Lyft's second-quarter bookings rose, boosted by overall demand, particularly for its premium rides.
The San Francisco rideshare company's gross bookings rose 23% to $5.5 billion in the latest quarter, above Wall Street's forecast of $5.36 billion, on a higher average dollar value per ride.
However, even though quarterly earnings rose, they fell shy of Wall Street estimates. The company also expects gross bookings-a key measure of the total dollar value of transactions on its platform-to rise at a slower clip in the current quarter, projecting growth of about 15% to 19%.
For the latest quarter, Lyft pointed to growth for its premium ride offerings, a key focus for the company lately. TBR Global Chauffeuring, a luxury chauffeuring company that Lyft acquired last year, saw its strongest month on record in June. Lyft's XXL offering also contributed to the strength as travelers looked for spacious options for scuba gear, luggage on European summer trips or for large groups ready to party, the company said.
The bookings growth drove second-quarter revenue up 16% from a year earlier to $1.84 billion, topping analyst estimates of $1.81 billion.
Rides rose 12% from a year ago to 262.4 million, with the company pointing to broad-based strength across its ride-sharing business in North America, its Freenow unit in Europe and its bike-sharing service. Meanwhile, active riders rose 17% year over year to 30.5 million, marking a record. Both metrics came in above analysts' projections.
Lyft's second-quarter profit came in at $50.3 million, or 13 cents a share, up from $40.3 million, or 10 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of 14 cents a share.
For the third quarter, Lyft expects gross bookings between $5.5 billion to $5.67 billion. The midpoint of the range is roughly in line with analysts' estimate of $5.59 billion.
Lyft forecasts third-quarter adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of about $183 million to $203 million, compared with analyst estimates of $192 million.