Lyft
Lyft's revenue rose 9.2% to $6.3 billion in fiscal 2025. Its operating margin was −3.0%, down from −2.1% a year earlier. It paid out $500 million in dividends and buybacks. The diluted share count rose 1.0%.
Operating margin is operating income as a share of revenue. Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital spending. Return on capital is after-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash. Market cap is the last closing share price times the latest diluted share count, so it is approximate. P/E is the last close divided by diluted earnings per share over the last four quarters, or the latest fiscal year where the quarters aren't available; there is none when the company made a loss.
What Lyft does
Lyft runs a mobile app that connects riders with drivers for on-demand rides. Besides regular rideshare, the app offers taxis, private hire vehicles, executive chauffeur services, car sharing, and shared bikes and scooters. Drivers are independent people who choose when to drive, and riders use the app for commutes, errands and nights out.
Substantially all of its revenue comes from its ridesharing marketplace, where it collects service fees and commissions from drivers. It also earns money from licensing and data access agreements, bike and scooter rentals, selling bikes and bike station equipment, advertising, renting cars to drivers through its Express Drive program, and selling its service to businesses. Lyft names Uber as its main ridesharing competitor, and Bolt as another rival in taxi and private hire apps.
In 2025 Lyft expanded beyond North America by buying Freenow, a European taxi app, and TBR Global Chauffeuring, a luxury chauffeur company. It now operates in thousands of cities across six continents. At the end of 2025 it had 3,913 full-time employees worldwide. It also works with partners on self-driving vehicle technology.
Its biggest risks, as it describes them
- Competition from larger rivals, including Uber, and from companies building self-driving cars.
- Failing to attract and keep drivers and riders at a reasonable cost.
- Insurance losses larger than the amounts it has set aside, and reliance on a few insurance claims providers.
- Relying on partners to bring self-driving vehicles to its platform, and the industry may not develop as hoped.
- Its reliance on Amazon Web Services to deliver the app to users.
Charts show fiscal years, from the 10-K filings.
Revenue and margins
Net income and earnings per share
From fiscal 2024 to 2025, earnings per share grew 11,250.0% a year and net income 12,373.7% a year, as new shares raised the share count by 1% and diluted each share's earnings.
Returns on capital
Cash flow
Free cash flow is cash from operations minus capital expenditure. The SEC's structured data for Lyft's filings doesn't give both for any year, so free cash flow is left out.
Payouts and share count
Valuation
Two ways to value Lyft yourself, both starting from its filings: a discounted cash flow model and the price-to-earnings method.
Discounted cash flow (DCF)
A discounted cash flow (DCF) model values a business as the cash it may generate in future, discounted back to today. The starting figures come from Lyft's 10-K (or, for net cash and shares, its latest 10-Q) and the assumptions are yours: start from one of three example scenarios, then change any figure to see what it implies for a share, and how that compares with the last share price.
Value per share on three example scenarios, from Lyft's cash from operations minus depreciation in fiscal 2025 (free cash flow before spending to grow, as its free cash flow was not available) of $1.0B, net cash of $709M at December 31, 2025 and 418 million diluted shares, from its filings. The scenarios are fitted to Lyft: the base scenario's growth in years 1 to 5 is its revenue growth over the last 3 years, 15.5% a year; the cautious and optimistic ones are lower and higher, and growth in years 6 to 10 is halfway to the long-run rate. The base scenario's discount rate is 11%: 9% for a business of moderate risk (Passenger Ground Transportation), plus 1 point as a smaller company, worth $6.6B, plus 1 point for unsteady results (a loss in fiscal 2023); the cautious and optimistic ones use a point more and a point less. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target.
- Last close, October 26, 2026
- $17.06
- Value on these assumptions, against the last close
- —
- Cash flows in years 1 to 10, valued today
- —
- Everything after year 10, valued today
- —
- Plus net cash
- —
- Share of value from after year 10
How the value changes with two assumptions
Price-to-earnings (P/E) method
Another common way to value a company is to multiply its earnings per share by a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple: the number of years of today's earnings an investor pays for a share. A higher multiple usually means investors expect earnings to grow. Choose a multiple, for example from similar companies, to see the value it gives.
Careful. Lyft's P/E today, 2.5×, is less than half the example multiple. A gap that wide usually means one of two things: its latest earnings include large one-off items, such as a tax benefit or a gain on a sale, or investors expect its earnings to fall. Either way the examples can mislead, so they aren't set against the share price. Check the earnings in its latest filings before using them.
Value per share on three example scenarios, from Lyft's earnings per share of $6.88 (over the last four quarters). Each grows earnings for a year at the cash flow scenarios' rates and applies a multiple to next year's earnings: 16.5×, the middle of Lyft's own P/E today, its peers' median and its sector's median (its peers' median) for the base scenario, 20% less and more for the cautious and optimistic ones. The price is brought back a year at 12%, 11% and 10%. Select one to load it into the calculator. These are the model's arithmetic on those assumptions, not a forecast or a price target.
- Last close, October 26, 2026
- $17.06
- Value at this multiple, against the last close
- —
- Lyft's P/E at the last close
- 2.5×
| Company | Last close | Earnings per share | P/E today |
|---|---|---|---|
| UFP IndustriesUFPI | $80.93 | $4.36 | 18.6× |
| UberUBER | $66.13 | $4.57 | 14.5× |
| LyftLYFT | $17.06 | $6.88 | 2.5× |
Balance sheet
| Fiscal year end | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | 2,254 | 1,797 | 1,685 | 1,984 | 1,837 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | 739 | 874 | 952 | 1,081 | 1,128 |
| Net debt (negative means net cash) | −1,515 | −922 | −734 | −904 | −709 |
| Net debt to EBITDA | — | — | — | −30.1x | — |
| Debt to equity | 0.6x | 2.2x | 1.8x | 1.4x | 0.3x |
| Interest coverage | −22.0x | −73.9x | −18.1x | −4.1x | −9.1x |
| Current ratio | 1.1x | 0.8x | 0.9x | 0.8x | 0.7x |
| Quick ratio | 1.1x | 0.8x | 0.9x | 0.8x | 0.7x |
Insider trades
Over the 12 months between October 27, 2025 and October 26, 2026, 1 insider bought $199,810 of Lyft shares on the open market, and 7 insiders sold $7.4 million, all of it under trading plans set up in advance.
| Date | Insider | Trade | Shares | Price | Value | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 24, 2026 | Erin BrewerChief Financial Officer | Sold plan | 15,000 | $14.64 | $219,600 | Form 4 |
| Sep 1, 2026 | Lindsay Catherine LlewellynSee Remarks | Sold plan | 13,204 | $16.64 | $219,715 | Form 4 |
| Aug 27, 2026 | Stephen W. HopeChief Accounting Officer | Sold plan | 5,982 | $17.34 | $103,728 | Form 4 |
| Aug 27, 2026 | David LaweeDirector | Sold plan | 4,613 | $17.33 | $79,943 | Form 4 |
| Aug 27, 2026 | Jill BeggsDirector | Sold plan | 2,307 | $17.34 | $40,003 | Form 4 |
| Aug 25, 2026 | Janey WhitesideDirector | Sold plan | 5,480 | $17.68 | $96,886 | Form 4 |
| Aug 24, 2026 | Erin BrewerChief Financial Officer | Sold plan | 15,000 | $17.63 | $264,450 | Form 4 |
| Aug 7, 2026 | Janey WhitesideDirector | Sold plan | 14,220 | $17.00 | $241,740 | Form 4 |
| Aug 3, 2026 | Lindsay Catherine LlewellynSee Remarks | Sold plan | 36,214 | $16.14 | $584,494 | Form 4 |
| Jun 12, 2026 | Erin BrewerChief Financial Officer | Sold plan | 15,000 | $13.59 | $203,850 | Form 4 |
| Jun 1, 2026 | Lindsay Catherine LlewellynSee Remarks | Sold plan | 11,491 | $15.00 | $172,365 | Form 4 |
| May 27, 2026 | Stephen W. HopeChief Accounting Officer | Sold plan | 5,460 | $13.76 | $75,130 | Form 4 |
Piotroski F-score
The F-score counts how many of nine simple tests of profitability, funding and efficiency a company passed in a year (Piotroski, 2000). The more tests passed, the stronger the year: 8 or 9 is strong, 0 to 2 weak. Companies that report no gross profit are scored on the other eight.
| Test | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net income is positive | Fail | Pass | Pass |
| Cash from operations is positive | Fail | Pass | Pass |
| Return on assets rose | Pass | Pass | Pass |
| Cash from operations exceeds net income | Pass | Pass | Fail |
| Debt fell relative to assets | Fail | Fail | Pass |
| Current ratio rose | Pass | Fail | Fail |
| Share count didn't rise | Fail | Fail | Fail |
| Gross margin rose | Pass | Pass | Fail |
| Revenue rose relative to assets | Pass | Pass | Fail |
| F-score | 5 of 9 | 6 of 9 | 4 of 9 |
| Accruals ratio | −5.3% | −16.5% | 23.2% |
Compare
Put Lyft side by side with any other company we cover: revenue, growth, margins, cash flow and returns, with ten years of charts.
Similar companies
| Company | Year | Revenue growth | Operating margin | Free cash flow margin | Return on capital | Net debt to EBITDA | F-score | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lyft | FY25 | 9.2% | −3.0% | — | −12.3% | — | 4 | |
| Avis Budget Group | FY25 | −1.2% | — | — | — | — | 5 | Compare |
| Grab | FY25 | 20.5% | 1.9% | −0.5% | 0.9% | 1.2x | 5 | Compare |
| Uber | FY25 | 18.3% | 10.7% | 18.8% | 19.7% | 0.5x | 6 | Compare |
| UFP Industries | FY25 | −5.0% | 5.8% | 4.4% | 11.8% | −1.4x | 5 | Compare |
9 years of figures
| Fiscal year | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Income statement | |||||||||
| Revenue | 1,060 | 2,157 | 3,616 | 2,365 | 3,208 | 4,095 | 4,404 | 5,786 | 6,316 |
| Revenue growth | — | 103.5% | 67.7% | −34.6% | 35.7% | 27.6% | 7.5% | 31.4% | 9.2% |
| Gross profit | 400 | 913 | 1,440 | 917 | 1,506 | 1,659 | 1,860 | 2,448 | 2,619 |
| Research and development | 137 | 301 | 1,506 | 909 | 912 | 857 | 556 | 397 | 451 |
| Operating income | −708 | −978 | −2,702 | −1,808 | −1,135 | −1,459 | −476 | −119 | −188 |
| Net income | −688 | −911 | −2,602 | −1,753 | −1,062 | −1,584 | −340 | 23 | 2,844 |
| Diluted EPS (US$) | −35.53 | −43.04 | −11.44 | −5.61 | −3.17 | −4.47 | −0.88 | 0.06 | 6.81 |
| Diluted shares (millions) | 19 | 21 | 228 | 312 | 335 | 355 | 385 | 414 | 418 |
| Cash flow | |||||||||
| Cash from operations | −394 | −281 | −106 | −1,379 | −102 | −237 | −98 | 850 | 1,168 |
| Capital expenditure | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Free cash flow | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dividends paid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Share buybacks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 500 |
| Acquisitions | 0 | 258 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 146 | 2 | 0 | 307 |
| Stock-based compensation | 10 | 9 | 1,599 | 566 | 725 | 751 | 484 | 331 | 322 |
| Balance sheet at fiscal year end | |||||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | 1,106 | 2,038 | 2,850 | 2,251 | 2,254 | 1,797 | 1,685 | 1,984 | 1,837 |
| Debt incl. finance leases | — | — | 0 | 707 | 739 | 874 | 952 | 1,081 | 1,128 |
| Total assets | — | 3,760 | 5,691 | 4,679 | 4,774 | 4,556 | 4,564 | 5,435 | 9,030 |
| Total liabilities | — | 1,479 | 2,837 | 3,003 | 3,433 | 4,168 | 4,023 | 4,668 | 5,756 |
| Shareholders' equity | −1,979 | −2,871 | 2,854 | 1,676 | 1,341 | 389 | 542 | 767 | 3,274 |
| Margins and ratios | |||||||||
| Gross margin | 37.8% | 42.3% | 39.8% | 38.8% | 46.9% | 40.5% | 42.2% | 42.3% | 41.5% |
| Operating margin | −66.8% | −45.3% | −74.7% | −76.5% | −35.4% | −35.6% | −10.8% | −2.1% | −3.0% |
| Net margin | −64.9% | −42.3% | −72.0% | −74.1% | −33.1% | −38.7% | −7.7% | 0.4% | 45.0% |
| Free cash flow margin | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Return on capital | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | −12.3% |
| Return on equity | — | — | — | −77.4% | −70.4% | −183.2% | −73.2% | 3.5% | 140.8% |
| Return on assets | — | — | −55.1% | −33.8% | −22.5% | −34.0% | −7.5% | 0.5% | 39.3% |
| Net debt to EBITDA | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | −30.1x | — |