Sunita Somvanshi
Lime, the world’s largest shared e-scooter and bike-sharing company, reported robust second-quarter results following its July 1st initial public offering, posting a $295 million net profit buoyed partly by accounting gains from the stock market debut. The company’s underlying business generated $304 million in revenue for the quarter, up 24 percent year-over-year.
The profit figure deserves context. A one-time tax benefit of $289 million—generated by accounting adjustments related to the IPO—inflated the bottom line. The company’s operational profitability, measured by adjusted EBITDA, was $84 million, representing a 28 percent profit margin. That metric more accurately reflects the business’s underlying health.
Lime priced its initial public offering at $25 per share on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol LIME, raising $174 million in gross proceeds. After paying down debt, the company netted $155 million in fresh capital. CEO Wayne Ting characterized the timing as validation of the industry’s potential. “Transportation is undergoing significant transformation, including the growth and adoption of micromobility,” Ting said. “Lime is the largest global shared micromobility business.”
The numbers support that claim. Lime operates 407,707 vehicles on average across 230 cities in 29 countries—a fleet that grew 22 percent year-over-year. The company counts 5 million monthly active users, also up 22 percent. In 2025, Lime served 19 million riders, while accumulating more than one billion total trips across all years of operation.
Market share remains concentrated. Globally, Lime controls 27 percent of shared micromobility. In the United States, that share rises to 37 percent, demonstrating dominance in its home market. Those percentages matter because profitability in this industry depends on scale—larger fleets reduce per-vehicle costs.
The IPO proceeded amid an industry reckoning. While Lime went public successfully, other operators faced headwinds. The same month Lime’s stock debuted, Brussels‘ highest court annulled licenses for three major competitors—Bolt, Dott, and Voi—forcing them to remove thousands of vehicles from that market by September. That competitive disruption actually benefits Lime by eliminating rivals and potentially opening new market opportunities.
Lime capitalized on this environment. On July 3rd, five days after its IPO, Lime acquired Neuron Mobility’s Canadian operations, instantly gaining operations in 12 cities and expanding its geographic footprint. CFO Ann Gugino signaled confidence in the strategy, stating, “We expect to deliver another solid quarter of growth and profitability in Q3, and for the full year.”
Looking ahead, Lime provided guidance that projects continued acceleration. For the third quarter, the company expects revenue between $340 million and $360 million, with adjusted EBITDA of $120 million to $130 million. Full-year 2026 guidance ranges between $1.04 billion and $1.10 billion in revenue, with $265 million to $285 million in adjusted EBITDA.
One notable concern tempers the optimism: capital expenditure. Lime spent $75.7 million on new vehicle purchases and infrastructure in the second quarter, compared to $35 million in the prior-year period. Simultaneously, free cash flow turned negative at minus $4.1 million, dropping from positive $52.3 million the previous year. Operating expenses surged 72 percent year-over-year to $116.2 million.
Those trends suggest Lime is aggressively expanding operations and absorbing short-term cash burn to build market position—a strategy that works only if the company can eventually convert larger scale into sustained profitability. Investors appear to be betting it will succeed, but the quarterly guidance suggests the market has growth on its mind more than immediate profits.
