Lithia Motors (LAD) Declares Preliminary Results For Q2

Lithia Motors Inc. (NYSE:LAD) has announced preliminary results for the second quarter, ended Jun 30, 2017.

The company expects net income to be in the range of $51.5-$53 million or $2.05-$2.11 per share in the second quarter. In the prior-year quarter, the company had reported a net income of $51.4 million or $2.01 per share. Also, the adjusted net income for the second quarter is forecast to be in the range of $55.1-$56.6 million or $2.20-$2.26 per share, in contrast to $50.2 million or $1.96 per share, recorded in the year-ago quarter.

Revenues for the second quarter are expected to be within the range of $2,425-$2,475 million in comparison to the prior-year figure of $2,133 million.

Lithia Motors estimates an increase of 2.3-2.6% in the total same store sales. New vehicle sales are expected to rise in the band of 0.5-0.8%, whereas the used vehicle sales are forecast to expand in the range of 3.8-4.1%.

Revenues from service body and parts same store are expected to expand in the band of 6.8-7.1%, whereas same store finance and insurance (F&I) per unit gross profit is estimated in the range of $1,330-$1,355.

As notified earlier, the company is also launching $300 million senior notes due 2025, in a private offering. The company plans to use the proceeds from the offering for capital expenditures, repaying debts and funding new buyouts.

Lithia Motors is gaining from its business expansion through acquisitions and store openings. In May 2017, Lithia Motors had taken over Baierl Auto Group in Pittsburgh, PA. Previously in 2016, the company had acquired a total of 15 stores.

Price Performance

Lithia Motors has outperformed the Zacks categorized Retail/Wholesale Auto/Truck industry in the last three months. During the period, the stock has rallied 21.4% while the industry has witnessed a 4% increase.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Lithia Motors currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the auto space are Allison Transmission Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ALSN) , Peugeot SA (OTC:PUGOY) and Daimler AG (OTC:DDAIF) , all sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Expected long-term growth rate for Allison Transmission Holdings, Peugeot and Daimler are 11%, 12.3% and 2.8%, respectively.

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