Lyft and Uber report losses in 2020
The effects of the ongoing pandemic also hit the two ride sharing companies.

Uber Technologies (NYSE: UBER) and Lyft (NYSE: LYFT) released their quarterly results last week, and although companies are showing signs of improvement, the pandemic has continued to cast a cloud on the ride-sharing business. This begs the question of how the companies that have not yet made a profit will get out of the financial hole the pandemic has left in them. In the past three months, Uber reported a loss of nearly $ 968 million, with adjusted net revenue down 16% compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. The company posted a net loss of $ 6.7 billion for the full year, slightly below the loss of $ 8.5 billion in 20219. Revenue declined from $ 13 billion in 2019 to $ 11.1 billion in 2020, likely due to only 5 billion trips made in 2020. On the flip side, Lyft reported a loss of $ 458.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, with adjusted net sales down roughly 44% year over year. The company lost $ 1.8 billion for the full year, compared to a loss of $ 2.6 billion in 2019. With the spike of COVID-19 cases in the US, companies started losing a significant portion of their customers as people stayed at home. Interestingly, even those who went out chose not to use ride sharing apps. Uber said it has 93 million monthly active customers, including those who request at least one ride or order a meal from Uber Eats - a 16% decrease from last year. Likewise, Lyft reported a 45% decrease in monthly active customers to 12.4 million in 2020 from 22 million in Q4 2019. Although the ride hailing companies offer almost the same services, they have different strategies for stabilizing the business. Uber's strategy is to grow its businesses that are doing well, like grocery and meal delivery, while dropping those businesses that are not generating significant revenue. The company recently acquired Postmates for $ 2.65 billion and sold its autonomous vehicle, micromobility, and air taxi businesses.





