What happened
Shares of Lyft (LYFT +2.80%) were on the move today after the ride-sharing operator announced a change in management. It said that the two co-founders would relinquish their roles in day-to-day operations and David Risher, a former Amazon and Microsoft executive, would become the next CEO.
The stock initially popped on the news last night and this morning, but shares steadily fell during today's trading session. It was down 4% by 1:46 p.m. ET after Risher said the company wasn't interested in selling itself.
NASDAQ: LYFT
Key Data Points
So what
Lyft has struggled since its 2019 initial public offering (IPO), and the stock is down more than 80% since then. Profits failed to materialize, the pandemic dealt a significant setback to the company, and it lost market share to rival Uber more recently.
Now, co-founders Logan Green (CEO) and John Zimmer (President) will move on to board positions as non-executive chair and vice chair, respectively, putting David Risher in the hot seat, effective April 17. Risher was Amazon's first head of product and ran its U.S. retail division, and has been on Lyft's board since 2021.
Investors initially reacted favorably to the news, in part because they thought that it meant that the company might be put up for sale, but now it appears that isn't the case. Risher told Bloomberg that the company is not for sale, saying that it intends to focus on its core ride-sharing business and lower its prices to be more competitive with Uber.
Earlier in the morning, Deutsche Bank had put out a note saying that the move could lead to a buyout. Wedbush said it was more positive on the stock following the CEO change.
Now what
Even if Lyft were to put itself up for sale, a buyer seems unlikely to materialize. Uber couldn't buy it, as that would create a monopoly in the U.S. The company is unlikely to have significant value to other buyers, which could potentially include a delivery app like DoorDash, given its financial problem and the lackluster economics of ride-sharing.
Putting a sale aside, Risher will have his work cut out for him. The company posted a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) loss of $1.6 billion in 2022, and it's had to increase its insurance reserves, which have made its balance sheet more at risk.
While the transportation stock is still benefiting from the reopening tailwinds, it will need to show progress on the bottom line to win investors over again.
