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Lyft files IPO prospectus, aims to trade on Nasdaq by end of month

March 04, 2019

Human cloud, ride-sharing firm Lyft made its initial public offering papers public in an IPO prospectus filed Friday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Lyft aims to trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market by the end of March under the symbol LYFT.

The documents show Lyft posted revenue of $2.2 billion in 2018, up from $1.1 billion in 2017 and $343.3 million in 2016. The company generated bookings of $8.1 billion in 2018, up from $4.6 billion and $1.9 billion in 2017 and 2016 respectively.

However, Lyft’s net loss widened to $911.3 million last year from $688.3 million in 2017 and $682.8 million in 2016. Axios reported last year’s loss will be a massive hurdle to jump, as it appears to be the largest-ever net loss for a company entering the public markets for the first time. As of now, there is no visible path to profitability, according to Axios.

Lyft also announced that, as part of the IPO, it will provide one-time cash bonuses to certain drivers, who can then use them to buy IPO shares if desired. Drivers who have logged at least 10,000 rides by Feb. 25 are eligible for a $1,000 bonus, and those with 20,000 rides will receive a $10,000 bonus; the bonuses are expected to be paid to eligible drivers on or about March 19.

Staffing Industry Analysts ranks Lyft as the third-largest B2C human cloud platform, behind Uber Technologies Inc. and Beijing-based Didi Chuxing. Both Lyft and Uber filed IPO paperwork on the same day in December.