“Neither rain nor heat nor the gloom of night can slow Lyft’s business. Our customer obsession drove our best financial performance ever. And today we launched Lyft Go, the industry’s best membership program,” said Lyft CEO David Risher. “Looking ahead, our AV partnerships are preparing us to be the best hybrid operator in the business. The next five years will change how the world moves, and Lyft is setting the standard.”
“Strong execution led to rides acceleration in North America and helped us to deliver record Active Riders, Rides, and Gross Bookings as we surpassed $1 billion in trailing twelve-month cash generation for the fifth straight quarter,” said CFO Michael Brous. “This durable growth in the core business combined with expansion into Europe shows our formula is working and positions us well for the road ahead.”
Q3 Financial Results
Gross Bookings of $5.6 billion, up 17% year over year.
Adjusted EBITDA of $204 million, up 47% year over year with a 3.6% margin as a percentage of Gross Bookings.
Free cash flow of $1.1 billion for the trailing twelve months, our fifth consecutive quarter above $1 billion.
Performing while transforming up, out, & forward
Performing with excellence: record Rides of 274 million, up 10% year over year.
North American year-over-year rides growth accelerated for the second consecutive quarter.
Eighth consecutive quarter of double-digit Active Riders growth year over year, up 10% to 31.6 million.
Driver hours hit an all-time high, leading to faster ETAs in Q3 year over year and quarter over quarter.
North American rideshare rides linked to a partner hit a record in Q3 on the strength of DoorDash, United Airlines, Chase, and more, boosting frequency.
Lyft Go launches today, a new industry-leading membership program that will drive loyalty.
Growing up: strengthening our premium modes and continuing to see results: premium rides grew double digits year over year for the thirteenth straight quarter. Next comes Alcove, a dedicated global chauffeur brand built on TBR, launching in early 2027.
Growing out: leveraging our technology and infrastructure to grow into our expanded TAM across North America and Europe. An important step is complete: North American riders can now use the same Lyft app in Europe.
Growing forward: providing best-in-class, integrated fleet operations for a global hybrid network to make Lyft the partner of choice for scaling AVs. In September, Waymo vehicles became available to riders in Nashville on the Lyft app, and in October, we opened our permanent AV depot to service them.
Q4 Guidance
Gross Bookings of approximately $5.74 billion to $5.94 billion, up approximately 13% to 17% year over year.
Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $188 million to $213 million, up approximately 22% to 38% year over year.
Adjusted EBITDA margin (calculated as a percentage of Gross Bookings) of approximately 3.3% to 3.6%.
We continue to forecast total Rides of over 1 billion in 2026.
Read Lyft's full Q3 2026 earnings press release here.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
These statements include non-GAAP financial measures. Additional disclosures regarding these non-GAAP measures, including a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP measures, are included in the press release (linked above), supplemental slides and our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), each of which is posted to investor.lyft.com.
Forward Looking Statements
Certain statements in this blog post are forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, Lyft’s guidance and outlook, including expectations for the fourth quarter and full year 2026, Lyft’s strategies and opportunity, Lyft’s expectations regarding its share repurchase program, Lyft’s expectations regarding AV technology, Lyft’s plans and expectations regarding its new and existing strategic partnerships, rider and driver activity, including driver supply, expectations regarding our products and features, including the anticipated launch timing, features and benefits of Lyft Go and Alcove, Lyft’s expectations regarding our acquisitions and their anticipated impacts on our international operations and financial results, and risks related to their integrations and operations. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements, and we do not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law. For more information about factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements, please refer to our press release, supplemental slides, and filings made with the SEC.