There is a small news update regarding Lyft, the ride-hailing platform that competes with Uber in America, reporting their morning performance results in Thailand. The fourth quarter performance report for 2023 was released, but there was an error in the projected numbers for 2024 (Outlook). The report stated that the estimated EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) would increase by 50 basis points, but it was mistakenly written as 500 basis points. This led to an immediate significant increase in the estimated profit margin, from approximately 1.5% to 6%.
Due to the numerical error, Lyft’s stock prices skyrocketed by over 60% outside of regular trading hours, before Lyft released a corrected version of the report stating the accurate figure of 50 basis points for the EBITDA profit rate. As a result, the Lyft stock prices adjusted downward but still maintained an increase of about 16%.
Lyft experienced a 4% increase in revenue, amounting to $1.2 billion, in the fourth quarter of 2023. They also achieved an EBITDA profit of $66.6 million, which represents a profit rate of 1.8%. This discrepancy in printed numbers of 500 basis points instead of 50 basis points had a significant impact on Lyft’s performance. However, Lyft has not provided an explanation for the erroneous data with the added zero.
TLDR: Lyft mistakenly published an earnings report with a numerical error, stating a 500 basis point increase instead of 50 basis points for EBITDA profit rate in the fourth quarter of 2023. This led to a surge in stock prices, followed by a correction, resulting in a 16% increase. Lyft’s actual performance showed a 4% revenue growth and an EBITDA profit of $66.6 million, representing a 1.8% profit rate. Lyft has not clarified the cause of the incorrect data.
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