Lyft ‘s newest earnings report underscores why Uber is the inventory to personal within the ongoing battle between the 2 ridesharing corporations, in keeping with Evercore ISI. Analyst Mark Mahaney downgraded Lyft’s inventory to in line from an outperform score, calling the corporate’s weak lively rider progress and market share loss to Uber “very regarding” in a observe to purchasers Monday. “Valuation could be very cheap right here (1X EV/Gross sales and 9X EV/EBITDA), and we proceed to consider strongly within the secular and revenue progress potential of Ridesharing,” he stated. “However on this thesis, we might a lot slightly personal UBER, given its superior scale and enterprise mannequin & geo diversification. Therefore the downgrade.” Lyft on Monday posted a beat on earnings for the third quarter, however income that fell in need of analysts’ expectations and a decline in lively riders. Shares fell almost 19% in premarket buying and selling. To make certain, Lyft noticed certainly one of its strongest intervals of lively driver progress during the last 12 months, Mahaney famous. That stated, Lyft did lose some market share to Uber as the corporate rolled out momentary driver incentives. Together with the downgrade, Mahaney slashed his worth goal on the inventory to $18 from $41 a share. The brand new goal nonetheless suggests shares might rally roughly 27% from Monday’s shut. Trying forward, Mahaney known as Lyft’s fourth-quarter outlook “tender,” noting that he expects slower year-over-year income progress. Client weak point in 2023 can even weigh on the corporate within the months forward, he stated. “Our lengthy thesis was primarily based on our perception that LYFT’s fundamentals would profit as a late-cycle rideshare restoration identify,” he stated. “We believed that the corporate’s substantial publicity to West Coast markets and to shared rides would energy robust rider and income restoration in H2:22. This will nonetheless occur and there could merely be a delay right here, however the notably weak progress in Q3 lively riders could be very regarding to us.” Lyft shares have tumbled roughly 67% this 12 months. By comparability, Uber’s inventory is down 34%. — CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed reporting