CarMax broke several fiscal first-quarter records set in the year before the coronavirus pandemic hit as the used auto retailer’s revenue and earnings soared amid booming demand for used vehicles.
Net revenue hit $7.7 billion in the fiscal first quarter ended May 31, a 138 percent increase from the hard-hit fiscal 2021 first quarter, which was a year ago because of how the retailer breaks down financial reporting periods. Revenue also surged 43 percent from the company’s prior record set in the fiscal first quarter two years ago.
Total unit sales more than doubled to 452,188, the used retailer said Friday, representing a 31 percent rise from the first quarter two years ago.
Within that tally, retail sales doubled on an annual basis to 270,799 vehicles. On a same-store basis, retail unit sales rose 99 percent from the year-ago period and increased 16 percent from the fiscal first quarter of 2020.
Wholesale unit sales totaled 181,389, up 187 percent from the year-ago period and up 50 percent from the same period two years ago.
CarMax bought 341,275 vehicles from consumers in the quarter, up 236 percent from a year ago and 77 percent from two years ago.
The company said in an earnings release Friday that it believes it became the largest online buyer of used vehicles in the quarter, with some 163,000 cars and trucks bought through web leads. It credited its nationwide online instant appraisal offer tool, which it jointly developed with vehicle listings site Edmunds. CarMax completed the acquisition of Edmunds on June 1.
“We delivered exceptional results in the first quarter thanks to excellent execution by our team in a high demand environment,” CarMax CEO Bill Nash said in a statement. The record results, he added, reflect the strength of the company’s omni-channel retail effort — a personalized shopping experience across digital platforms or in person — as well as a diversified business model.
“With the most customer-centric experience in our industry, a highly profitable operating and financial model, and significant opportunities to grow our existing businesses and expand across the broader used auto ecosystem,” he added, “we remain confident in our ability to meet our long-term targets of revenue growth, total unit growth and market share gains.”
CarMax shares rose 6.1 percent to $126.74 in morning trading on Wall Street.
