Lyft’s Extra Zero Puts Focus on Corporate Controls: Explained

It was a simple “clerical error,” Lyft Inc. said.

But that typo—an inadvertent zero added to one of the rideshare company’s projected profit measures—triggered a temporary surge in Lyft’s stock price and also questions about corporate controls and the vetting of real-time data that investors rely upon.

Here’s a look at what happened, the safeguards companies often put in place to prevent such mistakes, and any legal fallout Lyft might face.

Lyft did not respond to questions about its reporting oversight or what steps it would take to prevent similar mistakes in the future. In a statement, the ride-hailing platform ...