Just about a week ago, we brought word of Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) and its plans to gut its workforce by 30%. As it turns out, though, Lyft won’t be going quite that far after all. Lyft is ditching 26% of its workforce but is also cutting back on hiring, as it dropped 250 open positions. That sends 1,072 folks to the unemployment line, as opposed to the 1,200 that were set to depart originally.
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As it turns out, though, cutting jobs can be pricey. Lyft expects to pay between $41 million and $47 million in severance and other expenses to get rid of those jobs. There will also be other costs directly connected to stock-based compensation, and there’s no way to estimate what those will be right now. Lyft plans to put that cash into a series of improvements for both riders and drivers, likely in a bid to better compete with Uber (NASDAQ:UBER). Uber has fared much better than Lyft over the last several months.
Lyft, meanwhile, suffers a bit from analyst ambivalence. With 25 Hold ratings, six Buys, and one Sell, it’s clear analysts aren’t clear on Lyft stock. In addition, its average price target of $14.04, gives it 38.46% upside potential.
