Lithia Motors LAD reported first-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share of $7.66, which improved from the prior-year quarter’s $6.11 but missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7.77. The auto retailer clocked revenues of $9.18 billion, which increased 7.3% year over year but lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $9.33 billion.

Lithia Motors, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Lithia Motors, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Lithia Motors, Inc. Quote

Segmental Performance

New vehicle retail revenues increased 9.1% year over year to $4.38 billion and came in line with our estimate. New vehicle units sold rose 7.4% from the prior-year quarter’s levels to 91,990 units, missing our estimate of 93,776 units. The ASP of new vehicle retail increased to $47,616 from $46,848 reported in the prior-year quarter. Our estimate was $46,744. The gross margin in this segment contracted 110 basis points (bps) to 6.3% amid the high cost of sales, which flared up 10.3% year over year to $4.1 billion.

Used vehicle retail revenues rose 4.2% year over year to $2.92 billion and surpassed our estimate of $2.76 billion. A higher-than-anticipated number of units sold and ASP resulted in outperformance. The used-vehicle retail units sold rose 4.8% from the year-ago quarter to 107,326 units and beat our expectation of 102,615 units. The ASP of used vehicle retail was $27,198, down 0.5% year over year. Our estimate was $26,895. The gross margin in the segment remained flat at 6.5%.

Revenues from used vehicle wholesale fell 2% to $331 million and missed our estimate of $531.9 million. The company’s finance and insurance revenues rose 7% to $364.3 million and topped our estimate of $348 million. Revenues from aftersales were $979.1 million, which rose 7.3% year over year and surpassed our estimate of $978.7 million. Revenues from fleet and others were $204.6 million, which jumped 31.3% year over year and beat our expectation of $180.9 million.

Same-store new vehicle revenues increased 5.7% year over year, while same-store used vehicle retail sales fell 0.9%. Same-store revenues from finance and insurance rose 3.4%, while those of the aftersales unit rose 2.4%.

(Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.)

Financial Tidbits

Cost of sales jumped 7.5% year over year in first-quarter 2024. SG&A expenses were $952.7 million. Adjusted SG&A, as a percentage of gross profit, was 68.2%, decreasing from the prior-year quarter’s 69.4%. Pretax and net profit margins improved from the year-ago levels.

The company hiked its quarterly dividend by 4% to 55 cents, to be paid on May 23, 2025, to its shareholders of record as of May 9, 2025. In first-quarter 2025, LAD has repurchased nearly 403,000 shares at an average price of $326. Currently, Lithia has approximately $669.2 million shares remaining under its buyback authorization.

Lithia had cash/cash equivalents/restricted cash of $430.3 million as of March 31, 2025, up from $402.2 million as of Dec. 31, 2024. Long-term debt was $5.9 billion as of March 31, 2025, down from $6.1 billion as of Dec. 31, 2024.

LAD’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Lithia carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present.

Some better-ranked stocks in the auto space are Standard Motor Products, Inc. SMP, Advance Auto Parts, Inc. AAP and Carvana Co. CVNA. While SMP sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), AAP & CVNA carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) each at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SMP’s fiscal 2025 sales and earnings indicates year-over-year growth of 16.61% and 11.07%, respectively. EPS estimates for fiscal 2025 have improved 9 cents in the past 60 days. EPS estimates for 2026 have improved a penny in the past 30 days.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AAP’s 2025 earnings implies year-over-year growth of 644.83%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CVNA’s 2025 sales and earnings indicates year-over-year growth of 23.98% and 125.16%, respectively. EPS estimates for 2025 and 2026 have improved 10 cents and 11 cents, respectively, in the past seven days.

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