Enterprise

Lyft shares plunge more than 7% after middling Uber market debut

Key Points
  • Lyft shares closed down 7.4% on Friday after its top competitor, Uber, had a disappointing market debut, falling 7.6
  • Since its IPO in March, Lyft has lost 29% of its value. 
Confetti falls as Lyft CEO Logan Green (C) rings the Nasdaq opening bell celebrating the company's initial public offering (IPO) on March 29, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.
Mario Tama | Getty Images

Shares of ride-hailing company Lyft fell 7.4% on Friday after larger rival Uber had a disappointing debut on the New York Stock Exchange, closing down 7.6%.

Throughout the morning, indications of Uber's opening trade price dropped from an initial estimate of $46 to $48, until it opened at $42 per share. That's below the $45 price of shares sold in its initial public offering, and even below the $44 low point of the company's estimated pricing range last week. Uber closed at $41.57.

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Uber is becoming a public company during a week of back-and-forth tensions over trade negotiations between the U.S. and China. On Friday morning the major indexes were all down at least 1%, though they turned around later in the day and all finished up.

Lyft was having a rough week already. The shares fell more than 10% Wednesday after the company released its first earnings report since going public.

Lyft had a stronger opening than Uber when it started trading on March 29. The company priced shares at $72 each, then the stock began trading at $87.24. The shares moved lower, and the closing price on the first day of trading was $78.29, but that was still above the IPO price.

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