Lyft CEO David Risher told CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Friday that he didn’t need to crush the competition — particularly ride-sharing giant Uber — to successfully bail out the ailing company.
“I don’t need to dethrone a king,” Risher said, stressing that the current market warrants two players because customers and drivers like options. “I hope five years from now people won’t be asking about Uber and Lyft,” Risher continued on Our Lives.'”
Risher assumed the role of CEO of Lyft just under a month ago, taking over from one of the company’s co-founders, Logan Green. Risher made his mark as an Amazon retail manager, joining the company in 1997 as the 37th employee, he told Cramer; he left the company in 2002.
Risher began his tenure at Lyft with mass layoffs that eliminated just over 1,000 jobs, or 26% of the company’s workforce, while not hiring an additional 250 positions. These moves come in addition to Lyft’s 13% headcount reduction announced in November.
Lyft stock has faltered since its IPO in 2019, losing nearly 90% of its value as a result. Over the past year, Lyft shares have fallen 59% to hit a fresh 52-week low at just over $8 a share on Friday.
Lyft’s second-quarter guidance, released last week, proved disappointing to investors. Revenue guidance and a measure of adjusted operating income — earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA — came in lower than expected. In the first quarter, however, Lyft’s revenue totaled $1 billion, up 14% year over year and beating the consensus estimate of $982 million.
Aside from layoffs, Lyft is making other changes to break out of the financial doldrums, including introducing a new airport pre-order to streamline airport pickup. With the new feature, Lyft customers can book rides as soon as their plane hits the tarmac, with the app scheduling pickups taking into account unpredictable airport annoyances like waiting for baggage claim. Lyft announced the new feature Thursday and it’s currently available at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport, with a few more airports planned soon.
Risher said Cramer Lyft’s pricing strategy going forward will be to keep up with its competitors, instead differentiating itself with unique features like pre-ordering at the airport and “wait and save,” which allows customers to be flexible with pickup times design to achieve a lower price. The feature accounts for 30% of Lyft’s volume, Risher said, adding that the option is more popular with customers than shared rides, a lower-cost option Lyft officially discontinued Thursday that allows riders traveling in similar directions to share rides.
And while autonomous vehicles may not be an option for Lyft just yet, Risher said the company is keeping an eye on future opportunities.
“We’re doing everything we can to make sure we’re ready for autonomy when it does, and I’m telling you: it won’t be tomorrow, but you might be surprised that it will be in the next few years.” coming.” A little quicker than you think,” Risher said.