Feb 11 (Reuters) - Lyft ( LYFT ) forecast

current-quarter gross bookings below estimates on Tuesday, as

its jostles for more riders with larger rival Uber Technologies ( UBER )

, while wildfires and extreme weather events disrupted

its business in some key markets.

Lyft ( LYFT ) said it was expecting gross bookings between $4.05

billion and $4.20 billion in the first quarter, below estimates

of $4.26 billion.

Uber ( UBER ) also projected bookings below estimates for the same

period last week.

Lyft ( LYFT ) is locked in fierce competition with Uber ( UBER ) to attract

riders, prompting it to match prices with the larger rival to

grab more market share.

"Our strategy is this: we price competitively and reliably,

and we compete on service ... It's working and we are going to

stick with it," CEO David Risher told Reuters.

He added that competitive pricing had helped Lyft ( LYFT ) hit

all-time highs in rides and driver hours every quarter.

The company has been boosting its efforts to expand its

presence in the robotaxi space by partnering with several

companies in the industry.

On Monday, Lyft ( LYFT ) said it would partner with Japanese

conglomerate Marubeni ( MARUF ) to roll out robotaxis with

Mobileye hardware on its platform as early as 2026.

Lyft's ( LYFT ) December-quarter revenue was at a record high, rising

26.6% to $1.55 billion, and was in line with the estimates of

$1.56 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.

The company also recorded its first full year of positive

free cash flow and profit in 2024.

It forecast current-quarter adjusted core earnings of about

$90 million to $95 million, the midpoint for which is slightly

below expectations of $92.9 million.

The company's adjusted core earnings of $112.8 million in

the fourth quarter beat expectations of $104.1 million.

(Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil

D'Silva)