the buried lede is lyft's opex spike right before their ipo. typically you'd try to subdue expenses to make the profitability numbers look better, unless you ha

the buried lede is lyft's opex spike right before their ipo. typically you'd try to subdue expenses to make the profitability numbers look better, unless you have other problems to fix that you can spend your way out of. (taking these graphs as truth) lyft's gross margins were flagging, so it seems they goosed gross margins with opex, like marketing (likely promos) and better customer service (e.g., refunds). they spent their way to higher gross margins so they could look better than uber for ipo. but as the rest of the analysis points out, lyft is seriously behind uber in the race to overall profitability despite higher per ride take rates. they're still a risky investment in comparison.