Sonic Automotive (SAH) Tops Q4 EPS by 4c

Sonic Automotive (NYSE: SAH) reported Q4 EPS of $0.63, $0.04 better than the analyst estimate of $0.59. Revenue for the quarter came in at $2.47 billion versus the consensus estimate of $2.48 billion.

• Record Q4 new retail units of 35,228, up 1.4% over the prior year quarter
• Record Q4 pre-owned units and gross profit of 28,220 and $38.8 million, respectively

2016 Outlook

B. Scott Smith, the Company's Chief Executive Officer, noted, "I am very pleased with the performance of our team in the fourth quarter and the year. Subsequent to December 31, 2015, market news and expectations related to the retail automotive sector created pressure on public company valuations. As a result, our Board of Directors increased our authorization to repurchase shares by $100.0 million. During the first quarter of 2016, we repurchased approximately 4.0 million shares, roughly 7.9% of outstanding shares as of December 31, 2015, for approximately $72.0 million.

We expect 2016 to continue to be favorable to dealers and anticipate new vehicle industry volume to be between 17.3 million and 17.6 million units, but expect new vehicle GPU pressure to continue. We project diluted earnings per share from continuing operations for 2016 to be between $2.07 and $2.17 per share. This range includes the effect of projected EchoPark® results and expansion. We are projecting a loss related to EchoPark® of between $0.21 and $0.23 per diluted share. We will have additional comments on our 2016 outlook in our earnings call later today."

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Sonic Automotive (SAH) click here.

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