Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) to Buyback $1.00 billion in Outstanding Stock

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 10th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the ride-sharing company to buy up to 15.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on shares of Lyft from $21.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Lyft from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Guggenheim cut their target price on Lyft from $26.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley set a $17.00 price target on Lyft in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Lyft in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.98.

Lyft Trading Down 6.7%

LYFT stock opened at $13.05 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $18.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Lyft has a fifty-two week low of $9.66 and a fifty-two week high of $25.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.91, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.93.

Lyft News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Lyft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board-authorized $1.0 billion share repurchase (up to ~15% of float) signals management believes the stock is undervalued — supportive for EPS/share if executed. Buyback Announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 initiatives (partnerships and rewards) are bringing higher‑value riders and grew business-travel activations ~26% YoY — evidence of revenue mix improvement. Partnerships Drive Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical/short‑term view: some traders see LYFT as oversold and testing support, which could prompt a bounce if volume subsides. Technical Bottom View
• Neutral Sentiment: Management defended consumer demand on the call and highlighted profitable growth signals — mixed messaging as guidance tempers optimism. Earnings Call Takeaways
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue miss and softer forward profitability/ride-growth outlook triggered a heavy selloff and analyst concern that Lyft’s 2027 targets are “execution‑heavy.” This is the principal driver of today’s weakness. Analyst Reaction
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple banks trimmed price targets and reiterated cautious/hold views after the print — increases near‑term downside risk from analyst sentiment and limits near‑term buying. Price Target Cuts & Sales Reaction
• Negative Sentiment: Reputational/safety headlines after separate fatal attacks on drivers in Cleveland add operational and PR risk that can pressure user/driver sentiment, though this is more of a reputational than a near‑term financial issue. Safety Incidents

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jill Beggs sold 1,466 shares of Lyft stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.25, for a total value of $29,686.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 34,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $694,129.50. The trade was a 4.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO John David Risher purchased 5,030 shares of Lyft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $19.80 per share, for a total transaction of $99,594.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 11,802,296 shares in the company, valued at $233,685,460.80. This represents a 0.04% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 187,443 shares of company stock valued at $4,178,618 in the last 90 days. 3.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Lyft

Lyft, Inc (NASDAQ: LYFT) operates a peer-to-peer ridesharing platform that connects passengers with drivers through a mobile application. Since its founding in 2012, the company has expanded beyond traditional ride-hailing to include bike and electric scooter rentals, while also offering rental cars and public transit options in select markets. Lyft’s platform uses GPS mapping and dynamic pricing algorithms to optimize driver-passenger matches and route efficiency.

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, Lyft primarily serves urban and suburban markets across the United States and Canada.