Lyft Q3 Bookings Hit Record $5.6B but Legal Reserves Push It to a Loss
Lyft posted record Q3 gross bookings of $5.6 billion and 31.6 million active riders, but $117.9 million in legal and tax charges left a $9.7 million loss.
Record ride volumes carried Lyft, Inc. to $5.6 billion in third-quarter gross bookings, up 17% from a year earlier, yet the San Francisco ride-hailing company swung to a net loss of $9.7 million after booking $117.9 million in legal, tax and regulatory reserve changes and settlements, according to results it released Thursday.
Revenue rose 8% to $1.8 billion. Lyft said $69.1 million of the reserve impact was recorded as a reduction to revenue, and that revenue would have been about $1.9 billion without it. A year earlier the company earned $46.1 million. Breaking The News reported that revenue fell short of analyst expectations, that the loss worked out to 3 cents a diluted share, and that the stock dropped 11.49% in after-hours trading to $15.79.
Riders, rides and cash flow
Active riders climbed 10% to a record 31.6 million, the eighth straight quarter of double-digit growth, and rides also rose 10% to 273.5 million, Lyft said. Adjusted EBITDA jumped 47% to $203.9 million, or 3.6% of gross bookings, compared with $138.9 million in the same quarter of 2025. Operating cash flow reached $328.4 million and free cash flow $294.7 million; over the trailing twelve months free cash flow totaled $1.1 billion.
Chief Financial Officer Michael Brous said rides growth accelerated in North America and credited what he called durable growth in the core business, along with expansion into Europe.
New products and fourth-quarter guidance
The company launched Lyft Go, a U.S. membership program that returns up to 8% of each ride in Lyft credits, and introduced Alcove, a premium chauffeur brand for corporate travel set to start in early 2027. Lyft said it has been matching riders with fully autonomous Waymo vehicles in Nashville since September.
For the fourth quarter, Lyft forecast gross bookings of about $5.74 billion to $5.94 billion, up 13% to 17%, and adjusted EBITDA of roughly $188 million to $213 million, an increase of 22% to 38%.
Sources: Lyft, Breaking The News
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