EZCORP (NASDAQ: EZPW) reported Q2 EPS of $0.17, $0.35 better than the analyst estimate of ($0.18). Revenue for the quarter came in at $184.9 million versus the consensus estimate of $173.1 million.

Chief Executive Officer Jason Kulas stated, “We remain focused on meeting our customers’ short-term cash needs and providing access to affordable pre-owned general merchandise and jewelry, and we believe we have the right people, platform, footprint and cost structure in place to continue to strengthen and grow our core pawn business. Key highlights for the second quarter of fiscal 2021 included GAAP earnings per share of $0.10 and adjusted EPS of $0.17. The adjusted EPS was steady on a year-over-year basis despite lower pawn loans outstanding, pawn service charges and merchandise sales related to COVID-19 and related stimulus program headwinds. Merchandise sales gross profit continued to grow driven by improving inventory turns and rising merchandise margins, and we made further progress on our expense reduction initiatives. Looking ahead, even assuming store-level costs trend higher consistent with increasing transaction activity, we remain well positioned to drive higher operating margins as revenue rebuilds reflecting ongoing cost savings and simplification efforts across the business.

“In the near term, lingering impacts from the second stimulus package as well as an extended tax filing season have continued to temporarily reduce demand for pawn loans in the U.S., and in Latin America we continue to be challenged with constrained traffic, limited operating hours and increased remittances. That said, we remain confident pawn loans outstanding will rebuild given several ongoing initiatives. First, we continue to broaden customer engagement via our digital pawn servicing platform and expanded payment options. Second, our differentiated technology and data analytics capabilities are increasingly driving improving loan-to-value ratios and redemption rates. Third, we remain committed to optimizing team member development, productivity and retention through enhanced training and diversity and inclusion programs.

"Finally, we remain focused on increasingly leveraging our strong balance sheet to fund pawn loans outstanding growth and capitalize on strategic and financially accretive acquisitions to complement de novo store growth. We have opened 8 de novo stores in Latin America so far this year and recently completed the acquisition of 11 stores in the Houston, Texas metropolitan area."

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