Asbury's New 2025 Targets Would More Than Quadruple Revenue From 2020 Levels

Asbury’s first quarter was an all-time record with adjusted diluted EPS of $9.27 beating the Refinitiv consensus of $8.94. Same-store revenue grew 5% year over year and a 20% decline in same-store new vehicle unit volume was easily offset by 67% gross profit dollar growth in new vehicles and 23% overall on a same-store basis. This rise in gross profit dollars came thanks to new vehicle gross profit dollars per unit up 109% to $5,750 as well as from strong double-digit growth in nearly all other segments. The chip shortage will likely keep inventory very lean for the rest of 2022 and CEO David Hult does not expect inventory to normalize until next year. Industry levels have improved, with Wards data putting end of March inventory at its highest level since last summer, but the vast majority of whatever units come to a dealer are already sold, which makes restocking difficult. We expect similar results for the rest of 2022.