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Lyft (LYFT) Announces New CEO, Co-founders to Step Down

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Lyft (LYFT - Free Report) announced that board member David Risher would be the new CEO from Apr 17, 2023. The current CEO, Logan Green (one of Lyft’s co-founders), will step down on Apr 17. As part of the structural change, another co-founder of the company, John Zimmer, will relinquish his post as president on Jun 30.

Risher joined Lyft’s board in Jul 2021. Following his elevation to the top spot, he will have full leadership responsibilities for the ride-sharing company’s operations. Risher’s selection as the new CEO follows an extensive search process conducted by Lyft’s board, which a leading executive search firm assisted. Despite giving up their leadership positions, Green and Zimmer will remain associated with Lyft as its non-executive chairman and vice chairman.

Risher is a highly experienced professional. He has been associated with Amazon (AMZN - Free Report) and Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) . At Amazon, he served as the first head of product and head of U.S. retail. Risher was associated with Microsoft as a general manager. Before joining Lyft’s board, he ran a non-profit organization – Worldreader-- for over a decade.

Lyft, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), will hope that Risher brings all his experience into play and helps turn around its sagging fortunes. Lyft’s struggles can be made out of the fact that shares of the company declined 12.9% year to date against its industry’s 15.7% appreciation in the same period.

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You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The alarming scenario can be made from the fact that in fourth-quarter 2022, Lyft’s net loss was $588.1 million compared with a net loss of $283.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. Lyft’s rival Uber (UBER - Free Report) , meanwhile, has, on the other hand, witnessed a turnaround in its fortunes from the pandemic lows.  

Even though Uber’s primary business is ride-sharing, it has diversified into food delivery and freight over time. Uber is benefitting from the boom in its delivery business as volumes of online order increase.

Even though economies are reopening, people’s thirst for placing orders online is rampant, which ensures Uber’s business remains in good shape. Encouraged by the segment's performance during the pandemic, the company is constantly expanding its delivery operations. Shares of Uber have gained 23.8% year to date.

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