Lyft Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

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Lyft (NASDAQ:Lyft) reported record second-quarter operating performance, with more than 30 million active riders and 262 million rides, as the company pointed to growth across North American rideshare, bikes, Canada and its European Freenow business.

Chief Executive Officer David Risher said the company is on track to exceed 1 billion rides in 2026. He attributed the quarter’s momentum to Lyft’s strategy of customer focus, operational execution and partnerships, while noting that premium modes posted double-digit year-over-year growth for the 12th consecutive quarter.

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Chief Financial Officer Erin Brewer said gross bookings rose 23% year over year to $5.5 billion, while adjusted EBITDA increased 37%. Lyft also recorded its fourth consecutive quarter with more than $1 billion in trailing-12-month free cash flow.

Growth broad-based across markets and products

Brewer said rider growth was not driven by a single factor. She cited continued strength in North American rideshare, expansion in lower-scale markets, growth in Canada and strong performance in Lyft’s bike operations. The company said several operated bike markets reached daily and weekly records, supported by the adoption of e-bikes for commuting.

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Risher said Canada’s business was growing at nearly double the prior-year rate, while Europe was posting organic ride growth roughly a year after Lyft acquired Freenow. He said product and technology changes have begun to produce results in Europe, though the company remains in the early stages of its plans for the business.

Lyft also highlighted service-level improvements. Risher said average pickup times improved year over year, varying by geography, and that Lyft now picks up riders as fast as or faster than its main competitor 75% of the time, despite having lower market share.

Products including Lyft Teen and Lyft Silver continued to perform well, according to Risher. He added that seasonal activity and World Cup-related demand were beneficial but were not the core drivers of the company’s growth.

Partnerships account for a growing share of rides

Approximately 30% of North American rideshare trips were linked to a partner during the quarter, an all-time high for Lyft. Risher said those partnerships include DoorDash, United Airlines, Bilt, Chase Sapphire, Chase Southwest and Alaska Airlines.

Lyft expanded its DoorDash relationship into Canada, while Risher said United Airlines’ partnership has had a strong start. He also said Bilt members have spent 1.5 billion Bilt points on Lyft rides. The company views partner-linked rides as an important source of higher-value trips and future margin expansion.

Risher said Lyft’s priority is to deepen existing partnerships, arguing that the company has substantial room to expand current relationships. “Each one of the partnerships we have, we think we’re sort of in early days,” he said.

Margins, mix and pricing

Brewer said Lyft expects adjusted EBITDA margin expansion in the third quarter and described continued cost discipline, operational leverage, growth in higher-value modes and partner-linked rides as key contributors.

She said lower-scale markets and Canada have continued to grow faster than average, while business-to-business offerings represent another early-stage opportunity. Lyft is also targeting rider incentives to encourage loyalty, product adoption and marketplace balance, she said.

On pricing, Brewer characterized the 2026 environment as relatively stable. She noted that gross bookings per ride can be affected by mix, including growth in higher-value modes, advertising and chauffeuring businesses. Lyft’s third-quarter ride and gross-booking mix will also be influenced by seasonality in bikes, which carry lower gross bookings per ride but strong unit economics, as well as Freenow’s typically lower ride activity during Europe’s August holiday period.

Brewer said Lyft offers options across price points, including bikes, Wait Save and premium ride modes. She said the company has not seen meaningful changes in customer engagement with Wait Save.

Autonomous vehicle initiatives remain in early stages

Lyft said its autonomous vehicle roadmap is progressing in Nashville and London. Risher said Lyft took over operations of Waymo’s temporary Nashville depot on June 9 and has exceeded service-level agreements with its partner. A purpose-built Nashville depot, formerly a U.S. Postal Service facility, is expected to open around October and will be able to handle hundreds of vehicles.

Lyft remains on track to make Waymo rides available through the Lyft app in Nashville before year-end, Risher said. The company expects the deployment to include dynamic supply sharing rather than dedicated vehicle pools for each company.

In London, Lyft is testing Baidu RT6 autonomous vehicles. Brewer said the current fleet is small and its financial effect is “de minimis,” a condition she expects to continue in the near term. Risher said Lyft likes the long-term unit economics of autonomous vehicles but did not provide further details on deployment scale or near-term economics.

Risher also said Lyft has seen 20% ride growth in San Francisco, where autonomous vehicles are operating, across commuting and leisure use cases. He said the company believes AVs can expand the rideshare market rather than simply replace driver-operated trips.

Lyft expects to continue integrating Freenow into its global platform. Beta testing for a unified Lyft app is live in more than a dozen European cities, and Risher said travelers are expected to be able to book rides natively through the Lyft app by 2027. In the meantime, the company is beginning a gradual “Freenow by Lyft” branding effort in markets including Barcelona, Dublin and Athens.

About Lyft (NASDAQ:Lyft)

Lyft, Inc (NASDAQ: Lyft) operates a peer-to-peer ridesharing platform that connects passengers with drivers through a mobile application. Since its founding in 2012, the company has expanded beyond traditional ride-hailing to include bike and electric scooter rentals, while also offering rental cars and public transit options in select markets. Lyft's platform uses GPS mapping and dynamic pricing algorithms to optimize driver-passenger matches and route efficiency.

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Lyft primarily serves urban and suburban markets across the United States and Canada.

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