Market movement: How Robinhood, Lyft, and Uber rocked the stock market

Stock futures edged higher in the early trading hours of Wednesday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded its biggest decline since March 2023, following hotter-than-expected CPI data.

Here are some of Wednesday’s biggest stock movers:

Winners on the move

• Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ:HOOD) celebrated a surprise profit for Q4, prompting its stock to soar over 10%. The surge was fueled by rebounding trading activity, exceeding monthly active user (MAU) expectations, and accelerated growth in deposits. CEO Vlad Tenev optimistic about the new year, with increased Funded Customers and Net Deposits in the first half of Q1, already surpassing figures from all of Q4 2023. Looking forward, the company expects total operating expenses between $1.85B and $1.95B for FY2024, slightly below the Visible Alpha consensus of $1.95B.
• Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) shares gained 15% on Wednesday after the company clarified an error in its quarterly earnings release that led to an initial exaggerated surge of more than 60% on Tuesday. The adjusted EBITDA margin growth outlook for 2024 was restated to be 50 basis points (0.5 percentage points) instead of the previously stated 500 bps. Lyft also forecasted gross bookings in the range of $3.5B to $3.6B and adjusted EBITDA between $50M and $55M for 1Q24, with plans to deliver full-year positive free cash flow for the first time in 2024.
• Uber’s (NYSE:UBER) share price soared over 5% following the announcement of its first-ever $7B share repurchase program. CFO Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah expressed confidence in the company’s strong financial momentum and outlined a strategy aiming to consistently reduce share count. Uber is set to provide an investor update later today, presenting its strategy, financial framework, and capital allocation plans.

Biggest stock losers

• Despite surpassing consensus in Q4, Upstart Holdings’ (NASDAQ:UPST) stock fell 18% after its revenue guidance fell short of market expectations. The AI-driven lending platform for banks and credit unions set Q1 revenue at $125M, less than the $151.3M consensus and including $133M from fees and an $8M net interest loss. The company’s contribution margin is projected to be 61% in Q1 from 63% in Q4.