Lithia Motors Q4 Earnings Miss Estimates

Lithia Motors Inc LAD reported fourth-quarter FY22 sales growth of 10.8% year-on-year to $6.99 billion, missing the consensus of $7.07 billion.
New vehicle retail revenues increased 10.6% Y/Y, and used vehicle retail revenues rose 10.4%.
Driveway reached more than 2 million monthly visitors in Q4, and Driveway Finance penetration rate rose to over 13%.
Total vehicle gross profit per unit was $5,691 versus 6,882 a year ago. Gross profit decreased 2.8% Y/Y to $1.2 billion, and the gross margin contracted 240 basis points to 17.3%.
Operating margin was 5.7%, and operating income for the quarter fell 20.2% to $399.9 million.
Adjusted EPS of $9.05 missed the analyst consensus of $10.10.
Lithia Motors held $246.7 million in cash and equivalents as of Dec. 31, 2022.
The company's dividend of $0.42 per share, is payable on Mar. 24, 2023, to shareholders of record on Mar. 10, 2023.
Under the current share repurchase authorization, approximately $501 million remains available.
Price Action: LAD shares closed higher by 1.91% at $281.30 on Tuesday.

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