SAH Q2 Earnings Beat Estimates, EchoPark Total Unit Sales Rise 16%

Sonic Automotive, Inc. SAH reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.82 per share. Earnings declined 17% year over year but beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.75 by 4%. Revenues rose 8% to $3.93 billion and topped the consensus mark of $3.78 billion by 4%. The quarter benefited from higher retail new and used vehicle volumes and growth across EchoPark and Powersports segments.

At the consolidated level, gross profit rose 2% to $616.2 million. Adjusted SG&A expenses increased 6% to $443.4 million. Adjusted SG&A, as a percentage of gross profit, was 72.0% compared with 69.2% a year earlier. Adjusted net income fell 23% to $58.3 million.

Sonic Automotive, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Sonic Automotive, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Sonic Automotive, Inc. Quote

SAH’s Franchise Revenues Rise as Vehicle Margins Narrow

Franchised Dealerships segment revenues increased 6% year over year to $3.28 billion. New-vehicle revenues rose 5% to $1.76 billion, while used-vehicle revenues increased 9% to $814.3 million. Parts, service and collision repair revenues advanced 6% to $515.5 million, while finance, insurance and other revenues increased 2% to $147.9 million.

Retail new-vehicle unit volume rose 1%, and used-vehicle volume advanced 6%. Profit per vehicle remained under pressure. Reported retail new-vehicle gross profit per unit fell 11% to $3,024, while used-vehicle gross profit per unit declined 12% to $1,399.

Segment income was $70.7 million, down 23% from the year-ago period. Management cited difficult comparisons tied to pre-tariff consumer demand pull-forward in the second quarter of 2025.

Sonic’s EchoPark Growth Comes With Lower Unit Profit

EchoPark revenues increased 15% to $582.9 million, while gross profit rose 4% to a second-quarter record $64.3 million. Retail used-vehicle sales volume increased 17% as Sonic carried more affordable inventory and expanded its non-auction sourcing mix. Wholesale vehicle volumes increased 12%.

That volume growth came with lower per-unit economics. Total used-vehicle and F&I gross profit per unit fell 12% to $3,292. Segment income dropped 38% to $7.2 million, while adjusted EBITDA declined 15% to $13.9 million.

SAH’s Powersports Business Posts Strong Expansion

Powersports revenues surged 53% to a second-quarter record $73.5 million. Gross profit increased 58% to $19.7 million. New retail unit volume rose 27% to 1,775 units, while used retail volume jumped 61% to 1,317 units.

Finance and insurance revenues climbed 75% to $3.5 million, with F&I gross profit per unit up 27% to $1,125. Segment income improved to $2.3 million from breakeven, and adjusted EBITDA increased 145% to $4.9 million. The five Harley-Davidson dealerships acquired in April are expected to add about $100 million in annualized revenue.

SAH Raises New-Vehicle GPU View, Keeps Growth Focus

Sonic ended the quarter with about $294 million of cash and floor plan deposits and roughly $676 million of total available liquidity. The board approved a quarterly dividend of 41 cents per share, to be paid out on Oct. 15, 2026, to stockholders of record as of Sept. 15.

Management raised full-year new-vehicle gross profit per unit guidance to $2,850-$3,000 from $2,700-$3,000. EchoPark is still expected to deliver 12%-15% retail used-unit growth, total gross profit per unit of $3,100-$3,300 and adjusted EBITDA of $35-$40 million. Sonic also expects $8-$12 million of incremental EchoPark brand marketing expense in the fourth quarter and plans to open an Orlando location during the quarter.

Sonic currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Peer Releases

Penske Automotive Group, Inc. PAG reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $3.62 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.38 by 7.1%. Adjusted earnings declined 4.2% from the comparable $3.78 per share a year ago. Penske’s revenues rose 6% year over year to $8.51 billion and topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7.93 billion by 7.4%. For the first six months of 2026, cash flow from operations totaled $418 million and capital expenditures were $134.9 million. As of June 30, Penske’s liquidity was about $1.4 billion, including $69.5 million in cash.

Lithia Motors LAD posted second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $10.03 per share, which increased 9% from $9.20 a year ago. The bottom line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $8.67 by 15.7%. Quarterly revenues increased 2.2% year over year to $9.79 billion and topped the consensus estimate of $9.64 billion by 1.6%. As of June 30, 2026, Lithia had cash, restricted cash and cash equivalents of $363.9 million, up from $341.8 million as of Dec. 31, 2025.During the quarter, Lithia repurchased roughly 854,000 shares at a weighted average price of $284, representing $242 million of share repurchases.

AutoNation, Inc. AN reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $5.56 per share, up 1.8% from $5.46 a year ago. Earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.43 by 2.4%. Revenues of $6.93 billion declined 0.6% year over year and missed the consensus estimate of $6.97 billion by 0.6%. Parts and service revenues increased 3.4% year over year to $1.26 billion. Gross profit rose 1.4% to a record $607.1 million, making After-Sales the largest contributor to AutoNation's gross profit. As of June 30, 2026, AutoNation had cash and cash equivalents of $53.3 million. Non-vehicle debt was $4.43 billion.

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