2020 has left riding and carpooling apps devastated. Lyft, the second biggest world app after Uber, has recently suffered tremendous losses for the fourth quarter of the year, with a drop of 44%.

However, predictions are optimistic for 2021 as mass vaccination campaigns are ongoing in western countries, which are likely to be a first step before states allow carpooling again.

For the first week of March, Lyft announced  that it has seen a record-high number of rides and that a 3% rise has shown the busiest week since the start of the pandemic.

Covid Hit Lyft Hard

Due to stay-home-orders and many other travel restrictions during COVID-19 pandemic, carpooling has been banned and billions of consumers stayed home. This hit the car driving app industry hard, including Lyft.

As the New York Times summed up, “The company said on Tuesday that revenue for the fourth quarter of 2020 was $570 million, a 44 percent decline from the year before but in line with Wall Street expectations. Losses increased 22 percent, to $458.2 million.”

Lyft stock price chart

Last but not least, Lyft’s losses increased 22% to $458 million and while business was improving during summer, November and December numbers plummeted due to a soaring number of cases in the United States.

Strong winter storms in the United States also increased this loss, reports the Financial Times.

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Lyft Remains Hopeful for 2021

Optimism is on Lyft’s side. Its officials have shared that it could recover by the end of this year.

Coronavirus latest: Lyft shares rise on ‘busiest week’ for ride-hailer since start of pandemic https://t.co/B9tOjbvWSh

— Financial Times (@FT) March 2, 2021

“Not profitable yet, even on an adjusted EBITDA basis, but getting a little bit closer. They had previously seen a loss much greater of 145 million to 150 million. And here’s another stat, they just came off their best week since March ‘of last year.”, reports Jared Blikre from Yahoo Finance. 

Moreover, Lyft announced last February that it will focus on senior citizens to book rides, launching a new service where older consumers can call instead of using apps, in case they do not have a smartphone.

March 2021 Shows Strong Growth

A week after Uber announced its best results since the start of the pandemic, Lyft shared with the Financial Times that the last week of February “presented the most ride volume since March 2020, the company said in a filing, noting that the average number of daily rides taken on the platform rose 4 per cent month-over-month from January to February”.

In March, Lyft’s stock traded at its highest at $65 on March 8th, which is triple more to what it was last year at $24. Yahoo’s experts have predicted an all-high record at $88 by the end of this month.

The above content is considered to be market commentary information and shall not be perceived as independent investment research or investment advice.