“Given how dynamic pricing is, Lyft’s report highlights how little it controls the destiny of its own profit and loss statement in the event Uber wanted to cause more damage,” said RBC Capital Markets analyst said Brad Erickson.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi this week indicated the company would not start a price war with Lyft, saying that “the days of paying for share and essentially using shareholder money to buy share temporarily .. are over.”
That has allowed Lyft, which has aggressively matched prices since the beginning of the year, to increase its U.S. market share to about 30 percent from the mid-to-high 20 percent at the start of 2023.
The company plans to offset the lower prices with annual cost savings of about $330 million from moves such as its April decision to lay off more than 1,000 employees, or 26 percent of its staff.
