On Tuesday, Feb. 13, Lyft, a rideshare app, publicly released its fourth-quarter earnings report. Within minutes of the earnings release, the company’s stock soared to nearly 70 percent, as the report indicated that the company had a projected 5 percent growth margin, or 500 basis points, for the coming year. However, in a correction made by both the CFO of Lyft, Erin Brewer, and the CEO, David Fisher, the earnings report contained a major typo, an extra zero. The projected growth margin shared in the press release was accidentally increased from 0.5 percent, 50 basis points, to 5 percent, 500 basis points. 

Both Fisher and Brewer stated that a clerical error caused the typo. Fisher said that the mistake was “super frustrating,” and Brewer noted that “it was a bad error, and that’s on me.” When speaking with CNBC, Fisher explained that the error had been discovered while on the earnings call, and once the problem had been identified, he saw Brewer’s “jaw drop.” Fisher continued, “Thank goodness we caught it pretty fast,” noting his team and himself “Issued an immediate correction.” In interviews and conversations with Fisher since the earnings report mishap he’s pointed out that despite the mistake, the earnings report did reflect good news for Lyft and the company’s future. The earnings report has forecasted strong revenue in the upcoming quarters, and the company has stated that they expect to have a positive cash flow, with more revenue coming into the company than expenses this year. Becoming cash-flow positive would be a huge win for Lyft as they have struggled since going public with pouring out money to pay drivers and are constantly competing with other rideshare apps like Uber.