(By Balachander) CarMax Inc. (NYSE: KMX), a retailer of used cars, reported a 15 percent growth in quarterly earnings and sales, topping market expectations, and shares rose 6.20 percent in premarket on Thursday.
Earnings increased to $94.7 million or $0.41 per share for the third quarter from $82.1 million or $0.36 per share in the year-ago quarter.
Net sales and operating revenues rose 15 percent to $2.60 billion for the three months ended November, the Richmond, Virginia-based company said.
Wall Street analysts, on average, expected earnings of $0.39 per share on revenue growth of 9.10 percent.
Used unit sales in comparable stores gained 12 percent.
Used vehicle sales jumped 17 percent. New vehicle sales fell 0.7 percent, while Wholesale vehicle sales increased 9.6 percent.
Selling, general and administrative expenses jumped 14 percent.
"Our strong comparable store sales growth allowed us to leverage SG&A expenses, even as we expanded our store base," chief executive Tom Folliard said.
KMX closed Wednesday's regular trading session 0.80 percent lower at $34.84. The stock has been trading in the 52-week range between $24.83 and $36.65.