Lyft earnings: What to expect from Uber’s smaller rival

Opinion: How Uber pulled off its stunning turnaround from money pit to cash machine

The companies’ respective stock moves bare out that story, with Uber shares up nearly 80% on the year as Lyft’s stock is roughly flat.

Investors will be looking for signs of progress at Lyft when the company posts results after Tuesday’s closing bell.

“Since April, we’ve noticed a meaningful improvement in Lyft’s value proposition, driven by more competitive pricing,” Monness, Crespi, Hardt & Co. analyst Brian White wrote recently. “We are curious to see how riders responded to this initiative and the associated financial implications for Lyft, along with the sustainability of the program.”

Here’s what to watch for in the upcoming report.

What to expect

Earnings: Analysts tracked by FactSet expect that Lyft lost an adjusted 1 cent per share in the second quarter, whereas it earned an adjusted 13 cents a share in the year-prior quarter.

Revenue: The FactSet consensus was for $1.02 billion in revenue, up from $991 million a year earlier.

Stock movement: Lyft shares have made double-digit percentage swings following each of the company’s past five earnings reports, with four of those being moves lower.

What else to watch for

As Uber makes strides on the bottom line, analysts will be watching for Lyft’s own momentum, though GAAP profitability doesn’t appear on the horizon for the company.

“The key question for LYFT remains on the company’s ability to ramp profitability,” wrote Evercore ISI analyst Mark Mahaney, who said he expects “additional color” on the bottom line in the quarters to come, after Lyft’s management withdrew earlier targets on the fourth-quarter call.

For the latest quarter, he said he expects the company to post earnings roughly in line with expectations, saying that estimates look “ballpark reasonable to slightly conservative.”

Read: Is a Lyft acquisition in the cards? ‘It’s not so clear-cut,’ analyst says.

Cowen & Co.’s John Blackledge said he is also interested in the profit picture. “We expect investors to focus on ride-share trends into summer, as well as any color around margins, following an April restructuring and as investors await new [long-term] targets (which are expected to be disclosed prior to year end),” he wrote.

The earnings will give an initial indication of how Chief Executive David Risher is doing in his role, after assuming the position in April.

“Wall Street will now have an opportunity to analyze his early impact on the business,” White said. “That said, we believe it is unfair to judge his performance after just a single quarter’s work.”