Lyft disappoints with quarterly earnings as it forecasts slower revenue growth in 2020

Lyft Inc (NASDAQ:LYFT) left investors disappointed on Tuesday evening after delivering quarterly earnings that only narrowly came in ahead of the street’s expectations.  The rideshare company reported revenue of more than US$1 billion – a record figure for the Bay Area firm – but it is forecasting slower revenue growth in the new year.  Investors sent Lyft’s shares tumbling over 7% to trade at around US$50.15 at Wednesday’s opening. READ: Uber boosted by profitability promise as losses soar Lyft’s revenue of nearly US$1.1 billion during the quarter came ahead of consensus analysts' estimates of around US$984 million, according to Reuters. The company posted a loss of US$356 million or US$1.19 per share, slightly narrower than analysts' expectations of US$1.38 per share. Lyft said it expects to generate $4.6 billion to $4.7 billion in revenue in 2020. But the key figure that may give shareholders pause is ridership growth, which slowed to around 2.5% in the second half of 2019. The muted results come after its closest rival, Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE:UBER), posted quarterly revenue of US$4 billion that blew past analysts' expectations. Lyft CEO Logan Green called fiscal 2019 an “exceptional year across the board.” “We significantly improved our path to profitability while simultaneously reaching critical milestones toward our long-term strategy,” Green said in a statement. The company said it expects an adjusted EBITDA loss of between $450 million and $490 million for all of 2020. Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas