Lyft retracts major earnings release after CFO corrects error.

• Lyft shares rose in extended trading after the company posted better-than-expected earnings.
• Lyft anticipates first-quarter bookings to be between $3.5 billion and $3.6 billion, surpassing StreetAccount's predictions of $3.46 billion.
• After the CFO admitted a significant mistake in the earnings release, the stock's gains were significantly reduced.

On Tuesday, shares of the company initially soared in extended trading. However, after the finance chief admitted on an earnings call that the press release contained a significant error, the stock price plummeted.

According to LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv, the company's performance exceeded analysts' estimates.

• Earnings per share: 18 cents adjusted vs. 8 cents expected
• Revenue: $1.22 billion vs. $1.22 billion expected

Erin Brewer, the Chief Financial Officer of Lyft, announced on the earnings call that the company had incorrectly stated its margin expansion in the press release. Instead of the previously stated 500 basis points, or 5%, of growth for 2024, the actual increase will be 50 basis points, or 0.5%, Brewer revealed.

Brewer stated that the statement was, in fact, a correction to the press release.

Brewer announced that the adjusted profit margin as a percentage of bookings will be 2.1% in 2024, an increase from 1.6% in 2023.

After the earnings release, Lyft's stock experienced a significant increase of over 60% within 60 minutes, resulting in a current gain of approximately 16%. However, this rapid rise was followed by a sharp decline in market cap, which exceeded $2 billion, causing Lyft's closing value to drop below $5 billion.

In the fourth quarter, Lyft recorded a net loss of $26.3 million, or 7 cents per share, compared to a net loss of $588.1 million, or $1.61 per share, in the same period the previous year. Despite this, the company reported adjusted earnings of 18 cents per share.

Lyft reported a 4% increase in revenue from the previous year, which amounted to $1.175 billion.

According to StreetAccount, analysts' estimates of $3.46 billion for gross bookings in the first quarter will be exceeded, with bookings expected to be between $3.5 billion and $3.6 billion.

Lyft expects to generate positive Free Cash Flow for the full-year for the first time due to slightly lower capital expenditures for 2024 compared to 2023, given certain factors.

Since its initial public offering in 2019, the company has faced financial difficulties, losing money to cover driver expenses and compete with a larger rival. Despite a recent after-hours surge on Tuesday, the stock remains more than 80% below its initial price.

In the fourth quarter, the number of rides increased by 26% from the previous year, reaching a record 191 million, while the number of active riders rose by 10% to 22.4 million.

While bookings for the quarter increased by 17% to $3.7 billion, gross bookings for the year saw a 14% rise to $13.8 billion.

On Tuesday, Lyft shares were down 19% from the start of 2024, while Uber shares were up 12%.

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