Lyft’s new CEO and CFO will reboot the story, ‘reignite profitable growth’ – Guggenheim

LYFT (NASDAQ:) announced Tuesday that CFO Elaine Paul will step down and be replaced by Erin Brewer, who will begin the role effective July 10.

Paul, who has served as Lyft CFO since January 2022, is leaving the ride-hailing firm only months after a new chief executive was appointed. She will remain as an advisor until November 30, 2023. Lyft also reaffirmed its Q2 guidance in the press release.

Reacting to the news, Guggenheim analysts said the new CEO and CFO hires will reboot the Lyft story and reignite profitable growth for the company.

Analysts, who have a Hold rating and $10 price target on the stock, explained that they are remaining “on the sidelines on LYFT as the company works to revamp its strategy to try to reclaim market share from Uber (Buy) through competitive prices and improved service, and as the new CEO completes/shares his review of LT growth and margin targets for the business.”

“Under the new leadership, LYFT is renewing its focus on growth and improving its financial discipline to fund investments in riders and drivers. While these initiatives make sense to us, they’re likely to take time to materially effect the P&L, causing LYFT to remain a show me story,” they concluded.

Elsewhere, KeyBanc Capital Markets analysts wrote that they are “not surprised to see Lyft re-affirm guidance given it was just issued on May 4.”

“We believe Lyft chose Ms. Brewer as CFO due to her focus on delivering value to customers and experience in competitive sectors,” said analysts.