Lyft vs Uber. Lyft has some surprising advantages.

Lyft has two things going for it, stock-wise. Relatively cheap, at one times revenue versus 3.7x for rival Uber Technologies.

And Lyft's free cash flow has turned solidly positive, equaling perhaps 13% of the company's market value this year.

The rising profitability is thanks to CEO David Risher, who took over for the company's founders in 2023.

Since that announcement, Lyft shares have returned 76%, versus 68% for the S&P 500-but Uber has returned 202%. That brings us to the biggest knock on Lyft: that Uber is much larger, yet still growing faster.

When asked, Risher points out that Lyft is growing about as quickly as Uber domestically, which is its key market.

A July acquisition of Europe's Freenow will give Lyft a boost overseas. Other growth initiatives include Lyft Silver, a service tailored for seniors.

The simplest path to expansion is simply persuading more Uber riders to check Lyft before booking. As for the competition, Risher says there are 160 billion car rides a year in the U.S., and that Uber and Lyft combine for only about 2.5 billion.

"People have a mind-set, and 1 just think it's wrong...a winner-take-all mind-set," says Risher. "I think this marketplace works super well with two players.