Ro Khanna-backed CarMax Soars After Crushing Expectations

CarMax (KMX:US) shares gained as much as 8% on Friday after the used vehicle retailer reported first quarter results that topped the average analyst estimate.

CarMax posted an adjusted earnings per share of $1.44 to crush the average analyst estimate of $0.80. For last year’s first quarter, CarMax reported EPS of $1.56. The bottom-line outperformance came despite a 17% plunge in Q1 sales, which still came in higher than the consensus – $7.69 billion vs $7.46 billion expected.

The company said it generated $6.0 billion from used vehicle sales, a 14.4% drop compared to the year-ago period. Additional $1.51 billion was generated from wholesale vehicle sales, marking a 28.5% decline from last year. Overall, the company made a gross profit of $514.6 million and $167.8 million from sales of used and wholesale vehicles, respectively.

“Our deliberate actions are driving improved trends in the business, despite the challenging macro environment,” said Bill Nash, President and Chief Executive Officer. 

“We are prioritizing projects that drive operating efficiencies and create better experiences for our associates and customers. We believe these steps will enable us to come out of this cycle leaner and more effective, while also positioning us for future growth,” Nash added.

Following today’s rally, the KMX stock is now up over 42% year-to-date. Congressman Ro Khanna has been continuously buying KMX shares over the last couple of years. Most recently, the Congressman acquired some KMX shares on April 25, when they closed at $67.36.

CarMax stock was exchanging hands near $86.21 apiece on Friday.