Lyft closes up 8.7% on its first day of trading after raising $2.3B in its IPO, which valued the company at over $20B
and is now valued at $27 billion Taylor Soper / GeekWire : Lyft IPO: Ride-hailing giant begins trading at $24B valuation, first of many tech companies to go public Biz Carson / Forbes : Lyft Stock Jumps 21% In Public Market Debut, But It Still Won't Make Founders Billionaires PYMNTS.com : Lyft Shares Jump 20 Pct With IPO Debut Christopher Baugh / iPhone in Canada Blog : Ride-Sharing Company Lyft Prices IPO Shares at $72 USD Ahead of Friday Debut [u] Rebecca Ungarino / Business Insider : Lyft's historic IPO is coming — and is set to value the ride-hailing company at $21 billion Newser : As Lyft Goes Public, Founders Get Very Rich Tom Metcalf / Bloomberg : Lyft IPO Enthusiasm Drives Up Co-Founders' Stake to $1.2 Billion CBS San Francisco : Lyft IPO: Shares Soar 20 Percent In Early Trading Pbokelly / Peter O'Kelly's Reality Check : Lyft Prices I.P.O. at $72 a Share | NYT CNBC : Lyft prices IPO at $72 per share, which would value the company at over $20B and hit the top of its expected range Bernadette Tansey / Xconomy : Lyft Raises $2.2B in IPO, Pegging Valuation at Over $24B Tweets: Rolfe Winkler / @rolfewinkler : What investors first paid for @Lyft (IPO price $72, opened at $87) $0.23 per share, @floodgatefund (@annimaniac/@m2jr) $0.76, @MayfieldFund (@Rajil) $2.10, @foundersfund (@justGLew) $4.25, @a16z (@W_ScottWeiss) $10.13, Coatue #lyftipo @reutersbiz : LATEST: Lyft chairman says company to prioritize North American growth over international expansion after IPO https://reut.rs/2FILLeV $LYFT pic.twitter.com/t50d2IpBCl Eric Newcomer / @ericnewcomer : Lyft was valued at $15.1 billion just last year and now has a market cap of $22.4 billion, up 48 percent. That's a lot! Turns out public market investors don't think the private markets are crazy. @ryangraves : The @Lyft team has worked hard and done a great job. They've always been a tough competitor that made us at @Uber better. Congrats on your big day today @johnzimmer & @logangreen! Well deserved. https://twitter.com/... Ron Pragides / @mrp : “The magnitude of the audiences that can be reached and the monetization per user has grown. Their growth potential is much higher than was previously anticipated.” @mmurph @MenloVentures http://www.nytimes.com/... Rat King / @mikeisaac : lyft's bankers played this perfectlyLyft got out first & captured ALL the current fervor around unicorns. everyone else is stumbling over each other to ipo now.what i am curious about is if the party is still going for the last person out the doorhttps://t.co/3zV8CjWXx0 http://twitter.com/... Laura Mandaro / @lauramandaro : Investor Interest Drives Lyft To $24 Billion Valuation, But It Still Won't Make Founders Billionaires via @bizcarson https://www.forbes.com/... Dan Gallagher / @djtgallagher : Lyft IPO will add roughly $2B to the company's coffers. Per my earlier take, this will allow the company to burn cash for about 11.5 yrs at the current rate. Assuming, of course, that the market keeps letting them @WSJheard - https://www.wsj.com/... Adam Singer / @adamsinger : $LYFT 86 nice open. Who would root against any of the ridesharing companies they are re-shaping how we can live, work and play. #carfree Dan Primack / @danprimack : If you view Lyft's opening market cap purely as a multiple of 2018 revenue, the comparable market cap for Uber would be over $130 billion. Dan Primack / @danprimack : In this context, worth noting that Dropbox is basically flat on its IPO price. http://twitter.com/... Alexei Oreskovic / @lexnfx : Looks like Lyft increased the number of shares sold in IPO to 37.375 million (including over-allotment) vs 35.385 million shares listed in yesterday's amended S1. That means Lyft raised $2.69 billion in IPO at $72/share price. @alex : Dropbox is worth ten-figures less in 2019 as a public company that has proven cash flow than it was back in 2014. This post is correct. http://twitter.com/... @cnbci : In 2018, Lyft reported a net loss: $911 million, wider by 32 percent from 2017. Here's why Lyft's cash burn is a huge problem. http://www.cnbc.com/... http://twitter.com/... Rakesh Agrawal / @rakeshlobster : One thing to keep in mind on @lyft and @uber ... they've both been running promotions like crazy last few months. Those rides are likely at a loss. (You may not see these promos as they are targeted; I keep a bunch of accounts to test for this.)
Context & Ripple Effects
Lyft's debut closes an arc that started with a March filing seeking up to $2.1B at a $18.5B valuation ceiling — a target the company blew through twice, first by lifting the price range to $70-$72 days before pricing, then by opening at $87 on Friday. The stock gave back most of that pop to finish up 8.7%, but the raise still landed well above the original ask.
The public-market verdict now attaches to real numbers: the S-1 showed revenue doubling to $2.2B against a $911M loss and US share climbing from 22% to 39%. As the first major tech listing of this cycle, Lyft's tape is being read as the template for the wave of listings behind it.
First-order effects
- Lyft banks $2.3B at $72 per share and enters public life with a stated North America-first strategy, trading international expansion for defending its 39% US share.
- Early investors and employees get their first liquidity event, while management inherits daily public-market scrutiny of a business losing $911M a year.
Second-order effects
- Uber and the other private ride-hailing players now have a live public benchmark: Lyft's opening premium validates demand, but its closing fade prices in the losses, tightening how the next filings can pitch valuation.
- A capitalized Lyft can push driver incentives and rider pricing harder in North America, forcing rivals to match spend or cede share in the only market Lyft says it will fight for.
Third-order effects
- If Lyft's pattern holds — strong open, sobering close — public markets are signaling they will fund growth but discount unprofitability, reshaping how the coming cohort of tech issuers sets ranges and how much runway loss-making models must show before listing.
The trend: The 2019 tech IPO window is opening with public investors willing to buy hypergrowth but repricing losses in real time, and every issuer behind Lyft is pricing off its tape.