Lyft Joins the Litter of Unicorn Disappointments
Investors are not embracing richly valued startups with a string of question marks.
The lackluster performance isn’t a great setup for other elites itching to go public.
Photographer: Barbara Sax/AFP/Getty Images
Lyft Inc.’s rocky road as a public company should be a warning for other highfliers hoping to hit it off with stock investors. It is ugly out there for the elite startup superstars.
Lyft said in its second-quarter earnings report on Wednesday that the rate of revenue growth slowed less than it had forecast and that losses weren’t as bad as investors expected. Still, even the company’s slightly raised forecast for 2019 revenue growth of as much as 62% would represent a comedown from last year, when Lyft’s revenue was doubling or more year-over-year. Both Lyft and rival Uber Technologies Inc. are posting slowing growth at the same time they’re telling investors that they’re just barely scratching the surface of their potential.