Sonic Automotive Reports Record Third Quarter Revenues

Strategic Adjustments to EchoPark Business Drove Improvements in EchoPark Segment Unit Sales Volume and Profitability in the Third Quarter

Repurchased 1.7 Million Shares of Class A Common Stock During the Third Quarter

CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Sonic Automotive, Inc. (“Sonic Automotive,” “Sonic,” the “Company,” "we," "us" or "our") (NYSE:SAH), one of the nation’s largest automotive retailers, today reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2023.

Third Quarter 2023 Financial Summary

• Record third quarter revenues of $3.6 billion, up 6% year-over-year; gross profit of $582.2 million, flat year-over-year
• Reported third quarter net income of $68.4 million, down 22% year-over-year ($1.92 earnings per diluted share, down 14% year-over-year)
  • Adjusted third quarter net income* was $72.0 million, down 18% year-over-year ($2.02 adjusted earnings per diluted share*, down 9% year-over-year)
• Reported selling, general and administrative (“SG&A”) expenses as a percentage of gross profit of 70.4% (66.5% on a Franchised Dealerships Segment basis)
  • Adjusted SG&A expenses as a percentage of gross profit* of 69.5%
• EchoPark Segment revenues of $626.7 million, up 6% year-over-year; all-time record quarterly EchoPark Segment gross profit of $52.8 million, up 22% year-over-year; EchoPark Segment retail used vehicle unit sales volume of 19,050, up 25% year-over-year
• Reported EchoPark Segment loss of $16.9 million, adjusted EchoPark Segment loss* of $12.1 million, and EchoPark Segment adjusted EBITDA* loss of $5.2 million
  • Reiterate previously issued guidance of an expected return to breakeven EchoPark Segment adjusted EBITDA* in the first quarter of 2024
• During the third quarter, Sonic repurchased approximately 1.7 million shares of its Class A Common Stock for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $86.7 million, totaling approximately 3.3 million shares repurchased year-to-date, or 9% of shares outstanding at December 31, 2022
• Sonic's Board of Directors approved a 3.4% increase to the Company's quarterly cash dividend, to $0.30 per share, payable on January 12, 2024 to all stockholders of record on December 15, 2023

^{* Represents a non-GAAP financial measure - please refer to the discussion and reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures below.}

Management Commentary
David Smith, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sonic Automotive, stated, “We are proud of our team’s performance in the third quarter, delivering financial results that reflect our ability to leverage our diversified business model to adapt to changing market dynamics. During the quarter, we realized the expected initial benefits of the strategic adjustments to our EchoPark business model, which combined with our growing powersports platform, provided sequential earnings growth to help offset margin normalization in the franchised dealership segment. We remain confident that we have the right strategy, the right people, and the right culture to continue to grow our business and create long-term value for our stakeholders.”

Jeff Dyke, President of Sonic Automotive, commented, “While consumer affordability and used vehicle sourcing continue to be a challenge, the substantial improvement in our EchoPark results in the third quarter demonstrate our team's valuable industry experience and the adaptability of our innovative EchoPark model. As we expected, despite reducing our EchoPark store footprint by 50%, in the third quarter we retailed 12% more vehicles than the second quarter and reduced our EchoPark adjusted EBITDA loss to $5.2 million, compared to a $31.8 million adjusted EBITDA loss in the second quarter of 2023. Based on recent market trends, we remain confident in our path to breakeven EchoPark segment adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter of 2024, and expect to resume our disciplined long-term growth plans for EchoPark as used vehicle market conditions continue to improve.”

Heath Byrd, Chief Financial Officer of Sonic Automotive, added, “Our diversified cash flow streams continued to benefit our overall financial position in the third quarter, while allowing us to return capital to our stockholders via share repurchases and an increase to our quarterly dividend. As of September 30, 2023, we had $797 million of liquidity, including $335 million in cash and floor plan deposits on hand. Heading into what is historically a seasonally strong fourth quarter for Sonic, we believe we remain well-positioned to adapt to evolving market conditions and position the Company for success in 2024 and beyond.”

Third Quarter 2023 Segment Highlights
The financial measures discussed below are results for the third quarter of 2023 with comparisons made to the third quarter of 2022, unless otherwise noted.

• Franchised Dealerships Segment operating results include:
  • Same store revenues up 5%; same store gross profit down 3%
  • Same store retail new vehicle unit sales volume up 12%; same store retail new vehicle gross profit per unit down 30%, to $4,678
  • Same store retail used vehicle unit sales volume down 3%; same store retail used vehicle gross profit per unit down 2%, to $1,668
  • Same store parts, service and collision repair (“Fixed Operations”) gross profit up 8%; same store customer pay gross profit up 10%; same store warranty gross profit up 8%; same store Fixed Operations gross profit margin up 10 basis points, to 49.7%
  • Same store finance and insurance ("F&I") gross profit up 3%; same store F&I gross profit per retail unit of $2,407, down 5%
  • On a trailing quarter cost of sales basis, the Franchised Dealerships Segment had 33 days’ supply of new vehicle inventory (including in-transit) and 28 days’ supply of used vehicle inventory
• EchoPark Segment operating results include:
  • Revenues of $626.7 million, up 6%; gross profit of $52.8 million, up 22%
  • Retail used vehicle unit sales volume of 19,050, up 25%
  • Reported segment loss of $16.9 million, adjusted segment loss* of $12.1 million, and adjusted EBITDA* loss of $5.2 million
    • Reported segment loss includes $6.7 million loss related to the closed EchoPark stores (closed EchoPark stores represent a $1.9 million loss on an adjusted segment loss* basis and a $2.2 million loss on an adjusted EBITDA* basis)
    • Expect ongoing expenses associated with the closed EchoPark stores of approximately $1.5 million to $2.0 million per quarter (excluding any amounts related to potential future exits of leased or owned properties)
  • Retail used vehicle unit sales volume was comprised of 85% 1-4-year-old vehicles and 15% 5-plus-year-old vehicles, with 20% of retail used vehicle unit sales volume sourced from non-auction sources
  • On a trailing quarter cost of sales basis, the EchoPark Segment had 37 days’ supply of used vehicle inventory
• Powersports Segment operating results include:
  • Revenues of $57.0 million, gross profit of $20.8 million, gross profit margin of 36.5%
  • Segment income of $6.6 million and adjusted EBITDA* of $7.9 million
  • Year-over-year comparative financial results are not meaningful due to the timing of acquisitions (seven stores acquired in August 2022 and five stores acquired in February 2023)

^{* Represents a non-GAAP financial measure - please refer to the discussion and reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures below.}

Dividend
Sonic’s Board of Directors approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.30 per share, payable on January 12, 2024 to all stockholders of record on December 15, 2023.

Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call
Senior management will hold a conference call today at 11:00 A.M. (Eastern). Investor presentation and earnings press release materials will be accessible beginning prior to the conference call on the Company’s website at ir.sonicautomotive.com.

To access the live webcast of the conference call, please go to ir.sonicautomotive.com and select the webcast link at the top of the page. For telephone access to this conference call, please dial (877) 407-8289 (domestic) or +1 (201) 689-8341 (international) and ask to be connected to the Sonic Automotive Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. Dial-in access remains available throughout the live call; however, to ensure you are connected for the full call we suggest dialing in at least 10 minutes before the start of the call. A webcast replay will be available following the call for 14 days at ir.sonicautomotive.com.

About Sonic Automotive
Sonic Automotive, Inc., a Fortune 500 company based in Charlotte, North Carolina, is on a quest to become the most valuable diversified automotive retail and service brand in America. Our Company culture thrives on creating, innovating, and providing industry-leading guest experiences, driven by strategic investments in technology, teammates, and ideas that ultimately fulfill ownership dreams, enrich lives, and deliver happiness to our guests and teammates. As one of the largest automotive and powersports retailers in America, we are committed to delivering on this goal while pursuing expansive growth and taking progressive measures to be the leader in these categories. Our new platforms, programs, and people are set to drive the next generation of automotive and powersports experiences. More information about Sonic Automotive can be found at www.sonicautomotive.com and ir.sonicautomotive.com.

About EchoPark Automotive
EchoPark Automotive is one of the most comprehensive retailers of nearly new pre-owned vehicles in America today. Our unique business model offers a best-in-class shopping and utilizes one of the most innovative technology-enabled sales strategies in our industry. Our approach provides a personalized and proven guest-centric buying process that consistently delivers award-winning guest experiences and superior value to car buyers nationwide, with savings of up to $3,000 versus the competition. Consumers have responded by putting EchoPark among the top national pre-owned vehicle retailers in products, sales, and service, while receiving the 2023 Consumer Satisfaction Award from DealerRater. EchoPark’s mission is in the name: Every Car, Happy Owner. This drives the experience for guests and differentiates EchoPark from the competition. More information about EchoPark Automotive can be found at www.echopark.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
Included herein are forward-looking statements, including statements regarding anticipated future EchoPark profitability, anticipated future EchoPark adjusted EBITDA, and anticipated future expenses related to closed locations. There are many factors that affect management’s views about future events and trends of the Company’s business. These factors involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or trends to differ materially from management’s views, including, without limitation, economic conditions in the markets in which we operate, supply chain disruptions and manufacturing delays, labor shortages, the impacts of inflation and increases in interest rates, new and used vehicle industry sales volume, future levels of consumer demand for new and used vehicles, anticipated future growth in each of our operating segments, the success of our operational strategies, the rate and timing of overall economic expansion or contraction, the integration of recent or future acquisitions, and the risk factors described in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 and other reports and information filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The Company does not undertake any obligation to update forward-looking information, except as required under federal securities laws and the rules and regulations of the SEC.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This press release and the attached financial tables contain certain non-GAAP financial measures as defined under SEC rules, such as adjusted net income, adjusted earnings per diluted share, adjusted SG&A expenses as a percentage of gross profit, adjusted segment loss, and adjusted EBITDA. As required by SEC rules, the Company has provided reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures in the schedules included in this press release. The Company believes that these non-GAAP financial measures improve the transparency of the Company’s disclosures and provide a meaningful presentation of the Company’s results.