Lyft shares rocket 62% over a typo in the company’s earnings release

By MATT OTT
AP Business Writer

Lyft shares jumped 62% after the bell Tuesday thanks in part to a typo in the ride-hailing company’s earnings release that sent investors’ auto-trading algorithms — also known as “bots” — into a buying frenzy. Lyft’s fourth-quarter report initially forecast that an important profit metric was expected to climb by 500 basis points, or 5%, in 2024. However, the company informed investors about five minutes after the original release that there was one zero too many in that number and corrected it to 50 basis points, a much more realistic 0.5%. Shares retreated after the correction, but remain more than 37% higher — at $16.69 per share — in early Wednesday trading after the company topped most Wall Street expectations for the quarter.