Strong earnings, steady ride growth, and undervalued stock price make Lyft a potential gem for growth investors—despite long-term concerns about autonomous driving.
Lyft’s 2025 Momentum Gains Speed
Lyft (NASDAQ: LYFT) has been quietly gaining ground in 2025, with Q2 results highlighting its best financial performance to date:
- Gross bookings hit $4.5 billion, a 12% year-over-year increase.
- Net income reached $40.3 million, up sharply from just $5.0 million a year earlier.
- Total rides hit an all-time high of 234.8 million, rising 14% year-over-year—marking nine straight quarters of double-digit growth.
This performance has lifted LYFT’s share price by over 50% year-to-date, signaling a strong rebound that many investors didn’t see coming.
Strategic Partnerships Add Fuel to the Ride
Beyond the core numbers, Lyft is building a stronger ecosystem through key partnerships:
- New deals include Baidu, United Airlines, and deeper collaborations with Alaska Airlines, Chase, and DoorDash.
- These partnerships create new channels for ride demand, loyalty integration, and revenue diversification.
Investor Jon Quast, a 5-star analyst on TipRanks, sees these moves as part of a broader strategy to anchor Lyft as a growth player, even as industry dynamics evolve.
Jon Quast: Why Lyft Is a “Golden Opportunity”
Quast points to three key reasons why Lyft stock may be undervalued:
- Profitability is improving – with bottom-line growth and leaner operations.
- The stock trades at a low valuation – relative to its growth metrics.
- Strong and consistent ride growth – especially in underpenetrated cities like Nashville, where growth exceeded 20%.
“I believe that investors are overemphasizing the potential risks to Lyft’s business and underappreciating the investment opportunity,” Quast notes.
Addressing the Elephant in the Room: Autonomous Vehicles
Skeptics argue that autonomous driving could eventually displace Lyft’s business model, rendering its driver-dependent service obsolete.
But Quast pushes back on that view:
- Self-driving adoption remains limited, with years—if not decades—before it can scale nationwide.
- Even in a self-driving future, Lyft could adapt, potentially by integrating autonomous fleets or forming partnerships—much like Domino’s aligning with DoorDash.
- Meanwhile, Lyft has ample time to capitalize on current demand and expand into new geographies and segments.
In short, autonomous driving may alter, but not necessarily eliminate, Lyft’s place in the transportation landscape.
What Does Wall Street Think?
Despite the strong 2025 performance, Wall Street remains cautious:
- LYFT holds a Hold (Neutral) consensus rating.
- The average 12-month price target is $19.47, implying minimal upside from current levels.
That said, the disconnect between Lyft’s operational progress and its analyst valuation is precisely what Quast sees as the opportunity for forward-looking investors.
Ripe for a Rerating?
With accelerating profits, record bookings, and strategic partnerships, Lyft may be entering a new phase of sustainable growth. While autonomous tech looms on the horizon, it’s not an immediate threat, and Lyft’s adaptive potential shouldn’t be underestimated.
For investors who see beyond short-term fears, this dip could be a door to a surprisingly profitable ride.