There are a hundred and one reasons why Lyft should still be celebrating Christmas right now. It’s quarter-four, and 2025 profits are screaming success, success, and success.
According to official data published on Lyft’s official website, during the fourth quarter of last year, Lyft was more than ready to pop the champagne.
Gross bookings were up 19 percent year-over-year at $5.1 billion. There is a revenue of $1.6 billion, up three percent year-over-year, which includes a $168 million worth of impact. Meanwhile, net income was $2.8 billion, compared to just $61.7 million during the fourth quarter of 2024. Net income was a whopping 54.3 percent, compared to 1.4 percent during the similar time two years ago.
On the other hand, for the full year, gross bookings are $18.5 billion or up 15 percent, revenue is at $6.3 billion or up nine percent year-over-year, and net income was $2.8 billion, compared to just $22.8 million in 2024. Net income was up from 0.1 percent to 15.4 percent. Wow.
“We delivered record financial performance in 2025 across all metrics, including all-time-high cash flow generation exceeding $1.1 billion,” the chief financial officer, Erin Brewer told Ridesharing Forum. “This continued strength, coupled with our disciplined operational excellence, positions us for further momentum, and we remain right on track to hit our long-term targets.”
In other words, Lyft remained on target, and the company is crediting this success over to… what they call a “customer obsession.”
“[The year 2025] was an incredible year in Lyft’s comeback story. Through customer obsession, we’re transforming from your local, ‘out-to-dinner’ rideshare app to a global, hybrid transportation platform," the CEO of Lyft David Risher tated. “As we look ahead, we are entering a transformational phase for Lyft - 2026 will be the year of the AV with deployments in the U.S. and overseas.”
So, what is this customer obsession all about?
According to Salesforce, a customer relationship management system, customer obsession is like Lyft placing the customers’ interests on top priority. Salesforce explains that this means each person in the team exhibits a customer-first mindset, “no matter their role, they see how the work they do connects to serving your customers, delivering meaningful value, and helping them succeed.”
Meanwhile, OpenAI defines customer obsession as a business mindset, which revolves around prioritizing the understanding and the exceeding of customer needs above everything else. It involves continuously getting feedback, enhancing products and services, anticipating pain points, and making long-term decisions that build trust, loyalty, and satisfaction rather than focusing solely on short-term profits or internal metrics.
Salesforce seconds that, saying this business mindset is important because it is the secret to maintaining a roster of happy, long-term clients.
In the case of Lyft, this is true, and it’s not only giving them long-term clients, but long-term amazing profits as well.
And, the CEO, Risher, would agree.
“Customer obsession is what drives our profitable growth,” he told Ridesharing Forum on an earnings call earlier this week. “I think I feel more strongly about that than ever.”
Instead of competing with other ridesharing apps, it re-focuses its attention to “courting” passengers and customers. For, what is competition if you can’t win everything?
“That’s five percent penetrated, which shows there is an enormous amount of headroom in this market,” Risher further noted. “So what does that lead you to do? What it leads you to do is to focus on your customers, not your competitors, because if you focus on your competitors, you’re just fighting over the five percent, not the 95 percent.”
Technically speaking, that means obsessing around with customers, without the bad connotation of “obsession.”
Plus, Lyft is also partnered with competitors like DoorDash. Sounds cool. For more ridesharing updates, keep browsing this Ridesharing Forum website. Sign up for your account!