Lyft beats Q1 earnings estimates, co-founder says 'recovery is clear'

Lyft co-founder and president John Zimmer says the the ride-hailing service is shifting into a new gear with human mobility picking up after people get their COVID-19 vaccines.

"The recovery is clear, it's happening," Zimmer tells Yahoo Finance, pointing to 7% growth in revenue in the first quarter versus the fourth quarter. The number of active riders using the platform increased by about 1 million sequentially.

Zimmer declined to divulge second quarter to-date trends, simply saying demand is improving "rapidly."

"I think it's a matter of time before we get back to pre-pandemic levels, but will be emerging much stronger and actually more profitable per ride than we were going into the pandemic," Zimmer added.

Here is how Lyft performed compared to Wall Street estimates for the first quarter: