Penske Automotive's Q4 Earnings & Revenues Surpass Estimates

Core Insights - Penske Automotive Group (PAG) reported fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings of $3.54 per share, a 2.6% increase year over year, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.37 [1] - The company achieved net sales of $7.72 billion, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7.56 billion, and reflecting a 6.2% increase from the previous year [1] Financial Performance - Gross profit for the quarter rose 6.1% year over year to $1.26 billion, while operating income expanded 25.6% to $333.8 million [2] - Foreign currency exchange positively impacted revenues by $57 million, net income by $1 million, and earnings per share by 1 cent [2] - SG&A costs totaled $886 million, up 6.1% year over year [7] Segment Performance - Retail Automotive segment revenues increased 8.8% year over year to $6.72 billion, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.4 billion [4] - Same-store retail units declined 2% year over year to 102,542, but same-store new-vehicle revenues rose 7.2% to $3.16 billion [3] - Retail Commercial Truck segment revenues decreased 14.5% to $774 million, falling short of the consensus estimate of $968 million [5] - The Commercial Vehicle Distribution and Other segment's revenues increased 18.3% to $224 million, exceeding the estimate of $199 million [6] Shareholder Actions - PAG repurchased 0.4 million shares of common stock for $58.7 million, with $156.8 million of stock repurchase authorization remaining outstanding [8] - The company increased its dividend by 2.5% to $1.22 per share, marking the 17th consecutive quarterly increase [8] Debt and Cash Position - As of December 31, 2024, Penske had cash and cash equivalents of $72.4 million, down from $96.4 million a year earlier [7] - Long-term debt decreased to $1.13 billion from $1.42 billion as of December 31, 2023 [7]