Sonic Automotive Inc

NYSE:SAH

Earnings Call Analysis

Strong EchoPark Performance and Strategic Adjustments Amid Challenges

Sonic Automotive witnessed a second consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA for EchoPark, achieving $9 million despite a 3% decline in retail unit sales. Excluding closed stores, retail unit sales volume surged by 23% on a same-store basis. Revenue for EchoPark fell by 14% to $517 million, but gross profit skyrocketed by 91% to $51 million due to better inventory allocation and enhanced profit per unit. Despite a software outage impacting operations, Sonic maintained strong liquidity with $885 million available and declared a dividend of $0.30 per share. Powersports segment also showed promising growth with $39.6 million in revenue. The company remains optimistic about long-term EchoPark growth.

Strong Performance Despite Challenges

In the second quarter of 2024, Sonic Automotive reported a resilient performance despite facing operational disruptions due to a CDK software outage. The adjusted earnings per share (EPS) stood at $1.47, down 20% from the previous year, largely impacted by this outage, which affected sales and income potential. Before the outage, the company was on track for strong performance, reflecting the strength of its diversified model amid shifting market dynamics. EPS was negatively affected by approximately $0.64 as a result of the outage.

EchoPark Segment Growth and Challenges

Sonic's EchoPark segment reported revenues of $517 million, down 14% year-over-year, yet gross profit surged by 91% to $51 million. The adjusted EBITDA in this segment reached a record $9 million, attributed to improved inventory management and store operations. Retail unit sales fell by 3% year-over-year but improved significantly on a same-store basis, showing a 23% increase. The company remains confident in EchoPark's long-term potential, especially as used vehicle market conditions are projected to improve.

Franchise Dealership Trends

Sonic's franchise dealership operations experienced a slight decline in new vehicle gross profit per unit, moderating to $3,590 per unit. This is expected to drop to around $3,000 by the end of 2024 due to inventory dynamics and consumer demand fluctuations. However, the ongoing collaboration with manufacturer partners aims to stabilize inventory levels and protect profit margins.

Operational Efficiencies and Future Outlook for Powersports

In the Powersports segment, Sonic recorded $39.6 million in revenues and $10.7 million in gross profit, with adjusted EBITDA at $2.3 million. Despite a conservative expansion strategy, the company anticipates significant growth opportunities in the Powersports market. Forthcoming operational synergies and refined selling strategies are expected to enhance performance in this segment.

Encouraging Consumer Trends and Market Position

The overall consumer demand has shown positive trends, particularly in Powersports, with the seasonal selling season ramping up effectively. Sonic's diversified business model allows for flexibility against traditional franchise challenges, and the company's strong customer satisfaction scores support its competitive positioning.

Financial Health and Shareholder Returns

Sonic Automotive ended the quarter with $885 million in liquidity, maintaining a robust financial posture despite short-term operational hitches. The company's Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.30 per share, affirming its commitment to returning value to shareholders. Management underscores a disciplined approach to capital deployment while positioning for future growth across segments.

Strategic Positioning for Continued Growth

In summary, while the second quarter presented hurdles, Sonic Automotive's diverse portfolio helps to mitigate risks and drive long-term value. They plan to harness improving market conditions in the used vehicle sector and capitalize on new vehicle inventory dynamics while continuing to adapt their strategies for sustained growth.

Earnings Call Transcript 2024-Q2

[Operator]

good morning, and welcome to the Sonic Automotive Second Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. This conference call is being recorded today, Monday, August 5, 2024. Presentation materials, which accompany management's discussion on the conference call can be accessed at the company's website at ir.sonicautomotive.com At this time, I would like to refer to the safe harbor statement under the Private Securities and Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

During this conference call, management may discuss financial projections, information or expectations about the company's products or market or otherwise make statements about the future. Such statements are forward-looking and subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made.

These risks and uncertainties are detailed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, management may discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures as defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Please refer to the non-GAAP reconciliation tables in the company's current report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier today.

I would now like to introduce Mr. David Smith, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sonic Automotive. Mr. Smith, you may begin your conference.

[David Smith, executive]

Thank you very much, and good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Sonic Automotive Second Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. Again, I'm David Smith, the company's Chairman and CEO. Joining me on the call today is our President, Jeff Dodick, our CFO, Heath Byrd, our EchoPark Chief Operating Officer, Tim Keen; and our Vice President of Investor Relations, Mr. Danny Wyle. .

We would like to open the call by sincerely thanking our amazing teammates for delivering a world-class guest experience for our customers. Our EchoPark automotive teammates achieved the top spot as the #1 preowned automotive dealer and guest satisfaction ranked by Reputation.com. And our Sonic Automotive franchise teammates have achieved among the highest customer satisfaction scores in our industry and in our company's history. Our teammates are truly living our Sonic purpose to deliver an experience for our guests and our teammates that fulfills dreams, enriches lives and delivers happiness.

We believe our strong relationship with our teammates, our manufacturer and lending partners and our guests are key to our future success. And as always, I would like to thank them all for their support and loyalty to the Sonic Automotive team. We remain focused on our ability to adapt to changing market dynamics in the near term while positioning Sonic to achieve our long-term strategic goals.

I'm pleased to report that we continue to make great progress in our EchoPark segment performance in the second quarter with record second quarter adjusted EBITDA that outpaced our previous projections and sets the stage for continued growth in the second half of 2024 and beyond.

Overall, the Sonic Automotive team continued to execute at a high level despite operational challenges in the last 12 days of the second quarter as a result of the previously announced CDK software outage. As of today, Sonic's access to this information systems provided by CDK has been restored. However, we continued to experience operational disruptions throughout July related to the functionality of certain CDK customer lead applications, inventory management applications and related third-party applications integrations with CDK.

As a result of the business disruption caused by the CDK outage, we estimate our second quarter GAAP income before taxes was negatively impacted by approximately $30 million or $0.64 in diluted earnings per share, which includes approximately $11.6 million or $0.25 in EPS related to excess compensation paid to teammates who had reduced income potential due to the CDK outage. Second quarter EPS was $1.18 per share on a reported basis and excluding the effect of certain charges as detailed in our press release this morning. Adjusted EPS was $1.47 per share, a 20% decrease year-over-year due to the effects of the CDK outage on our second quarter financial results.

Prior to the CDK outage, we were tracking to have another great quarter of operating performance and financial results, and I'm confident that our team will continue to execute at a high level moving forward. Turning now to second quarter franchise dealership trends. We continued to see expansion of new vehicle inventory levels across our brand portfolio, ending the quarter with a 59-day supply of inventory up from 50 days at the end of the first quarter.

This increase was driven in part by a slower sales rate in the last 12 days of the quarter as well as certain models that were subject to [indiscernible] sale order from the manufacturer. The rate of same-store new vehicle gross profit per unit decline moderated somewhat in the quarter to $3,590 per unit. We expect this decline in new vehicle GPUs to continue throughout 2024 and exiting the fourth quarter in the low $3,000 range, but we continue to believe that the new normal level of new vehicle GPU will remain structurally higher than it was pre-pandemic, normalizing around $2,500 to $3,000 per unit range in 2025.

Additionally, our team continues to work closely with our manufacturer partners to manage new vehicle inventory levels and better align powertrain options with evolving consumer demand, which should benefit inventory day supply, floor plan interest costs and new vehicle GPU. In the used vehicle market, wholesale auction prices for 3-year-old vehicles decreased 5% during the second quarter. While our franchise dealerships average retail used pricing was flat compared to the first quarter, providing stability in the used GPU at $1,524 per unit on a same-store basis.

Elevated used retail prices remain a challenge for consumers, contributing to affordability concerns amid the current interest rate environment. However, the return to normal seasonal trends in the used vehicle wholesale pricing are positive for our business outlook and should benefit affordability and used vehicle sales volume going forward. Our team remains focused on driving incremental used inventory acquisition and retail sales opportunities in 2024, driving upside in this line of the business alongside the expected normalization of used car pricing and volumes over time.

Our F&I performance continues to be a strength despite elevated consumer interest rates with same-store franchise F&I GPU of $2,380 in the second quarter, down 6% year-over-year, but up 1% sequentially from the first quarter. The continued stability in F&I supports our view that F&I per unit will remain structurally higher than pre-pandemic levels even in the challenging consumer affordability environment. Our parts and service or fixed operations business remained strong with a 2% increase in same-store fixed ops gross profit despite lost productivity at the end of June due to the CDK outage.

We are very proud of the success our team has had in this area, and we believe there are remaining opportunities to grow our fixed office business as we progress through 2024. As we mentioned previously, in March, we launched an initiative to increase our technician headcount by a net 300 technicians in 2024, which we expect would contribute an additional $100 million in annualized fixed ops gross profit. To date, we have increased our technician headcount by a net 131 techs and [ placed ] nearly 30 new techs per month in Q2, positioning us well to achieve this goal in the remainder of 2024.

Turning now to the EchoPark segment. We are excited to report second quarter record EchoPark segment quarterly adjusted EBITDA of $7.2 million. Excluding closed stores, EchoPark segment adjusted EBITDA was $9 million in the second quarter, in line with the first quarter and ahead of our previous guidance for a seasonally lighter second quarter despite headwinds from the CDK outage at the end of June.

For the second quarter, we reported EchoPark revenues of $517 million, down 14% from the prior year and second quarter EchoPark gross profit of $51 million, which was up 91% from the prior year despite a significant reduction in store count year-over-year. EchoPark segment retail unit sales volume for the quarter was approximately 16,600 units, down 3% year-over-year. However, on a same-store basis, which excludes closed stores, EchoPark retail unit sales volume was up 23% in the second quarter.

Revenue was up 10% and gross profit was up 81%. EchoPark segment total gross profit per unit was $3,078 per unit, up $927 per unit year-on-year and up $123 per unit from the first quarter driven by marginal improvements and used wholesale market pricing, improving inventory sales velocity and higher F&I gross profit per unit. As discussed on our previous earnings calls, the reductions to our store footprint since the first quarter of 2023 allowed us to better allocate inventory across the platform, driving higher unit sales volume per rooftop, better total variable GPU and a second consecutive quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA.

Our unwavering confidence in EchoPark's long-term potential has allowed us to weather the challenges in the used vehicle market in recent years, and we believe our performance in the second quarter demonstrates a tremendous opportunity for this brand. A second consecutive quarter of positive segment adjusted EBITDA for EchoPark validates the strategic adjustments we made over the past few quarters, and we look forward to resuming disciplined long-term growth for EchoPark as used vehicle market conditions continue to improve in the coming years.

Turning now to our Powersports segment. For the second quarter, we generated revenues of $39.6 million, gross profit of $10.7 million and segment-adjusted EBITDA of $2.3 million. As expected, the Powersports selling season began to ramp up in April, and we are really looking forward to maximizing the benefits of this year's surges rally, which kicked off this past week. We continue to focus on identifying operational synergies within our current Powersports network while fine-tuning our Powersports playbooks.

In the near term, we look forward to implementing our refined F&I sales strategy, centralized marketing and inventory management and the rollout of sonicpowersports.com. While we are taking a disciplined approach to expansion in this segment, we remain optimistic about the future growth opportunities in this adjacent retail sector when the time is right.

Finally, our diversified cash flow streams continued to benefit our overall financial position in the second quarter despite operational disruptions from the CDK outage. Turning to our balance sheet. We ended the second quarter with $885 million in available liquidity, including $467 million in combined cash and floorplan deposits on hand. We continue to maintain a conservative balance sheet approach with the ability to deploy capital strategically as the market evolves.

Additionally, I'm pleased to report today that our Board of Directors approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.30 per share, payable on October 15, 2024, to all stockholders of record on September 13, 2024. As you can see in the investor presentation we released this morning, we are reaffirming our limited financial guidance for 2024, following our second quarter results. We continue to believe that lower franchise dealership segment earnings can be at least partially offset by significant improvements in the EchoPark segment results, returning to positive EchoPark segment adjusted EBITDA for the year as well as a moderate increase in Powersports segment income year-over-year.

Prior to the CDK outage, we were projecting a second consecutive quarter of year-over-year EPS growth, demonstrating the value of our diversified business model in the current environment compared to a traditional franchise-only model. In closing, our team remains focused on near-term execution and adapting to ongoing changes in the automotive retail environment and macroeconomic backdrop, while making strategic decisions to maximize long-term returns.

Furthermore, we continue to believe our diversified business model provides significant earnings growth opportunities in our EchoPark and Powersports segments that may help offset any industry-driven margin headwinds we may face in the franchise business, minimizing the earnings downside to consolidated Sonic results over time. We remain confident that we have the right strategy and the right people and the right culture to continue to grow our business and create long-term value for our stakeholders. This concludes our opening remarks, and we look forward to answering any questions you may have. Thank you.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Bret Jordan with Jefferies.

[Bret Jordan, analyst]

Just sort of an economic backdrop question and I guess maybe as it relates to customer pay service or Powersports. Did you see anything notable as the quarter progressed as far as consumer deferral on the service side or retail traffic or conversion, Powersports, really sort of a macro question.

[Frank Dyke, executive]

Not at all. This is Jeff, not at all. As a matter of fact, on Powersports, it continued to get stronger as the quarter went on and that continues in July and August. It means season for powersports now and with the rally going on we are jam packed in terms of customers coming through the rally.

[Bret Jordan, analyst]

And then on new unit GPU, I think you're talking about just settling point of 2,500 to 3,000 at some point next year. Is the cadence of softening slowing just as a result of a slowing inventory build? I guess, you did a bit better than we were expecting on front-end GPUs in new this quarter. Sort of what do you attribute the recent stability to?

[Frank Dyke, executive]

I mean, some of that is mix driven. Toyota margins are still good. They've got a 15-day supply of product on the ground and that brand is just on fire. But quite honestly, it's a tale of 2 cities because you've got other brands, Stellantis, Nissan. Some of these brands are 100, 200 days supply of product out there that are just ridiculous. That we're fighting against in terms of managing age, which reduces the front-end.

But we should settle in, in that 2,500 to 3,000 number. I think we'll exit the year at 3,000, maybe a little bit better. And some of that's just mix driven. There's more incentives right now. High Line incentives are out there. I expect that to get even more aggressive in the third quarter, in the fourth quarter, especially as the manufacturers trying to balance out some of this electric vehicle inventory that they're trying to reduce day supply on. And we're starting to see some really, really aggressive Mercedes-Benz just got super aggressive on incentives this last couple of days. So it ought to be a big, big Mercedes month and quarter.

[Heath R. Byrd, executive]

This is Heath, if you look at Q2, the degradation in the brand GPU was the lowest year-over-year since December of 2022 and sequentially since December of 2022. So we do see the cadence slowing based on Q2's data. .

[Operator]

Our next question comes from Rajat Gupta with JPMorgan.

[Rajat Gupta, analyst]

I just had like 2 or 3 ones. In the slide I think you highlighted the chart on less than 5-year-old supply of used cars, and it makes a ton of sense. In the past, I think you've mentioned that you feel confident navigating these supply challenges as it relates to EchoPark. So just curious, I mean, because you have that slide there and the chart pretty explicit, how should we think about EchoPark volumes in 2025? Should we expect it to drop year-over-year because of the supply challenges or the pace of share gains that you're seeing would help offset that? Any color you can give us on 2025 EchoPark in context of the supply would be helpful. And I have a quick follow-on.

[David Smith, executive]

Well, this is something we talk about a lot. It's interesting that you asked this question because what we're just talking about the new vehicle they supply, it's actually going to benefit EchoPark greatly.

[Frank Dyke, executive]

it's Jeff. If you look at the amount of new car inventory that's out there today, that just defines that there's going to be plenty of preowned inventory as we move into '25, we're expecting better volumes. We can buy for the 17 existing EchoPark stores pretty easily right now. That's not a problem. And I think you're seeing 5,500 to 6,000 cars a month. As the prices continue to drop, I think that group of stores can do 85 cars a month, that's 500-or-so units per store, which is kind of where we were kind of the low end of where we were on a per rooftop basis prior to COVID.

[Rajat Gupta, analyst]

That's important we've actually achieved that before.

[Frank Dyke, executive]

Yes. So we were in the [ 550 ] range, and I think we'll get back to that with this group of stores. And as we begin to approach that, then you'll see us begin to look at opportunities to continue to begin to open stores again and grow the brand. We're waiting patiently because I'd like to see the average cost per unit drop another $1,000 to $1,500, but that's coming with the day supplies, the manufacturers can't help themselves. We didn't learn a lesson in COVID, I wish we would have. It'd have been a lot better for the industry overall, but they didn't, and you've got manufacturers out there that have just totally lost control of their day supply.

And it's going to cost them big time in terms of incentives. The winner here is the consumer. They pay a lot less for a vehicle over time. And that's going to trickle down into the pre-owned side of the business. There's going to be plenty of inventory. We're not concerned at all with being able to supply EchoPark and/or our franchise stores as we move forward into '25. The picture is getting better, not getting worse as we watch new car inventories grow in the marketplace.

[Heath R. Byrd, executive]

Yes, I think also just to add, this is Heath is that I think we've done a better job of buying [indiscernible] off the street. So we're not so dependent on wholesaling. And also, we don't have the railcars in the [ auction lanes ] any longer. So it makes it a lot easier to get enough vehicles to stack that EchoPark.

[Rajat Gupta, analyst]

Got it. Got it. That's clear. And did you quantify like the CDK impact on EchoPark volumes in the quarter? Any way -- is there any way to like judge that?

[Frank Dyke, executive]

Kind of overall, it's about 500 units or so for the EchoPark brand and about 3,000 units new and used, 1,500 pieces on the franchise side.

[Rajat Gupta, analyst]

Got it. Got it. Just 1 quick follow-up on the F&I. What's driving this continued pickup there? Is it attach rate? And especially on EchoPark. I mean, is it the attach rate that's going up? Is there like some price increases on the products itself? I know like CarMax recently raised prices for their MaxCare products. I was just curious, like, if you could like help us bridge that a little more?

[Frank Dyke, executive]

It's product penetration. And that's just it. We're selling more warranties, selling more products per car. Our team is executing at a very high level, and that makes a big difference in terms of our performance on the back end.

[David Smith, executive]

I think, again, this is David. I think I noted on the opening remarks about the being #1 -- EchoPark team is #1 in the preowned market and guest experience. And when you're offering that kind of world-class guest experience that's certainly going to contribute to that GPU.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from John Murphy with Bank of America.

[Unknown Analyst]

This is Billy Healy on for John. So I just wanted to ask you guys, if you can talk to what you're seeing on the overall health of the consumer and the new vehicle demand. And what have the trends been in terms of like mix and trim levels? What do you expect for new vehicle pricing for the rest of the year?

[Frank Dyke, executive]

This is Jeff Dyke. So with the day supply going up, pricing is going to come down and [indiscernible] are going to get better. So better for the consumer. mix is good. I think there's just tons of inventory. And you look at our Chrysler brand north of a 200-day supply, Nissan brand around 100 day supply, which is just absurd for the industry. But I think, like I said earlier, the consumer wins here. The import brands are doing a very, very good job of controlling our inventory.

Toyota is in really great shape for us around 15 days. Hond sitting between 30 and 40 days. Hyundai in the 50-day range, Subaru in the 30-day supply range. So they're doing a really, really good job. The high lines are fighting a little bit. I mean there are a couple that are out there that are a little higher Mercedes running in the upper 80 days supply range, 90-day supply. BMW is doing a great job keeping their day supply low. Audi sitting at a higher day supply with new mix coming in here, hopefully, towards the end of the year or the first quarter.

But overall, we're sitting at a 60-some-odd day supply of new vehicles and inventory is very healthy, obviously, with that amount of cars on the ground. That mix is going to get a little bit better. I think as the year goes on manufacturers are really starting to move towards eliminating some of their days supply of electric vehicles, which is great. We're sitting at some 14, 15, maybe close to 20 days supply on electric vehicles across the board. And I expect that to continue to drop off and to really sort of meet demand. So I think the manufacturers in the industry learned a big lesson overproducing a lot of electric vehicles when the consumer demand was not there. Obviously, higher on the West Coast, higher on the coast, but not in the middle of the country.

So I think that rightsizes between now and the end of the year, which is great. And hopefully, the manufacturers get a big wake-up call with some of the incentive dollars that they're going to have to spend between now and the end of the year for some of the manufacturers to rightsize their inventory, again, Toyota, Honda, those guys doing a fantastic job in managing day supply. So I think it's a bright picture between now and the end of the year. I think there's going to be front-end margin pressure along with margin pressure at the manufacturing level to reduce inventory levels. And hopefully, they can look back and say, we really did learn a good lesson during COVID. We need to control our inventory better than what they've been controlling it over the last quarter or 2 because it's -- in many, many cases, it's been just a complete [ shit ] show, if you will.

[Operator]

We have reached the end of our question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the floor back over to David Smith for closing comments.

[David Smith, executive]

Great. Thank you very much. Thank you, everyone. We appreciate you, and we'll talk to you on the next call.

[Operator]

This concludes today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.