Sonic Automotive (SAH) Q3 Earnings Lag Estimates

Core Insights - Sonic Automotive reported quarterly earnings of $1.41 per share, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.82 per share, but showing an increase from $1.26 per share a year ago, resulting in an earnings surprise of -22.53% [1] - The company achieved revenues of $3.97 billion for the quarter ended September 2025, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 8.18% and up from $3.49 billion year-over-year [2] - Sonic Automotive shares have increased approximately 22.9% year-to-date, outperforming the S&P 500's gain of 13.9% [3] Earnings Outlook - The current consensus EPS estimate for the upcoming quarter is $1.79 on revenues of $3.84 billion, and for the current fiscal year, it is $7.21 on revenues of $14.82 billion [7] - The estimate revisions trend for Sonic Automotive was mixed prior to the earnings release, resulting in a Zacks Rank 3 (Hold) for the stock, indicating expected performance in line with the market [6] Industry Context - The Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry is currently ranked in the bottom 24% of over 250 Zacks industries, suggesting potential challenges for stocks within this sector [8] - Group 1 Automotive, another company in the same industry, is expected to report quarterly earnings of $10.64 per share, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 7.5%, with revenues anticipated to be $5.63 billion, up 7.8% from the previous year [9][10]