No. of Recommendations: 3
I think they could have summed up the quarter on their call pretty quickly by saying “Executing to plan. Just need volume.”
Jeff
I agree they might have said that, but I don't see anywhere where they say just how unit retail sales falling 3.8% and wholesale units falling 8.3% year over year fits in with "executing to plan."
They say they have resumed repurchasing shares, but they only used $0.1b of their $2.26b authorized. With EPS down from last year's $1.16 (after backing out $0.28 from legal settlements) to $0.97 this year, it doesn't seem like a screaming good deal, so I guess I can understand if they are holding off with most of their dry powder. Maybe they'll get better opportunities at a lower price?
Gross profit per unit is steady (at $2347/retail sale and $1064/wholesale sale), and online contribution remains at 14%, but why the drop in volume?
They do say that the second half of the quarter showed some improvement over the first half. And falling interest rates should eventually help them a bit, too. I am still holding a 1% position, on the hope that they can resume the steady growth they were able to produce in the past, just based on their history of performance, even though I don't see how they are going to return to growth. But I don't know how long I'll keep believing in this turnaround story if they keep posting shrinking sales.
DTB
