Lyft is bleeding hundreds of millions of dollars

Laura Buckman/Reuters

Lyft is bleeding a lot of money fighting Uber. 

The ride-hailing company has long played second fiddle to Uber in terms of marketshare in the U.S., but in a new story out today from The Wall Street Journal's Greg Bensinger and Rolfe Winkler, it's clear just how bad things are.

In 2015, Lyft posted an operating loss of $360 million revenue of about $200 million, a person familiar with the company’s financial statements told the Journal. While Lyft expects to double revenue this year — up to around $450 million — it expects to post an operating loss of more than $200 million, the person told the Journal. 

These losses are big, and they're part of a larger trend at Lyft. In November 2015, leaked financial documents showed that Lyft lost $127 million on $46.7 million in revenue in the first six months of 2015. In April of this year, the company had to promise investors it wouldn't lose more than $600 million a year. And while it had a record May — it completed 12.7 million rides in a month — Lyft cautioned its investors that ride volume would probably remain flat or even dip lower, thanks to its withdrawal from Austin, Texas, and college students heading home for the summer.

In more bad news for the company, Uber China is merging with Didi Chuxing, its rival in China. Didi has previously invested in Lyft and partnered with the company to form an "anti-Uber alliance," but with the $35 billion Uber-Didi merger, Uber becomes, indirectly, an investor in Lyft. 

Lyft may be looking for a buyer — the company hired investment bank Qatalyst Partners and reports say the firm is contacting potential buyers — and these numbers and its expensive competition with Uber in the U.S. are likely part of the reason why. 

Lyft did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

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