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Now that the effects of the United States Government shutdown have resided, Lyft has revamped their plans to issue an IPO and look forward to an increase in market valuation. Lyft is the second biggest ride-sharing company in the world, behind Uber, and has gained popularity around the world. Similar to the popular ride-sharing app Grab, Lyft helps people that either cannot drive or do not have a car get to places they need to be. However, Lyft operates on a cashless system when paying for rides. At the beginning of 2018, Lyft’s last private valuation was $15.1 billion and they predict that after they release their IPO, their market capitalization will rise to over $20 billion. This higher valuation is no surprise as Lyft had doubled their revenues from 2017 to 2018 at $2.16 billion and tripled the number of active riders.
Shares of Lyft stock have been estimated around $65 per share, but this is merely just an approximation and the price of the stock can change when the stock begins trading. Lyft plans to raise around $2 billion from their IPO and within the next week, we will know how much they plan to sell and for how much. This could be a great opportunity for investment for both Lyft and people looking to buy stocks. Lyft’s IPO will be the start of many tech giants going public and it will be examined closely to see how others will fair.
As previously mentioned, Lyft’s IPO will be the first of many Silicon Valley startups as Uber, Slack Technologies, and Pinterest prepare to issue their own IPOs. Lyft’s IPO not only impacts their own market value as it will heavily influence Uber’s newest valuation once they go public. Few sources have claimed that Uber will be valued at $120 billion when they release their IPO, but Lyft’s IPO and newest market valuation will impact this number. Only time will tell how much of an impact Lyft will have on Uber in terms of market valuation and the rest of the stock market. Hopefully, by March 28 Lyft will have announced their stock price and will be given a new market valuation as a new wave of tech IPOs begins.
