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Lyft may beat Uber in race to profitability

Although Lyft has always been in second place to Uber in the ridesharing market, it might be leading in one, very important, way: a path to profitability.

Ridesharing company Lyft has long operated in the shadow of its arch-nemesis Uber. Although Lyft has seen marked growth in many metrics, such as total rides facilitated, its figures have always seemingly paled in comparison to its $68 billion competitor.

Well, it appears that Lyft is possibly beating Uber in one very important way: a path to profitability.

In a new report from The Information, it’s revealed that while Lyft is still losing hundreds of millions each year, its burn rate is slowing considerably, with the company expecting to be profitable by 2018. Lyft lost roughly $600 million in 2016 on $700 million in revenue, according to the article, which was a significant improvement from the year prior, when it lost twice as much as the amount of revenue it collected. Lyft’s performance was said to be much stronger in the second half of 2016 than the first.

While losing over half a billion dollars is shocking, it’s a bit less so when compared to the numbers posted by Uber. Late last month, The Information published a report covering much of those financials—a highlight being it had lost more than $800 million in 3Q alone.

Check out some of our previous coverage of the ridesharing market

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    About Mikey Tom

    Mikey was a senior financial writer at PitchBook covering technology startups and the venture capital industry. Prior to joining PitchBook, Mikey worked on the marketing team at Porch, a Seattle-based tech company that connects homeowners with home services professionals.

    Born and raised in the Seattle area, Mikey holds a degree in philosophy and a minor in entrepreneurship from the University of Washington. Outside of work you’ll find him either on the golf course or at a concert around town.

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