Morgan Stanley analyst Armintas Sinkevicius raised CarMax (KMX) to number one from number two in his ranking of U.S. auto dealers, bumping Lithia Motors (LAD) to the second spot. As reasons for the move in CarMax to top pick, Sinkevicius cites the company's market share opportunity, its track record of consistent operations and the fact that it is a pure play on the used car market, which is less volatile than the new car market. He maintains an Overweight rating and $89 price target on CarMax shares, listing Penske Automotive (PAG) as his third choice in the group and only other U.S. dealer on which he has an Overweight rating aside from CarMax and Lithia.

Craig-Hallum lowered the firm's price target on Lithia & Driveway to $310 from $350 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. While Q1 results were negatively impacted by operational integrations of recent acquisitions, the firm was encouraged to hear management's refined focus going forward is on harvesting synergies and accelerating its share repurchases while moderating the aggressive M&A pace. Network expansion and M&A have proven to be highly strategic, synergistic and accretive, so Craig-Hallum is supportive of the strategy, but thinks the setup for the stock is better during the synergy optimization period than during the acquisition/integration period.

Reports Q1 revenue $8.56B, consensus $8.54B. New vehicle same store units grew by 3.6 %. Reports Q1 total vehicle gross profit per unit of $4,346, down $1,239. "In the first quarter, our teams responded as the industry continued to normalize inventories and profitability. We are committed to driving improvements across our business," said Bryan DeBoer, President and CEO. "Our model is diversified with our adjacencies maturing and on a path to profitability, as we continue to deliver the best experience for our customers. Responding to market conditions, we are rebalancing our capital allocation from acquisitions toward returns to our shareholders, with the long-term target of delivering $2 in EPS per billion in revenues."

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Lithia Motors is readying to cut hundreds of positions following a collapse in the supply of used vehicles after the COVID-19 pandemic, the Financial Times' Peter Campbell reports, citing people with knowledge of the matter. Lithia, which acquired Pendragon dealerships and its used car marketplace CarStore this year, plans to shutter CarStore and cut about 250 jobs across the UK. Reference Link