On Friday, AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $5.08 (+2% year over year), beating the analyst consensus estimate of $4.85.
Sales of $6.929 billion missed the consensus estimate of $7.200 billion. Revenues declined 4% year over year (Y/Y) owing to lower unit sales of both new and used vehicles.
Quarterly gross profit fell 2% Y/Y to $1.214 billion, and same-store gross profit declined 4% Y/Y to $1.188 billion owing to lower vehicle unit sales and profit per unit.
Adjusted operating income dipped 7% Y/Y to $335.1 million in the quarter.
AutoNation exited the quarter with cash and equivalents worth $58.6 million. Inventory at the end of the quarter was $3.405 billion.
In the quarter, the company bought back 1.7 million shares of common stock for $350 million or $209 per share.
The company repurchased $785 million of its shares in 2025, resulting in a 10% reduction in shares outstanding.
Segment Performance
AutoNation reported a same-store unit sales decline of 10% Y/Y for New Vehicle Retail and 5% Y/Y for Used Vehicle Retail.
Unit volumes for new vehicles faced tough Y/Y comparison and were impacted by higher sales earlier in 2025 related to tariffs and the expiration of government incentives for battery electric vehicles.
After-sales delivered same-store top-line growth and record gross profit growth of 4% Y/Y each. Same-store gross profit fell due to lower vehicle unit sales and profit per unit.
Customer Financial Services posted total unit profitability growth of 8% in the quarter.
Management Commentary
“We are pleased to report another quarter of strong performance with record gross profit in After-Sales and unit profitability in Customer Financial Services. For the full year, we grew unit volume for both new and used vehicles, increased revenues across all our business lines and grew gross profit for After-Sales, Customer Financial Services and Used vehicles,” said Mike Manley, CEO of AutoNation.
“AutoNation Finance continued to scale, growing the portfolio to $2.2 billion while improving profitability and funded status. AutoNation’s multiple revenue streams, flexible cost structure, cash flow generation, and investment grade balance sheet position us to continue delivering strong results and deploying capital to generate attractive shareholder returns.”
AN Price Action: AutoNation shares were up 2.96% at $210.06 during premarket trading on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Photo by Piotr Swat via Shutterstock
