MeritValue

Lyft, Inc.

LYFTdata completeness 88%9 fiscal years on file

Data notes: no data for concept 'capex'

The thesis, from the filings

Lyft, Inc. earns about -23% on invested capital, but has diluted owners by 25% over 5 years — worth asking whether the growth reaches owners. The cash-flow models don't apply cleanly here — the ledger says why below.Whether it’s worth owning at today’s price is the last question — and yours to answer, below.

i. The business — what you’d actually own
FigureFY 2021FY 2022FY 2023FY 2024FY 2025
Revenue$2.96B1$3.81B2$4.12B3$5.37B3$5.9B3
Net income−$1.06B4−$1.58B5−$340.3M6$22.8M6$2.84B6
Operating cash flow−$101.7M7−$237.3M8−$98.2M9$849.7M9$1.17B9
Capital expenditure—————
Free cash flow (derived)—————
Total debt$1.42B10$1.68B11$1.73B12$1.6B13$2.11B13
Cash & equivalents$457.3M14$281.1M15$558.6M16$759.3M16$1.13B16
Diluted shares334.7M354.7M385.3M413.7M417.7M

Superscripts are receipts. Each links to the SEC filing the number came from (full list at the bottom).

ii. Your slice — ownership made literal
If you owned
shares
Net assets behind them
$78.38
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
$68.09
Free cash flow it threw off
—
Debt you’d be carrying
$50.42

10 shares is a claim on $78.38 of net worth that earned you $68.09 last year, against $50.42 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
-23% avg · 5y
FY21 -34%FY22 -69%FY23 -14%FY24 1%FY25 -1%

It earned an average -23% on invested capital over 5 years. Compare that to what it costs to fund the business.

seeing a moat in the numbers →
Management signal · capital allocation
+25% shares · 5y

Share count is up 25% over 5 years — owners have been diluted. Worth asking what they got for it. Total debt has risen 48% over the same window.

reading capital allocation →

Signals, not verdicts — read from the filings above. Numbers don’t prove a moat; they show its footprint. You decide.

iv. What it’s worth — engine v0.1.0
DCF · Growth Exit 10Y
not applicable
only 0 years of FCF (need ≥3) — model not applicable
DCF · Growth Exit 5Y
not applicable
only 0 years of FCF (need ≥3) — model not applicable
Earnings Power Value
not applicable
normalized (5y-median) earnings non-positive — EPV undefined
Graham Number
$34.65
assumptions (1)
  • grahamMultiplier2250.0%

Different models answer different questions — which to trust when →

Sources — the receipts
  1. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001759509-24-000019 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001759509-25-000025 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001628280-26-006960 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001759509-24-000019 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001759509-25-000025 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001628280-26-006960 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001759509-24-000019 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001759509-25-000025 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001628280-26-006960 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001759509-23-000028 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001759509-24-000019 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001759509-25-000025 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001628280-26-006960 (LongTermDebtNoncurrent)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001759509-24-000019 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001759509-25-000025 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001628280-26-006960 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)