America's Car-Mart Increases Sales but Misses Revenue Estimate

Seth Jayson, The Motley Fool
Updated

America's Car-Mart (NAS: CRMT) reported earnings on May 24. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended April 30 (Q4), America's Car-Mart missed estimates on revenues and beat expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue grew and GAAP earnings per share increased significantly.


Gross margins dropped, operating margins expanded, net margins improved.

Revenue details
America's Car-Mart booked revenue of $113.5 million. The three analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ anticipated a top line of $119.2 million on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 9.8% higher than the prior-year quarter's $103.4 million.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.97. The four earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.90 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.97 for Q4 were 24% higher than the prior-year quarter's $0.78 per share.

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Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 30.1%, 20 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 14.1%, 60 basis points better than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 8.5%, 40 basis points better than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter's average estimate for revenue is $113.8 million. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.90.

Next year's average estimate for revenue is $488.4 million. The average EPS estimate is $3.61.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a three-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 105 members out of 119 rating the stock outperform, and 14 members rating it underperform. Among 41 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 36 give America's Car-Mart a green thumbs-up, and five give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on America's Car-Mart is outperform, with an average price target of $46.67.

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At the time thisarticle was published Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor ofMotley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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