Needham & Company analyst Bernie McTernan believes that Uber (NYSE:UBER) and Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) are working in a difficult operating environment amid high gas prices.
Needham's data shows that wait times and rideshare prices have increased over the past two weeks. Both companies could face more problems as drivers could be signaling the need for additional incentives to keep up with demand or a faster return to lower gas prices.
The data showed that wait times and pricing worsened by ~800bps and ~250bps, respectively.
"The largest change over the past two weeks was the rise in LYFT wait times to +46% higher than pre-Labor Day levels in the past two weeks, relative to +33% in the two weeks prior. UBER experienced smaller moves, but pricing and wait times were both ~500bps worse over the past two weeks relative to pre-Labor Day levels," McTernan said in a client note.
McTernan rates UBER and LYFT with Buy and Hold ratings, respectively.
By Senad Karaahmetovic