I the eve of Uber’s IPO, i thought i’d post some interesting differences between Lyft and Uber from their S-1’s):
Average Uber rider takes 2.3 more rides per month than a Lyft rider. The average number of rides per month is below:
Lyft ave ride is more expensive ($13 vs 7.69). Below is the booking dollars per ride:
Lyft’s average rider spend per month is surprisingly the same as Uber’s
Because their rides are more expensive, Lyft’s take rate (margin) is much higher
In terms of profit per user per month, Lyft has surpassed Uber:
Given Lyft’s growth and lead on gross profit per user, can it grow its way into greater profitability than Uber? Nope. Its costs are increasing whereas Uber’s are decreasing. This is per active operating expenses per month:
And profit per ride has Uber in the lead…
The average driver on Uber takes home almost double the money they do in Lyft:
My general take is that Uber has much more of an international audience which drives down average price of trips. They also are more mature and have a better operating team (in my opinion) and thus are getting better control of costs, even though both are losing a ton. If I was a betting man, I’d put my money in Uber’s camp although both will probably burn through cash at alarming rates for the next few years.
