Lyft's public market debut could prove to be a bellwether for how these companies will be received by investors. In particular, Lyft will almost certainly be viewed as a proxy for what to expect from its chief rival Uber, a much larger business. Like Uber, Lyft is bleeding money. Lyft's net loss climbed to $911 million in 2018 from $688 million a year earlier. Uber, by comparison, lost $1.8 billion last year, according to financials released by the company last month.