Shares in Lyft Inc. rose to a 17-month high in after-hours trading after the ride-hailing company beat analysts’ predictions in its fourth-quarter earnings report.

For the quarter ended Dec. 31, Lyft reported revenue fell 44%, to $569.9 million, from a year ago because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it rose 14% from the third quarter. Analysts had been predicting revenue of $563 million. The net loss was $458.2 million, or 58 cents per share, whereas analysts had been predicting a loss of 72 cents per share.

Lyft reported active riders in the quarter of 12.55 million versus a predicted 13.2 million but up from 12.5 million and 8.7 million in the preceding two quarters. Lyft noted that demand in the latter part of the fourth quarter was hurt by a surge in COVID-19 cases and the reintroduction of restrictive measures intended to curb its spread. Revenue per active rider came in at $45.40 versus a predicted $42.20.

For the full fiscal year, Lyft reported revenue of $2.4 billion, down 35% from $3.6 billion in 2019, with a net loss of $1.8 billion versus $2.6 billion in 2019. As has been the case in previous quarters, Lyft once again declined to provide guidance for the following quarter.

Although the headline figures show Lyft continuing to bleed money — the company has never been profitable — its ability to reduce losses in the year amid a downturn in rider numbers from the coronavirus pandemic is being seen as a positive.

Lyft President John Zimmer told The Wall Street Journal that the company’s bottom line had been buoyed by aggressive cost cuts of $360 million, including furloughing workers, trimming salaries and other operational changes. “We used an incredibly tough year to set us up for long-term growth,” Zimmer noted.

Despite declining to provide guidance, Chief Financial Officer Brian Roberts said on Lyft’s earnings call that the company remained positive about its prospects moving forward. “Based on the improvements we’ve made, there is a chance we can achieve profitability in Q3,” Roberts said. “Obviously, pulling in profitability would require a strong summer rebound.”

Investors liked what they heard as Lyft stock rose nearly 12% in after-hours trading to their highest price since August 2019.

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