Are Analysts Overly Positive on Uber and Lyft?

June 4, 2019 by Chris Lange

The quiet period for Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBER) is officially over and analysts are jumping all over themselves to issue calls on the ride-sharing firm. Lyft, Inc. (NASDAQ: LYFT) also saw some action from analysts on Tuesday as well, seemingly in response to what is being said about Uber.

Analysts have had ample opportunity to understand these companies, with Uber earnings in late May and Lyft earnings in early May.

Despite these reports, both companies are still trading below their respective initial public offering (IPO) prices.

Even though the stocks have seen a tough run so far, not one analyst has come out with a negative rating for Uber. On the other hand, only three analysts (Wolfe Research, Seaport Global Securities and Atlantic Securities) have issued Underperform or Sell ratings for Lyft. This says a lot considering the market climate in general and the trade wars.

Here’s what analysts had to say about Uber on Tuesday:

  • William Blair initiated it with an Outperform rating.
  • BTIG started it with a Buy rating and an $80 price target.
  • Oppenheimer initiated it as Outperform with a $55 price target price.
  • SunTrust Robinson Humphrey initiated it as Buy with a $56 target.
  • Needham initiated it with a Buy rating and a $52 target price.
  • Goldman Sachs started Uber as Buy with a $56 target price.
  • Deutsche Bank issued a Buy rating and a $58 target price.
  • Barclays initiated it with an Overweight rating.
  • Morgan Stanley started it with an Overweight rating and a $56 target.
  • Mizuho initiated it with a Buy rating and a $50 price target.
  • Merrill Lynch started with a Buy rating and a $53 price objective.
  • JMP Securities started it at Market Outperform with a $54 price target.
  • Cowen initiated it with an Outperform rating and a $58 price target.
  • Canaccord Genuity started it with a Buy rating and a $50 target.
  • Macquarie initiated it with an Outperform rating.
  • Loop Capital started Uber as Buy.

Here’s what analysts had to say about Lyft on Tuesday:

  • Citigroup initiated coverage with a Buy rating and a $70 price target.
  • Loop Capital initiated it with a Hold rating and a $60 price target.
  • BTIG initiated it with a Buy rating and a $77 price target.
  • SunTrust Robinson Humphrey initiated it as Buy with a $68 target.
  • Barclays initiated it with an Equal Weight rating and a $55 target price.
  • Goldman Sachs started Lyft at Neutral and assigned a $65 target.
  • RBC initiated it with an Outperform rating and a $72 price target.

Shares of Uber traded down about 1% on Tuesday to $40.89, in a 52-week range of $36.08 to $45.00. The stock has a consensus price target of $57.67.

Lyft traded down about 2% at $58.42 a share. The 52-week range is $47.17 to $88.60, and the consensus analyst target is $73.21.