Lyft CEO Addresses Market Share Concerns

Investing.com — Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) CEO David Risher commented that fears regarding the company's market share losses in San Francisco are possibly exaggerated.

Risher remarked, "San Francisco is a growing market for rideshare. Even with Waymo on the road, our market share remains strong," in a post on X over the weekend.

He added, "In the SF Waymo ODD (operational design domain), @Lyft market share was 30.6% in Nov 2024 vs. 30.7% in Nov 2023, according to our validated external data source."

Bank of America analysts noted that Risher’s statements indicate Lyft's market share in San Francisco has largely remained stable year-over-year despite Waymo's expansion.

During a recent conference, Lyft management emphasized steady growth in the SF market and stated, "We are in all of the right conversations," anticipating new partnerships to leverage traditional rideshare networks for technology and operational support for autonomous vehicle (AV) manufacturers.

In a related report, Uber (NYSE:UBER) management stated that bookings growth in San Francisco is outpacing national averages, despite Waymo's presence. Uber highlighted the role of AVs in increasing future supply while rideshare penetration is still only at 20% of the potential market. The company also plans to scale Waymo’s fleet to "hundreds of vehicles" in Austin and Atlanta.

BofA analysts Michael McGovern and Justin Post noted, "In our view, no matter the % share, all signs point to Lyft seeing solid growth in SF even as Waymo has generated 'incremental demand' in the SF market."

They further remarked, "Given Uber/Lyft’s national scale and Waymo’s longer potential timeframe to reach the top 20 MSAs (and significant time to partner), we would be positive on traditional rideshare likely still seeing double-digit bookings growth in SF."

Analysts also pointed out that third-party market share data comparing Waymo to Lyft in San Francisco does not include rides to and from the city or freeway rides, which are significant portions of the market, leading to incomplete comparisons.