Hedge Fund Owl Creek Dumped 1.9 Million Shares of Lyft Worth $40.3 Million. Is the Stock a Buy or Sell?

Source The Motley Fool

Key Points

  • Owl Creek sold 1,936,438 shares of Lyft, estimated at $40.25 million based on quarterly average price.

  • Quarter-end value of the Lyft stake decreased by $44.08 million, reflecting both trading and price changes.

  • The Lyft trade represented a 1.21% change in 13F reportable assets under management.

  • Post-trade, Owl Creek held 551,524 shares of Lyft valued at $10.68 million.

  • The Lyft position now accounts for 0.32% of 13F AUM, which places it outside the fund's top five holdings.

  • 10 stocks we like better than Lyft ›

What happened

According to its SEC filing dated February 17, 2026, Owl Creek Asset Management, L.P. reduced its stake in Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT) by 1,936,438 shares during the fourth quarter of 2025.

The estimated value of the shares sold was $40.25 million, calculated using the quarter's average closing price. The position's quarter-end value declined by $44.08 million, a figure that includes both the trade and Lyft's stock price movement during the period.

What else to know

Owl Creek's Lyft position now represents 0.32% of 13F assets under management after the reduction.

Top holdings after the filing:

  • NASDAQ:ATEX: $118.14 million (3.6% of AUM)
  • NYSE:PCG: $85.68 million (2.6% of AUM)
  • NASDAQ:RJET: $75.56 million (2.3% of AUM)
  • NASDAQ:FTAI: $52.84 million (1.6% of AUM)
  • NASDAQ:AMZN: $36.98 million (1.1% of AUM)

As of February 17, 2026, Lyft shares were priced at $13.30, down 5.1% over the past year and lagging the S&P 500 by 12.88 percentage points.

Company/ETF overview

MetricValue
Revenue (TTM)$6.32 billion
Net Income (TTM)$2.84 billion
Market Capitalization$5.31 billion
Price (as of market close 2/17/26)$13.30

Company/ETF snapshot

  • Lyft provides on-demand ridesharing, vehicle rentals, bike and scooter sharing, and transportation management solutions in the United States and Canada.
  • The company operates a peer-to-peer marketplace connecting drivers and riders, generating revenue primarily from ride commissions, rental fees, and subscription services.
  • Primary customers include individual consumers, enterprise clients, educational institutions, and organizations seeking mobility and transportation solutions.

Lyft operates one of North America's leading multimodal transportation platforms, leveraging technology to connect riders with a range of mobility options.

The company focuses on expanding its ecosystem through ridesharing, rentals, and integrated mobility services to address diverse transportation needs. Its strategy emphasizes convenience, flexibility, and a broad network to maintain competitive differentiation in the mobility sector.

What this transaction means for investors

Owl Creek Asset Management’s fourth quarter sale of Lyft stock is a noteworthy event. The hedge fund sold nearly two million shares, which represented almost its entire Lyft holdings of 2.5 million shares held in the third quarter.

Owl Creek’s Q4 move was prescient. The fund sold Lyft at a time when the stock was up, having reached a 52-week high of $25.54 in November. But shares reversed course in 2026 after the company delivered 2025 full-year results that failed to meet Wall Street’s expectations.

As a result, Lyft shares are down about 30% in 2026 through the week ending March 6. Even so, the company’s performance wasn’t bad. Its 2025 sales of $6.3 billion was a 9% year-over-year rise. It also notched record rides of 945.5 million last year, which is an all time high representing a 14% increase over 2024, and the eleventh consecutive quarter of double digit growth year over year.

Lyft’s performance suggests the company is doing well, and that Wall Street may have overreacted. Consequently, its price-to-earnings ratio of two is the lowest it’s been over the past year, suggesting now is a great time to pick up shares, but not to sell if you’re a shareholder.

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Robert Izquierdo has positions in Amazon. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon and Lyft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Disclaimer: For information purposes only. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
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