Investing.com – Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) is slumping Thursday, but signs that the ride-hailing company is improving efficiency and gaining market share led Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) to make a bold call, forecasting shares to jump more than 60%.
Goldman Sachs upgraded Lyft to a buy from neutral and lifted its price target on the stock to $71 From $58, indicating more than 61% of upside ahead from its closing price of $44.12. Lyft was down 4%.
The bullish call from Goldman came as the ride-hailing company drove in third-quarter results that were not as bad as many had feared and lifted its guidance.
LYFT reported a loss of 41 cents a share on revenue of $955.6 billion, beating consensus estimates from Investing.com for a loss of 77 cents a share on revenue of $915.51 billion.
During the quarter, the number of riders on its platform surged 28% to 22.3 million from a year earlier and it made more money from each rider, a sign that the company is getting costs under control.
Revenue per active rider surged 27% year over year to $42.82.
"Lyft continues to gain share and is beginning to show the operational efficiencies that we've previously noted are critical to the ride hailing industry maturing beyond its hyper-competitive, venture-funded phase," {{Goldman Sachs said in a note to clients.}}
Lyft has an average price target of $69.80, according to consensus estimates from Investing.com.