Lyft Debuts Strong on Nasdaq With a $26.6 Billion Valuation
Lyft concludes its first day of trading up 8.7%, securing a massive market cap despite reporting nearly a billion dollars in net losses. The successful launch sets a positive stage for upcoming tech IPOs like Uber and Pinterest.
Lyft makes a highly successful debut on the Nasdaq stock exchange, with shares closing up 8.7% at $78.29 to give the ride-hailing company a $26.6 billion valuation. Investor demand for the stock is overwhelmingly high, reportedly reaching 20 times the number of available shares. The stock opens at $87.24, which is 21% above the initial offering price of $72, and sees over 71 million shares trade hands throughout the day.
This strong market reception marks an unlikely triumph for a company that has long operated as an underdog to its much larger and better-funded rival, Uber. Lyft President John Zimmer notes that Uber once possessed 30 times the cash of Lyft and attempted to put the smaller company out of business. However, a series of scandals at Uber helps Lyft attract disaffected users and double its 2018 revenue to $2.2 billion.
Despite this impressive revenue growth, Lyft reports a massive net loss of $911 million for 2018, which stands as the largest loss ever reported by a company prior to going public. Nevertheless, analysts view Lyft's successful launch as a highly encouraging sign for other major tech companies preparing for their own public offerings. Experts suggest that the current investor excitement points to a potentially historic IPO market in the coming months.