Lithia Motors Q2 Highlights: Earnings Beat, 22% New Unit Growth, Dividend & More

Lithia Motors Inc LAD reported second-quarter FY23 sales growth of 12% year-on-year to $8.11 billion, beating the analyst consensus of $7.92 billion.

New vehicle retail revenues increased 23.5% Y/Y, and used vehicle retail revenues fell 1.7%.

Driveway averaged more than 2.7 million monthly unique visitors and Driveway Finance originated $558 million in loans in Q2.

Total vehicle gross profit per unit was $5,710. Gross profit increased 2.5% Y/Y to $1.38 billion, and the gross margin contracted 160 basis points to 17.1%.

Operating margin was 5.9%, and operating income for the quarter fell 8.3% to $475.8 million.

Adjusted EPS of $10.91 beat the analyst consensus of $9.26.

Lithia Motors held $199.7 million in cash and equivalents as of June 30, 2023. Inventories at the end of Q2 totaled $4.3 billion, a 25% increase Y/Y.

The company's Board of Directors approved a dividend of $0.50 per share, to be paid on August 25, 2023, to shareholders of record on August 11, 2023.

"We see DFC and our omnichannel footprint enhancing our offering and driving us towards our targets in the 2025 Plan and beyond," said Bryan DeBoer, Lithia & Driveway, President and CEO.

Price Action: LAD shares closed lower by 0.96% at $292.37 on Tuesday.