What's going on?

Ride-hailing rivals Uber and Lyft reported first-quarter updates late last week � and despite coronavirus-flavored losses from both, investors gobbled up their shares.

What does this mean?

Lyft revved up first with higher quarterly revenue than expected. That was thanks to 3% more riders than the same time last year, even with the current pandemic. And that makes sense given that Lyft operates mainly in the US, which was one of the last major countries to lock down.

Arch-nemesis Uber operates all over the world, so it couldn�t help but report 5% fewer riders last quarter than a year ago. Thankfully for its investors, though, its food business grew by more than 50% delivering takeout to hangry homebound customers.

Why should I care?

For markets: Eyes on the prize.

Uber says the worst is over, and that its ride-hailing business has started picking up again. But that hasn�t stopped the company from cutting 14% of its workers and slashing its marketing budget to help trim costs by $1 billion. Lyft, not to be outgunned, announced major cuts of its own � including 17% of its staff. So much for Uber�s ambition of becoming profitable by the end of 2020 then: it now thinks it�ll be profitable months later than promised � but probably before Lyft still, if all goes to plan.

The bigger picture: Uber Black and Lyft Lux for early birds only.

Hot initial public offerings (IPOs) � like those of both ride-hailers last year � captured the interest of new and experienced investors alike. After all, who wouldn�t want to buy a new share of a company they�ve happily experienced first hand? But buyer beware: even if shares have a first-day �pop�, 60% of IPO stocks will be trading below their initial price five years down the line. Or sooner, in the cases of loss-making Uber and Lyft � even if their earliest backers likely pocketed a hefty profit.