Benzinga | Oct 20, 2021 07:35AM EDT

Lithia Motors Q3 Earnings Top Estimates

* Lithia Motors Inc (NYSE:LAD) reported third-quarter FY21 sales growth of 70.4% year-on-year, to $6.17 billion, beating the analyst consensus of $5.8 billion.

* New vehicle retail revenues increased 53.9% Y/Y, and used vehicle retail revenues rose 90.2%.

* It generated 36,600 unit sales from Lithia e-commerce platforms, 25% of total retail unit sales excluding Driveway.

* Total vehicle gross profit per unit improved 32.7% to $6,175. Gross profit increased 82.5% Y/Y to $1.2 billion and the gross margin expanded 130 basis points to 19.3%.

* The operating margin was 7.7%, and operating income for the quarter rose 100% to $479.5 million.

* Lithia Motors held $137.8 million in cash and equivalents as of September 30, 2021. Net cash provided by operating activities for the nine months totaled $1.9 billion.

* Adjusted EPS of $11.21 beat the analyst consensus of $9.28.

* "Year-to-date we have acquired $6.2 billion in annualized revenue and are pacing ahead of schedule toward our goal of achieving $50 billion in revenue and $50 of earnings per share by 2025," said CEO Bryan DeBoer.

* The company's dividend of $0.35 per share is payable on November 19, 2021, to shareholders of record on November 12, 2021.

* Price action: LAD shares closed higher by 0.08% at $338.71 on Tuesday.