Copart's (CPRT) Earnings & Revenues Beat Estimates In Q1

Copart, Inc. (NASDAQ:CPRT) posted adjusted earnings per share (“EPS”) of 57 cents for first-quarter (ended Oct 31, 2016) fiscal 2017, up from 41 cents in the corresponding quarter of fiscal 2016. Moreover, EPS surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 56 cents.

Earnings for the reported quarter have been adjusted for changes in foreign currency exchange rates and certain tax benefits, along with payroll taxes related to accounting for stock option exercises. Including these one-time items, earnings for the reported quarter amounted to $1.41 per share. Net income (on a reported basis) was $167.3 million, up 218% year over year.

Copart’s revenues increased 19.8% to $346 million in the reported quarter. Further, the figure outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $331 million. Service revenues went up 22.4% to $307.1 million, while revenues from vehicle sales grew 2.8% to $38.9 million.

Gross margin improved 20.2% to $145.3 million (42.0% of sales) in the reported quarter from $120.9 million (41.8% of sales) a year ago. Operating expenses increased to $241.2 million from $202.6 million in the year-ago quarter.

Operating income rose to $104.8 million from $86.2 million in first-quarter fiscal 2016.

Copart’s shares fell 4.5% to close at $53.73 on Nov 22.

Financial Details

Copart had cash and cash equivalents of $168.4 million as of Oct 31, 2016, compared with $155.8 million as of Jul 31, 2016. Total debt and capital lease obligations amounted to $744.2 million as of Oct 31, 2016, compared with $640.5 million as of Jul 31, 2016.

During the first quarter of fiscal 2017, Copart generated net cash flow of $74.3 million from operations, compared with $76.8 million in the same period a year ago. Capital spending was $38.2 million, compared with $20.2 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2016.

Zacks Rank

Copart is a prominent player in online auctions and vehicle remarketing services in the U.S., Canada, U.K., UAE, Bahrain, India, Sultanate of Oman, Spain, Brazil, Germany, and the Republic of Ireland.

The company, with a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), provides a wide range of remarketing services to process and sell salvage and clean title vehicles. This is done mainly over the Internet, through its Virtual Bidding Third Generation (VB3) Internet auction-style sales technology.

Some better-ranked auto stocks include Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN) , America's Car-Mart Inc. (NASDAQ:CRMT) and Rush Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUSHA) .

Allison Transmission, sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), has a long-term growth rate projection of 11%.

America's Car-Mart has witnessed positive estimate revisions over the last seven days. The company sports a Zacks Rank #1. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Rush Enterprises, carrying a Zacks Rank #2, has a long-term expected growth rate of 15%.

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