** Shares of ride-hailing firms Uber UBER.N and Lyft LYFT.O fall 8.1% and 7.6% to $66.30 and $15.94, respectively

** Alphabet's Waymo GOOGL.O said it will expand its autonomous ride-hailing services to Miami, Florida

** Waymo aims to launch services to riders in 2026, offering ride-hailing through the Waymo One app

** "Waymo's release of about 300 cars in San Francisco resulted in a drop in Lyft and Uber traffic for drivers," said Michael Ashley Schulman, chief investment officer at Running Point Capital, adding that "investors and analysts are extrapolating a similar traffic drop-off for other large metropolitan areas"

** Waymo's expansion plan "proves that it is closer to being not only real competition to the Uber and Lyft fleet of drivers, but starting to eat their lunch" — Jay Woods, chief global strategist at Freedom Capital Markets

** Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist for investment advisory firm Carson Group, says as automated cars continue to roll out, it "will be a big thorn in the side of more traditional ride-sharing platforms"

** YTD, UBER stock up ~9%, LYFT up ~7%

(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru)

((HarshitaMary.Varghese@thomsonreuters.com))