Lithia Motors (LAD) Q2 Earnings: Taking a Look at Key Metrics Versus Estimates

While investors closely watch year-over-year changes in headline numbers -- revenue and earnings -- and how they compare to Wall Street expectations to determine their next course of action, some key metrics always provide a better insight into a company's underlying performance.

Since these metrics play a crucial role in driving the top- and bottom-line numbers, comparing them with the year-ago numbers and what analysts estimated about them helps investors better project a stock's price performance.

Here is how Lithia Motors performed in the just reported quarter in terms of the metrics most widely monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts:

• Unit sales - New vehicle: 104,089 compared to the 98,045 average estimate based on three analysts.
• Unit sales - Used vehicle retail: 106,114 versus 113,416 estimated by three analysts on average.
• Average selling price - New vehicle: $47,156.00 versus the three-analyst average estimate of $47,689.69.
• Average selling price - Used vehicle retail: $29,593.00 versus the three-analyst average estimate of $29,481.20.
• Revenues- Finance and insurance: $366.4 million versus $379.46 million estimated by four analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a -2% change.
• Revenues- Used vehicle: $3.53 billion versus $3.42 billion estimated by four analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a +14% change.
• Revenues- New vehicle: $4.83 billion versus the four-analyst average estimate of $4.74 billion. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +7.4%.
• Revenues- Aftersales: $1.07 billion versus $1.1 billion estimated by four analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a +4.3% change.
• Same Store Operating- Revenues- Finance and insurance: $350.3 million versus $358.96 million estimated by two analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a -4.3% change.
• Same Store Operating- Revenues- Used vehicle: $3.32 billion compared to the $3.11 billion average estimate based on two analysts. The reported number represents a change of +9.8% year over year.
• Same Store Operating- Revenues- New vehicle: $4.55 billion versus the two-analyst average estimate of $4.49 billion. The reported number represents a year-over-year change of +3.8%.
• Same Store Operating- Revenues- Aftersales: $1.01 billion versus $1.05 billion estimated by two analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a +1.5% change.

View all Key Company Metrics for Lithia Motors here>>>

Shares of Lithia Motors have returned +23.4% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +1.9% change. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), indicating that it could perform in line with the broader market in the near term.

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