Lithia & Driveway beats Q1 profit estimates on demand for used vehicles

Lithia Motors

29/04/2026 10:40

Overview

US automotive retailer's Q1 revenue up 1%, slightly beating analyst expectations

Adjusted EPS for Q1 fell 7% yr/yr, but beat consensus

Company repurchased $259 mln of shares, or 4% of outstanding shares in Q1

Outlook

Company did not provide specific guidance for the current quarter or full year

Result Drivers

USED VEHICLE GROWTH - Used vehicle revenue increased 4.6% on a same-store basis and used retail gross profit per unit rose 9% sequentially

AFTERSALES PERFORMANCE - Aftersales revenue grew 3.8% and gross profit rose 5.7% on a same-store basis, with gross margin up 100 basis points

FINANCE ORIGINATIONS - Driveway Finance Corporation achieved record originations of $840 mln with an 18.0% penetration rate

Company press release: ID:nGNXgDRgx

Key Details

Metric
Beat/Miss
Actual
Consensus Estimate
Q1 Revenue
Slight Beat*
$9.27 bln
$9.22 bln (11 Analysts)
Q1 Adjusted EPS
Beat
$7.34
$6.83 (12 Analysts)
Q1 EPS
$4.28
Q1 Adjusted Net Income
Beat
$173.30 mln
$158.29 mln (8 Analysts)
Q1 Dividend
$0.57


*Applies to a deviation of less than 1%; not applicable for per-share numbers.

Analyst Coverage

The current average analyst rating on the shares is "buy" and the breakdown of recommendations is 12 "strong buy" or "buy", 4 "hold" and no "sell" or "strong sell"

The average consensus recommendation for the auto vehicles, parts & service retailers peer group is "buy"

Wall Street's median 12-month price target for Lithia Motors Inc is $376.00, about 35.6% above its April 28 closing price of $277.24

The stock recently traded at 8 times the next 12-month earnings vs. a P/E of 9 three months ago

For questions concerning the data in this report, contact Estimates.Support@lseg.com. For any other questions or feedback, contact reuters.support@thomsonreuters.com.

(This story was created using Reuters automation and AI based on LSEG and company data. It was checked and edited by a Reuters journalist prior to publication.)