Lyft stock goes into reverse after big IPO

The decline took roughly $3 billion off Lyft’s market capitalization. The company has lost more than $2 billion since 2016 and racked up $3 billion in debt; it has yet to turn a profit.

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Investor demand for the initial stock offering was strong, with boosters pointing to Lyft’s accelerating growth — its revenue doubled last year to $2.2 billion and its ridership surged.

Yet while Wall Street is bullish about the long-term prospects for Lyft and for Uber, the largest ride-hailing company, analysts said generating profits in the short term will be tough. Other challenges include a murky regulatory environment and the industry impact of self-driving cars.

Lyft’s performance on the public market will be closely watched by other growing tech companies that were expected to list their shares this year, including Uber, social media company Pinterest and messaging software maker Slack Technologies.

On 18 IPOs priced in the first three months of 2019, down 50 percent from a year ago and the slowest deal pace in three years, according to Renaissance Capital.