Lithia Motors Q1 Highlights: 4% Topline Growth, Earnings Miss, Dividend Hike & More

Lithia Motors Inc LAD reported first-quarter FY23 sales growth of 4% year-on-year to $6.97 billion, missing the consensus of $7.31 billion.
New vehicle retail revenues increased 7.1% Y/Y, and used vehicle retail revenues fell 0.3%.
Driveway reached more than 2.4 million monthly unique visitors in Q1, and Driveway Finance penetration rate rose to over 14%.
Total vehicle gross profit per unit was $5,585. Gross profit decreased 5.2% Y/Y to $1.2 billion, and the gross margin contracted 170 basis points to 17.4%.
Operating margin was 5.4%, and operating income for the quarter fell 25.2% to $379 million.
Adjusted EPS of $8.44 missed the analyst consensus of $8.85.
Lithia Motors held $299.4 million in cash and equivalents as of March 31, 2023.
The company's Board of Directors increased the dividend by 19% to $0.50 per share, to be paid on May 26, 2023, to shareholders of record on May 12, 2023.
"As we navigate the current environment, we continue to find accretive acquisitions that expand our network, grow DFC, which will increase our profitability in the long-term, and progress toward the goals in our 2025 Plan," said CEO Bryan DeBoer.
Price Action: LAD shares closed higher by 0.26% at $226.45 on Tuesday.