Lithia Motors (LAD) Tops Q4 Earnings and Revenue Estimates

Core Insights - Lithia Motors (LAD) reported quarterly earnings of $7.79 per share, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate of$7.01 per share, but down from $8.24 per share a year ago, representing an earnings surprise of 11.13$9.22 billion for the quarter ended December 2024, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.62% and up from $7.67 billion year-over-year [2] - Lithia Motors has outperformed consensus EPS estimates three times in the last four quarters and has also topped revenue estimates three times during the same period [2] Earnings Outlook - The immediate price movement of Lithia Motors' stock will largely depend on management's commentary during the earnings call and future earnings expectations [3] - The current consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming quarter is$8.05 on revenues of $8.98 billion, while for the current fiscal year, the estimate is$34.65 on revenues of $38.53 billion [7] Industry Context - The Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry, to which Lithia Motors belongs, is currently ranked in the top 29% of over 250 Zacks industries, indicating a favorable outlook compared to the bottom 50% [8] - Empirical research suggests a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions, which can be tracked by investors [5]