Lithia Motors Q3 Earnings Miss Estimates

Lithia Motors Inc (NYSE:LAD) reported third-quarter FY22 sales growth of 18.2% year-on-year to $7.29 billion, missing the consensus of $7.46 billion.
New vehicle retail revenues increased 14.1% Y/Y, and used vehicle retail revenues rose 18.6%.
Driveway reached 2 million monthly visitors in Q3 and a 327% increase in transactions versus Q3 2021.
Vehicle gross profit per unit was $6,139. Gross profit increased 10.5% Y/Y to $1.31 billion, and the gross margin contracted 130 basis points to 18%.
The operating margin was 7.2%, and operating income for the quarter rose 9.1% to $523.1 million.
Adjusted EPS of $11.08 missed the analyst consensus of $12.11.
Lithia Motors held $233 million in cash and equivalents as of September 30, 2022.
The Board of Directors approved a dividend of $0.42 per share, payable on November 18, 2022, to shareholders of record on November 11, 2022.
Under the current share repurchase authorization, approximately $77 remains available.
Price Action: LAD shares are trading 2.13% lower at $202.94 in the pre-market on Wednesday.