Lyft says rides are slowly rebounding as much as 73% in some cities as the United States slowly reopens (LYFT)

Graham Rapier

June 2, 2020 9:48 PM

Reuters

Lyft said some cities were starting to see significant rebounds following the coronavirus' decimation of ride-hailing requests.
Overall, US rides were up 26% in May compared to April, with some cities like Austin, Texas up as much as 73%.
Shares of Lyft rose about 4% in after-hours trading as investors welcomed the rebound.
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After near total decimation because of the coronavirus pandemic, Lyft said Tuesday that ride requests were starting to pick up again.

Overall, rides were up 26% in the United States in May compared to April, but are still down 70% from the same period of last year, Lyft said in a regulatory filing.

Some cities, however, are seeing much larger upticks as parts of the country relax shelter-in-place orders sooner than others. Austin, for example, saw a 73% increase, while Miami was up 64%, Las Vegas up 59%, and Denver up 54%.

Investors cheered the good news, sending shares of Lyft up about 4% in after-hours trading, making up for trading day's losses. Unlike Uber, Lyft had no food-delivery arm to lean on ancillary revenue as taxi rides plummeted amid stay-at-home orders around the world. The stock remains down more than 50% from its initial public offering in 2019.

"Sincemid-March,Lyft has observed that the actions instituted by government authorities to limit the spread ofCOVID-19have impacted the relative distribution of intra-week rides," the company said. "Riders are taking relatively more rides on weekdays versus weekends, including commute trips by essential workers as well as trips to stores selling essential goods."

Lyft will disclose its full financial results for the second-quarter in early August, it said.

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