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Penske Q3 Earnings Miss Expectations, Revenues Rise Y/Y

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Penske Automotive Group (PAG - Free Report) reported third-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings of $3.36 per share, which decreased 13.8% year over year and missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.48. Lower-than-expected results from the Retail Automotive segment contributed to the underperformance. The company registered net sales of $7.59 billion, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7.77 billion. The top line rose 2% from the year-ago quarter's level.

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Penske’s gross profit in the reported quarter rose 1.9% on a year-over-year basis to $1.24 billion. The operating income contracted 4.3% to $317.4 million. Foreign currency transactions positively impacted revenues, net income and earnings per share (EPS) by $69 million, $1.7 million and 3 cents, respectively.

In the reported quarter, same-store retail units declined 8.5% year over year to 100,015. Within the Retail Automotive segment, same-store new-vehicle revenues were down 1.3% to $2.69 billion. Same-store used-vehicle revenues decreased 11.5% to $1.97 billion.

Segmental Performance

In the reported period, revenues in the Retail Automotive segment came in at $6.34 billion, which remained flat from the year-ago quarter's level. Our estimate was $6.62 billion. Total new and used vehicle deliveries fell 6% year over year to 107,261 units. Gross profit of $1.04 billion rose 1.6% year over year but lagged our estimate of $1.08 billion.

Revenues in the Retail Commercial Truck segment increased 10.2% to $1.06 billion and outpaced our estimate of $975.4 million. Gross profit in the segment was $157.1 million, up from $155.4 million reported in the year-earlier quarter. Our expectation was $162 million.

The Commercial Vehicle Distribution and Other segment’s revenues in the reported quarter increased 18.4% to $186.8 million and surpassed our estimate of $169.3 million. Gross profit came in at $44.6 million, which increased from $39.7 million reported in the year-ago period and beat our estimate of $43.7 million.

Financial Tidbits

In the quarter under review, SG&A costs totaled $885.2 million, up 3.7% year over year. As of Sept. 30, 2024, Penske had cash and cash equivalents of $91.9 million, down from $96.4 million as of Dec. 31, 2023. The long-term debt amounted to $1.13 billion, down from $1.42 billion as of Dec. 31, 2023.

During the quarter under discussion, PAG repurchased 0.4 million shares of common stock for $58.1 million. As of Sept. 30, 2024, $157.4 million of stock repurchase authorization remained outstanding.

Penske increased dividend by 11% to $1.19 per share, to be paid out on Dec. 3, 2024, to shareholders of record as of Nov. 15, 2024. This marked the 16th consecutive quarterly increase in the payout.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

PAG currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the auto space are REE Automotive Ltd. (REE - Free Report) , CytoDyn Inc. (CYDY - Free Report) and BYD Company Limited (BYDDY - Free Report) . While REE and CYDY sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) each, BYDDY carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for REE’s 2024 earnings suggests year-over-year growth of 64.37%. EPS estimates for 2024 and 2025 have improved $2.98 and $2.75, respectively, in the past 30 days.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CYD’s 2024 sales and earnings suggests year-over-year growth of 19.37% and 43.43%, respectively. EPS estimates for 2024 have improved by 35 cents in the past 60 days.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BYDDY’s 2024 sales and earnings suggests year-over-year growth of 21.88% and 19.52%, respectively. EPS estimates for 2024 and 2025 have improved by 7 cents and 13 cents, respectively, in the past 30 days.

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