Ride-sharing specialist Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) is seeing shares plunge during the midweek session despite generally positive second-quarter earnings results. However, it appears that the market is responding to the minutia of the print, which left some questions. Still, options traders appear to be scooping up the discount in LYFT stock.
According to a Barron’s report, the ride-hailing company posted EPS of 1 cent. Significantly, Q2 marked the first time that Lyft posted a profit on a GAAP basis. On the top line, the company also generated revenue of $1.44 billion, beating out the consensus view calling for $1.39 billion.
In the year-ago quarter, Lyft generated EPS of 16 cents on revenue of $1.02 billion, exceeding the bottom-line target and matching the consensus view on sales.
Despite the strong and noteworthy performance, LYFT stock is still stumbling badly today, losing more than 16% in the afternoon session. First, gross bookings landed at $4.02 billion. Although this figure represented an increase of 17% year-over-year (YOY), analysts had anticipated a tally of $4.06 billion.
Moving forward, management stated that it expects gross bookings in the third quarter to land between $4 billion and $4.1 billion. Meanwhile, adjusted EBITDA may hit $90 million to $95 million. In contrast, Wall Street predicts bookings of $4.15 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $103 million.
Options Traders Dive Into the Discount in LYFT Stock
Although the market fallout seems harsh given some of the encouraging data, options traders appear to be advantaging the situation. According to Barchart’s options flow screener — which filters exclusively for big block transactions likely placed by institutional or professional traders — net trade sentiment for LYFT stock stands at around $20 million in favor of the bulls.
In total, the premiums of options with bullish sentiment hit $24.6 million while the premiums for bearish options reached $4.05 million below breakeven. The biggest optimistic bet appears to be 45,503 contracts sold of the 2025 Dec. 19 $15 put. This transaction implies that the put seller (or writer) anticipates that LYFT stock will return back to this year’s highs.
It’s not the most unreasonable wager. Lyft CEO David Risher broadcasted a resoundingly positive tone during the company’s earnings release. “For over a year you’ve heard us say that customer obsession drives profitable growth […] In Q2 we delivered, and drivers and riders are choosing Lyft in record numbers,” said the CEO.
Per the ride-sharing firm’s press release, active rider count hit 23.7 million, an all-time high. It also represented a lift of 10% YOY. Further, the number of rides reached 205 million, another company record. Finally, driver hours hit a fresh milestone as well.
On the date of publication, Josh Enomoto did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
On the date of publication, the responsible editor did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
