No. of Recommendations: 16
It is annoying that they stop share repurchases when stock is down so much. I guess they will restart when business booms and share prices are at a new high.
It is a shame.
I presume that it's a function of the fact that, all of a sudden, capital has a cost.
They aren't broke, but their cost of financing is up more than they have been able to raise rates they're charging, so they probably want to minimize borrowings.
The fact that gross margin per vehicle has held up shows that they are holding their reputation as a "flow" business:
they don't really care that much about the cost of cars, just how many they can sell.
Volumes are down because of economic weakness (combination of rates and slightly tougher times), but that presumably is just cyclical.
Despite the obvious things like revenue and profits being down, some nice indications.
Good percentage of cars financed, SG&A under control, larger percentage of sales online.
The fall in interest rate margins can't continue for long. At some point they will have to fully pass on the costs to clients.
I guess it's a delicate balance for them as their cost of funding rises--letting unit sales fall or making less on interest.
Rather to my surprise, Mr Market liked the results, up over 10% today.
Jim
