Lyft names Michael Brous CFO, keeps third-quarter growth outlook intact

Lyft is handing its finance leadership to an executive who has run both its bikeshare business and customer-support operations, while maintaining its third-quarter forecast. Michael Brous will become chief financial officer on September 28, 2026, succeeding Erin Brewer, who plans to retire, the company announced September 9.

The succession pairs an internal promotion with a period of continued access to the outgoing CFO. Brewer is scheduled to advise Lyft through December 15, although the consulting arrangement can end earlier. Lyft said in its securities filing that her departure did not stem from a dispute or disagreement with the company, its board or management, or matters involving its operations, policies or practices.

For investors, the immediate financial message is continuity: the leadership change leaves intact an outlook that calls for further growth in transaction volume and a higher adjusted profit margin than Lyft reported in the second quarter.

The forecast Brous inherits

Lyft reaffirmed the guidance it issued August 6 for third-quarter Gross Bookings of approximately $5.50 billion to $5.67 billion, up approximately 15% to 19% from a year earlier. It continues to expect Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $183 million to $203 million and an Adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 3.3% to 3.6%.

Gross Bookings measures the dollar value of transactions on the platform, including applicable taxes, tolls and fees but excluding driver tips. It is distinct from Lyft’s revenue. The adjusted margin divides Adjusted EBITDA by Gross Bookings, showing how much adjusted profit Lyft generates relative to that transaction value.

The second-quarter results provide a useful benchmark. Gross Bookings rose 23% year over year to $5.5 billion, while Adjusted EBITDA increased 37% to $177.2 million. The adjusted margin reached 3.2%, compared with 2.9% a year earlier. The third-quarter forecast therefore anticipates slower year-over-year bookings growth than in the second quarter, alongside a higher adjusted margin.

Those adjusted measures exclude expenses and other items that affect GAAP net income, including stock-based compensation and certain acquisition-related costs. Lyft reported second-quarter net income of $50.3 million, compared with $40.3 million a year earlier. The company has not supplied a GAAP equivalent for its third-quarter adjusted outlook, citing uncertainty over the size of reconciling items that could significantly affect reported results.

Finance experience tested in operations

Brous has spent nearly eight years in Lyft’s senior management. He joined through the 2018 acquisition of Motivate, where he was vice president of finance, and subsequently held financial planning, strategy and operating roles within Lyft Urban Solutions. He became head of that business in September 2023 and added Safety and Customer Care to his remit in November 2025.

That experience gives the incoming CFO a view of the operating demands behind Lyft’s financial targets. The company says its safety and support teams handle more than 1.5 million interactions monthly. Urban Solutions oversees more than 195,000 bikes across 55 systems worldwide, including New York’s Citi Bike, London’s Santander Cycles and Barcelona’s Bicing.

Lyft credited Brous’s three years leading Urban Solutions with expanding ebikes and improving asset uptime and utilization—keeping equipment available and putting it to greater use. The company said those improvements contributed to compounding double-digit rides growth and strong margins and cash flows in that business. It did not quantify those margins or cash flows in the succession announcement; the growth description applies to Urban Solutions.

The company also credited him with securing renewals in London and San Francisco, introducing a next-generation ebike and overseeing the planned acquisition of Serveo’s bikeshare business in Spain. That transaction remained described as planned in the September 9 announcement.

CEO David Risher linked the appointment to Lyft’s global expansion and development of autonomous-vehicle capabilities, citing Brous’s financial discipline, operating experience and knowledge of customers. There is a concrete operating milestone ahead: in its August results, Lyft said fleet operations with Waymo in Nashville began in June and that it was preparing to open an 80,000-square-foot autonomous-vehicle depot in October.

Cash generation and the handover terms

Risher credited Brewer, who joined in 2023, with helping Lyft achieve GAAP profitability and generate more than $2 billion in free cash flow during her tenure. The latest quarterly figures show both the scale of cash generation and a more mixed year-over-year comparison: second-quarter operating cash flow rose to $349.9 million from $343.7 million, while free cash flow declined to $319.6 million from $329.4 million.

Lyft defines free cash flow as operating cash flow less purchases of property and equipment and its scooter fleet. Those purchases were $30.3 million in the second quarter, compared with $14.3 million a year earlier, explaining why free cash flow fell despite higher operating cash flow. The measure does not represent the total change in Lyft’s cash balance.

The filing also sets out Brous’s compensation: a $650,000 annual base salary and, subject to board approval, a target annual cash bonus of 50% of actual annual base salary. Proposed equity awards comprise restricted stock units valued at approximately $775,000 and $2 million, plus performance-based units valued at approximately $775,000. The grants require approval; the time-based awards vest in quarterly installments subject to continued service, while the performance-based award depends on stock-price performance. He will also receive travel assistance and an $11,250 monthly housing and living-expense stipend, net of tax withholdings.

Brewer will continue vesting in outstanding equity awards during her consulting term, subject to continued service. She said her experience working alongside Brous gave her confidence in his financial and operational background and that she looked forward to supporting the transition.

Lyft expects to report third-quarter earnings in November 2026. That report will provide the next scheduled financial test of the reaffirmed outlook, after Brous’s planned appointment and while Brewer’s advisory term is scheduled to remain in effect.