Lyft ‘competitively disadvantaged’ says Wedbush analysts

The Lyft (NASDAQ:) price target was raised by Wedbush to $14 from $12 per share on Wednesday, but the firm maintained a Neutral rating on the stock as it still sees potential headwinds.

Analysts said they see a challenging road ahead for Lyft to regain meaningful share, with Uber (NYSE:) remaining the “dominant force in rideshare.”

“Uber continues to leverage its scale as well as the benefits of its delivery business, leading to a stronger value proposition for consumers through its bundled rewards program, Uber One,” wrote the analysts.

The firm acknowledged that under new leadership, Lyft is working to regain market share and has adjusted its pricing levels to better align with Uber and the rest of the market. It is also reinvesting a portion of its fixed cost savings to improve service levels.

“Lyft will benefit from secular trends favoring the industry, including rising adoption and frequency of ridesharing services in a market that we expect will remain a long-term duopoly,” the analysts added.

However, as a pure-play service, Wedbush believes Lyft is competitively disadvantaged versus its diversified, global peer and “expect the company will be challenged to differentiate its product for both riders and drivers in competing both domestically against scaled players.”