Subject: Re: FKA, still: KMX
any thoughts after today's earnings report?

I have not listened to the call yet but the numbers were abysmal.
Used car unit sales down -1%.
Gross profit per unit the lowest since Q1 2022.
They also suspended buybacks while shares remain at historical lows but they did manage to drop the share count almost -7.5% last year which is the largest one year reduction I see in my 25yrs of data.
Wholesale volumes were a minor bright spot as was Other gross profit coming in at an all time high.
All of that seems to point to them still not being able to source the quantity of 0-4yr old cars that have been the key to their business model. They keep investing in additional stores but per store used sales gross has dropped every year except for the one time inflation bump in 2021. Per store performance this last year was on par for the worst since the global financial crisis in 2008, and that is with no adjustment for inflation.
I know I sound like a broken record but they need to increase unit volumes per store by 700-1000 units per year. I'm starting to think they simply can't source the inventory with the growth in the large national dealer organizations that have grown in size over the last decade. Perhaps their moat has dried up.

Jeff