Lyft share of bookings (total value of services) from its platform is rising as is its revenue-per-rider
Those bode well for the future, too.
We closed the episode with some chatter on Lyft plan to reward its drivers
The business is helping drivers — the core of its business — earn a piece of that tasty IPO pie with a $10,000 bonus
TechCrunch Megan Rose Dickey has more on that here
Plus, we&d have been remiss not to discuss Lyft scooter play, which it apparently spent $60 million on last year.
All that and we got an S-1
Let have a few more, and quickly.
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