# Lyft (LYFT.US)

Canonical: https://gigainvestors.com/s/LYFT

Analysis as of: 2026-10-16T07:30:00.504Z. Financial observations: FY2018–FY2026.

Listing currency: USD. Reporting currency: USD.

## Verdict

Not a wonderful business

Quality tests for Buy: not passed (profit record: fail; earnings resilience is evidence only). Published buy qualification: no.

Share price: $17.16 per share; close as of 2026-10-15.

## Checklist

### understandable: fail

- 1 revenue decline in the last 10 years (informational)

- more than 2 net loss years

- negative average operating margin

- operating margin variation exceeds 0.35

- Financial history: 9 years

- Years with declining revenue: 1

- Years with a net loss: 6

- Operating margin variation: 0.89×

Chart: Operating margin; fiscal year observations.

- FY2018: -0.45×

- FY2019: -0.75×

- FY2020: -0.76×

- FY2021: -0.35×

- FY2022: -0.36×

- FY2023: -0.11×

- FY2024: -0.02×

- FY2025: -0.03×

- LTM to Jun 2026: -0.02×

### moat: fail

- Years with nonpositive invested capital use equity plus debt and leases; positive earnings with no positive capital are shown above 100%.

- ROIC median below threshold

- ROIC worst years below threshold (more than 1 bad year allowed)

- ROIC, median of available years: -38.7%

- ROIC, second-lowest year: -601.5%

- Typical minus recent gross margin: -0.1 pp

- Typical gross margin (annual median): 42.2%

- Recent gross margin (lower of latest and 3-year median): 42.3%

- Years with nonpositive capital: 5

- Capital spending / revenue: 2.8%

- ROIC including acquisitions, ten-year median: -361.3%

Chart: ROIC excluding acquisitions; fiscal year observations.

- FY2018: -42.2%

- FY2019: -664.0%

- FY2020: -601.5%

- FY2021: -38.7%

- FY2022: -79.5%

- FY2023: -23.7%

- FY2024: -5.5%

- FY2025: -6.5%

- LTM to Jun 2026: -4.9%

### economics: pass

- Cash conversion uses consolidated totals: No

- Owner earnings, five-year total: $128M

- Net income, five-year total: -$120M

- Return on incremental invested capital: >100%

- Working capital / revenue, annual change: -4.4 pp

Chart: Owner earnings · five years; fiscal year observations.

- FY2021: -$1.0B

- FY2022: -$1.5B

- FY2023: -$340M

- FY2024: $88M

- FY2025: $2.9B

### management: pass

- potential debt-funded buybacks (informational)

- buybacks leaned toward cheaper years (informational)

- ROIC first 3 years vs last 3 years: -601.5% vs -6.5%

- Per-share earnings: -5.61 to 0.06 (three-year endpoint medians)

- Management verdict uses per-share economic progress: Yes

- Ordinary dilution, 5-year annual growth: 6.0%

- Diluted shares, 5-year annual growth: 6.0%

- Per-share value change: $5.67

- Per-share value, starting three-year median: -$5.61

- Per-share value, ending three-year median: $0.06

- Buybacks concentrated in cheaper years (correlation): 0.14

- Average buyback yield: 2.5%

- Buyback history: 7 years

- Debt-funded buybacks: Yes

- ROIC, first three-year median: -601.5%

- ROIC, last three-year median: -6.5%

Chart: Earnings per share; fiscal year observations.

- FY2018: -$3.83

- FY2019: -$11.44

- FY2020: -$5.61

- FY2021: -$3.17

- FY2022: -$4.47

- FY2023: -$0.88

- FY2024: $0.06

- FY2025: $6.81

### accounting: fail

- Sloan accruals exceed 10%

- stock compensation exceeds 15% of operating cash flow

- Sloan accruals: 18.6%

- Restructuring years, last five: 1

- Stock compensation / operating cash flow: 27.6%

- Earnings backed by cash: Yes

- Operating cash / earnings: 0.41×

- Accounting red flags: 2

- Goodwill and intangibles / equity: 0.19×

Chart: Sloan accruals; fiscal year observations.

- FY2018: -16.8%

- FY2019: -43.9%

- FY2020: -8.0%

- FY2021: -20.1%

- FY2022: -29.6%

- FY2023: -5.3%

- FY2024: -15.2%

- FY2025: 18.6%

## Holders

## Price story

Down 63% since Oct 2021 · "Lyft misses quarterly revenue estimates on competition, weak US travel demand" (finance.yahoo.com, Aug 2025) · sales +7.2%

Story as of 2026-10-16T09:59:07.010Z; price observation 2026-10-15.

- 2025-05-09: Lyft (NasdaqGS:LYFT) Reports Q1 Sales of US$1450M With Return to Profitability ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/lyft-nasdaqgs-lyft-reports-q1-174456741.html))

- 2025-08-04: Baidu, Lyft shares jump on European robotaxi partnership ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/baidu-lyft-shares-jump-european-125959401.html))

- 2025-09-17: Lyft stock surges 13% on Waymo robotaxi deal in Nashville ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/lyft-stock-surges-13-on-waymo-robotaxi-deal-in-nashville-200736917.html))

- 2025-12-19: Wedbush downgrades Lyft on autonomous vehicle disruption risk ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wedbush-downgrades-lyft-autonomous-vehicle-134722816.html))

- 2026-02-11: LYFT Q4 Deep Dive: Slower Revenue Growth and Margin Pressures Temper Rider Expansion ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/lyft-q4-deep-dive-slower-125047494.html))

- 2026-08-06: Lyft’s (NASDAQ:LYFT) Q2 CY2026 Sales Beat Estimates, Increases Its Active Riders ([finance.yahoo.com](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/lyft-nasdaq-lyft-q2-cy2026-202519845.html))

### Sales · FY2025–2026

sales +7.2%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1759509/000162828026006960/lyft-20251231.htm; observed 2026-02-11.

- FY2018: $2.2B 

- FY2019: $3.6B 

- FY2020: $2.4B 

- FY2021: $3.2B 

- FY2022: $4.1B 

- FY2023: $4.4B 

- FY2024: $5.8B 

- FY2025: $6.3B 

- FY2026: $6.8B 

### Gross margin · FY2026

gross margin 45.5%; source https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1759509/000162828026006960/lyft-20251231.htm; observed 2026-02-11.

- FY2018: 42.3% 

- FY2019: 39.8% 

- FY2020: 38.8% 

- FY2021: 46.9% 

- FY2022: 40.5% 

- FY2023: 42.2% 

- FY2024: 42.3% 

- FY2025: 41.5% 

- FY2026: 45.5% 

## Owner memo

Memo as of 2026-10-16T08:06:05.509Z.

### How it makes money

Operates in software application; annual sales are USD 6.3 billion.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1759509/000162828026006960/lyft-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-11); FY2025: revenue 6316261000; grossProfit 2618608000; margin = grossProfit / revenue.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); LYFT.US: Lyft, Inc. operates multimodal transportation networks that offer access to various transportation options through platform and mobile based applications in the United States and internationally. The company facilitates peer-to-peer ridesharing by connecting drivers who have vehicles with riders who need a ride. It also operates Lyft Platform that provides a marketplace where drivers can be matched with riders via the Lyft mobile application. The company's platform provides a ridesharing marketplace that connects drivers with riders; Express Drive, a car rental program for drivers; and a network of shared bikes and scooters in various cities to address the needs of riders for short trips. In addition, it offers licensing and data access agreements; sells bikes and bike station software and hardware; and provides advertising services. The company was formerly known as Zimride, Inc. and changed its name to Lyft, Inc. in April 2013. Lyft, Inc. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

### Why customers stay

Margins ranged from 41.5% to 42.3% during 2023–25; it lost 38.7% on its capital.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-11); FY2023: grossProfit / revenue = 42.2%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-11); FY2024: grossProfit / revenue = 42.3%.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1759509/000162828026006960/lyft-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-11); FY2025: grossProfit / revenue = 41.5%.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-11); 9-year return on capital observations [[2018,-0.42152766127672303],[2019,-6.640392397149709],[2020,-6.015300255160043],[2021,-0.38712045037504633],[2022,-0.7946817566593878],[2023,-0.23730096454574393],[2024,-0.05510946566104383],[2025,-0.06546170118518238],[2026,-0.04907828611072626]]; median -0.38712045037504633. ROIC follows the displayed moat series; financial companies use return on tangible equity.

### Where the cash goes

Reinvests 10.5% of cash earnings; paid dividends in 3 of 8 years.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-11); FY2024: growth capex 0; upkeep 83470000; cash acquisitions 0; owner earnings 88206000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 0.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1759509/000162828026006960/lyft-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-11); FY2025: growth capex 0; upkeep 52822000; cash acquisitions 307320000; owner earnings 2926413000. Growth capex plus acquisitions / owner earnings = 0.10501593589148217.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-11); Dividend observations: [[2018,0],[2019,0],[2020,5827000],[2021,7525000],[2022,6733000],[2023,0],[2024,0],[2025,0]]. Zero only counted when supported by a complete cash-flow statement.

- Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1759509/000162828026006960/lyft-20251231.htm (filed 2026-02-11); FY2025: cash repurchases 499992000 USD.

### Are managers owners

Insiders own 1.3% of the company.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-10-16); LYFT.US SharesStats.PercentInsiders = 1.3390000000000002 percentage points; cache date 2026-10-16.

### What the price says

The price is 1.1 times annual sales.

- Source: https://eodhd.com/financial-apis/stock-etfs-fundamental-data-feeds/ (filed 2026-02-11); Closing price 17.16 USD; reporting-to-trading FX 1; FY2025 annual sales per share 15.123009440715991; price multiple 1.1346947885782428. FY2025 cash earnings/share 7.006704033673404. Closing-price date 2026-10-15.

## Monthly share-price history (USD per share)

- 2019-03: $78.29 per share

- 2019-04: $59.80 per share

- 2019-05: $57.62 per share

- 2019-06: $65.71 per share

- 2019-07: $60.87 per share

- 2019-08: $48.97 per share

- 2019-09: $40.84 per share

- 2019-10: $41.44 per share

- 2019-11: $48.98 per share

- 2019-12: $43.02 per share

- 2020-01: $47.48 per share

- 2020-02: $38.12 per share

- 2020-03: $26.85 per share

- 2020-04: $32.83 per share

- 2020-05: $31.26 per share

- 2020-06: $33.01 per share

- 2020-07: $29.23 per share

- 2020-08: $29.67 per share

- 2020-09: $27.55 per share

- 2020-10: $22.83 per share

- 2020-11: $38.17 per share

- 2020-12: $49.13 per share

- 2021-01: $44.46 per share

- 2021-02: $55.70 per share

- 2021-03: $63.18 per share

- 2021-04: $55.66 per share

- 2021-05: $57.09 per share

- 2021-06: $60.48 per share

- 2021-07: $55.32 per share

- 2021-08: $47.61 per share

- 2021-09: $53.59 per share

- 2021-10: $45.87 per share

- 2021-11: $40.61 per share

- 2021-12: $42.73 per share

- 2022-01: $38.52 per share

- 2022-02: $38.94 per share

- 2022-03: $38.40 per share

- 2022-04: $32.60 per share

- 2022-05: $17.68 per share

- 2022-06: $13.28 per share

- 2022-07: $13.86 per share

- 2022-08: $14.73 per share

- 2022-09: $13.17 per share

- 2022-10: $14.64 per share

- 2022-11: $11.22 per share

- 2022-12: $11.02 per share

- 2023-01: $16.25 per share

- 2023-02: $10.00 per share

- 2023-03: $9.27 per share

- 2023-04: $10.25 per share

- 2023-05: $9.02 per share

- 2023-06: $9.59 per share

- 2023-07: $12.71 per share

- 2023-08: $11.78 per share

- 2023-09: $10.54 per share

- 2023-10: $9.17 per share

- 2023-11: $11.73 per share

- 2023-12: $14.99 per share

- 2024-01: $12.49 per share

- 2024-02: $15.88 per share

- 2024-03: $19.35 per share

- 2024-04: $15.64 per share

- 2024-05: $15.61 per share

- 2024-06: $14.10 per share

- 2024-07: $12.05 per share

- 2024-08: $11.67 per share

- 2024-09: $12.75 per share

- 2024-10: $12.97 per share

- 2024-11: $17.36 per share

- 2024-12: $12.90 per share

- 2025-01: $13.54 per share

- 2025-02: $13.34 per share

- 2025-03: $11.87 per share

- 2025-04: $12.40 per share

- 2025-05: $15.24 per share

- 2025-06: $15.76 per share

- 2025-07: $14.06 per share

- 2025-08: $16.22 per share

- 2025-09: $22.01 per share

- 2025-10: $20.46 per share

- 2025-11: $21.03 per share

- 2025-12: $19.37 per share

- 2026-01: $16.87 per share

- 2026-02: $13.84 per share

- 2026-03: $13.30 per share

- 2026-04: $14.15 per share

- 2026-05: $14.11 per share

- 2026-06: $14.61 per share

- 2026-07: $15.86 per share

- 2026-08: $16.90 per share

- 2026-09: $15.01 per share

- 2026-10: $17.16 per share

## Annual estimated value (USD per share)

Historical values use today's bond yield for every fiscal year

Historical values use today's FX rate into trading currency for every fiscal year

Historical values use current restated fundamentals and current commodity classification; they are not point-in-time estimates

## Sources

[Original 10-K filing](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1759509/000162828026006960/lyft-20251231.htm); period 2025-12-31, filed 2026-02-11.

Estimates depend on assumptions and are not guarantees or investment advice. Underlying data remains subject to its source licenses; public reading does not grant bulk redistribution rights.