While 2018 was somewhat remembered by numerous tech companies booming with IPOs, the trend doesn’t appear to be wearing off even in 2019. As the first quarter is coming to an end and we are anticipating Q2 2019, Lyft IPO should already be out in the public by the end of March.
With gaining advantage by issuing their IPO before their main competitor, Uber, many market watchers consider that Lyft will be able to beat Uber in the tight IPO race despite the fact that Lyft is valued at 2.2 billion and Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan are estimating Uber IPO at the value of the amazing 120 billion dollars, which would at the same time make Uber one of the biggest offerings the market had seen.
Reasons Why Lyft May Take the Crown in the “IPO Race” Between Uber and Lyft
According to the latest reports from 2016, 2017, and 2018, both ridesharing startups are going through losses, although Lyft had previously reported doubling their revenues in 2018 to 2.2 billion dollars from 1.1 billion reported for 2017.
However, Lyft had at the same time reported over 900 million dollars in losses for the same year when doubled revenues had been reported. Despite the fact that the ridesharing startup is reporting losses, investors are still able to see long-term gains with the upcoming IPO.
As far as Uber concerned, the ridesharing is reporting losses as well, while the tech giant even lost 2.8 billion dollars back in 2016 having recorded 6.5 billion in revenues for the same year.
Regardless of the reported losses, both companies are ready for going public, however, Lyft may take advantage as with the latest reports, Lyft IPO have already been approved for listing on Nasdaq, becoming public already on March 30th, while the latest announcement regarding Uber IPO stated that the company may wait for the second half of the year or even wait for the beginning of 2020.
During the time Uber is using for preparing their potential listing, Lyft will already become publicly traded and without a similar IPO from the same industry to challenge it directly in the market, which should make LYFT IPO a true success.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Lyft is already recording increased interest among investors who are lining up to get their share of the company, while Lyft will be issuing 30.77 million Class A shares to the public.
