America’s Car-Mart Inc. of Rogers (Nasdaq: CRMT) reported Tuesday an income loss of $27.5 million for the second quarter of fiscal 2024.
It was the seventh consecutive quarter of declining profits for the buy-here, pay-here auto dealer. It is the first quarterly loss of the past seven.
Second-quarter income came on revenue of $361.6 million, up from $351.8 million in the same quarter of fiscal 2023. On a per-share basis, the loss came to $4.30, down from 48 cents a year ago.
The results fell short of Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 74 cents per share.
Shares fell about 15% to $68.07 Tuesday morning. Year to date, shares were down nearly 3%.
“The persistent inflationary environment impacted existing customers, which was evident in our credit losses,” America’s Car-Mart CEO Doug Campbell said. “This required an increase in the allowance for credit losses which subsequently impacted the bottom line for the quarter. We believe these headwinds regarding credit loss are shorter-term in nature.
“The operational investments we’ve made are driving greater efficiencies in the business, one of which was gross margin, which was a bright spot during the quarter. However, we are equally focused on being more agile regarding our cost structure to effectively navigate this environment. We believe this will leave our consumer and our company well-positioned for success in the long term.”
The company reported selling 15,162 vehicles during the quarter, down from 15,885 a year ago. The average vehicle sales price was $19,035, up from $18,025 in the same quarter a year ago.
Same-store revenue growth was 2.7%, a steep drop from 22% a year ago. America’s Car-Mart reported 154 stores in operation.
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