Yahoo Finance Asbury's (ABG) Q1 Earnings Beat, Sales Miss, Decline Y/Y
Asbury Automotive Group ABG reported first-quarter 2023 adjusted earnings of $8.37 per share, which decreased 19% year over year. Earnings however topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7.94 per share. This beat can be primarily attributed to higher-than-expected revenues and gross profit from the new-vehicle unit. In the reported quarter, revenues amounted to $3,582.3 million, down 8% year over year. The top line also fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3,705 million.
Asbury currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. Quote
Segment Details
In the quarter, new-vehicle revenues declined 5% year over year to $1,767.7 million but beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,731 million. Gross profit from the segment came in at $178.9 million, contracting 20% from the prior-year quarter but topping the consensus mark of $171 million.
Used-vehicle revenues slid 17% from the year-ago figure to $1,126.5 million and missed the consensus mark of $1,238 million. Gross profit from the segment came in at $77 million, which fell 22% but surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $68 million.
Net revenues in the finance and insurance business amounted to $172.5 million, down 15% from the year-ago quarter and in line with the consensus mark. Gross profit was $158.2 million, declining 18% year over year and missing the consensus estimate of $167 million.
Revenues from the parts and service business rose 3% from the prior-year quarter to $515.6 million but missed the consensus mark of $526 million. Gross profit from this segment came in at $282.1 million, inching up 2% year over year but missing the consensus estimate of $299 million.
Other Tidbits
Adjusted selling, general & administrative (SG&A) expenses as a percentage of gross profit rose to 57.9%, marking an increase of 37 basis points year over year. Asbury sold nearly 10,800 vehicles, an uptick of 28% from the fourth quarter of 2022, through the “end-to-end” online sales platform, Clicklane.
As of Mar 31, 2023, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $296.8 million, up from $235.3 million on Dec 31, 2022. It had long-term debt of $3,277.9 million as of Mar 31, 2023, down from $3,301.2 million on Dec 31, 2022.
During the quarter under review, Asbury repurchased approximately 110,000 shares for nearly $21 million. On Apr 24, 2023, Asbury had $184 million share repurchase authorization remaining.
Key Releases From the Auto Space
Tesla TSLA reported first-quarter 2023 earnings of 85 cents per share, down from the year-ago figure of $1.07 but outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 83 cents. This marked an earnings beat for the electric vehicle behemoth for the ninth time in a row. Higher-than-expected revenues from its Energy Generation/Storage and Services/Other segments resulted in this outperformance.
Total revenues came in at $23,329 million, witnessing year-over-year growth of 24%. However, the top line missed the consensus mark of $23,472 million. Tesla reported an overall gross margin of 19.3% for the reported quarter. The operating margin came in at 11.4%. Management stuck to its target of around 50% growth in deliveries in the foreseeable future. For 2023, it expects deliveries to reach 1.8 million units.
General Motors GM reported first-quarter 2023 adjusted earnings of $2.21 per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.64. Higher-than-expected operating profits from GMNA, GMI and Financial segments led to the outperformance. The bottom line also rose from the year-ago quarter’s earnings of $2.09 per share.
Revenues of $39,985 million beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $38,677.9 million and increased from $35,979 million recorded in the year-ago period. However, the company recorded an adjusted EBIT of $3,803 million, lower than $4,044 million in the prior-year quarter. The automaker’s share in the GM market was 8.6% in the reported quarter, down from the year-ago quarter’s 9%.
PACCAR’s PCAR earnings of $2.25 per share for first-quarter 2023 beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.82 and rocketed 95.6% from the year-ago figure. Higher-than-expected pretax income from Trucks, Parts and Financial Services segments resulted in the outperformance. Consolidated revenues (including trucks and financial services) came in at $8,473.3 billion, up from $6,472.6 million recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2022.
PACCAR’s cash and marketable debt securities amounted to $5,922.2 million as of Mar 31, 2023, compared with $6,158.9 million on Dec 31, 2022. The company paid cash dividends of 25 cents per share during the reported quarter. Capex and R&D expenses for 2023 are envisioned in the band of $600-$650 million and $380-$420 million, respectively.
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