Is Lyft Still a Good Buy? An Institutional Fund Just Placed a Big Bet

The move: PAR Capital Management has just increased its position in Lyft by 70% during Q3 2025, adding 1.35 million shares for $41.61 million. It now controls 3.255 million shares valued at $71.63 million.

Why does this matter?

This is not a minor move. For PAR Capital, Lyft went from being a mid-sized investment to its eleventh largest position (2.1% of total assets under management). The interesting part: they did it after the price doubled from its 52-week low.

Institutional funds usually take profits quickly. Their continued buying when they are winning suggests something: they believe the best is yet to come.

The numbers that speak

• Current price: $20.68 (up 16% in 12 months, outperforms the S&P 500 by 2 points)
• Valuation: Market cap $8.26B | Revenue (TTM) $6.27B | Net income $150.7M
• P/E by free cash flow: Only 8x (value stock price, but with growth potential)
• Usage Metric: 29 million active riders, 250 million trips just in Q3
• Cash Generation: Surpassed $1B in free cash flow

The analysis

Lyft operates as the “Pepsi” of mobility in North America against Uber “Coca-Cola”. It has grown sales by 15% annually over the last decade and consolidated its position as #2 in a market that functions almost like a duopoly.

The uncomfortable question: what happens when autonomous cars dominate? Many assume that Lyft disappears. But PAR Capital and other institutional investors do not seem so worried. The argument: even in a future autonomous-heavy, someone needs to operate that network.

The controversial

Lyft still faces regulatory pressure in several states, competition from Uber (much larger), and uncertainty in the driver labor market. However, it trades at a “value stock” valuation while potentially being a “growth stock” — if the thesis works, there is a lot of upside.

Bottom line: When large funds double down on winning positions, they usually know something. The question is whether that “something” is already priced in.