AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE:AN) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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Unidentified Participant: Hello. This is Danielle on for Adam Jonas. So we heard you talk about the dynamics that play in the used car market. We’ve heard similar things with our conversations and industry contacts and recent manheim prints, including the print from this morning. You mentioned tighter supply, is that the sole driver of this kind of 180 degree turn in the used market? Are there other dynamics at play? Are you seeing anything on changes in consumer demand heading into kind of a macro uncertainty this year? Thank you.

Mike Manley: Hey, Danielle. Firstly, Adam is well. And that — you’re not on because he’s ill, but when you talk to him, give him my regards, so just. There’s obviously a range of things that impact it, one of which is the availability. And as you’ve seen, we saw used car prices begin to drop at the end of last year and that has now kind of mitigated and stopped. But it’s also being impacted on the demand side, because depending on the age and the profile of the customers buying it, there is no doubt that what we’ve seen in terms of interest rate increases also affects the demand side of it. So it’s a combination of things. I think when I — my opening comments really when we look and obviously do it on a very regular basis when we look at our performance and we — I try and identify the key driver. For us, it was around that very tight supply and not wanting to buy deeper at the expense per se of gross, so hopefully that’s an answer.

Unidentified Participant: Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. Your next question comes from Rajat Gupta of JPMorgan. Your line is open.

Rajat Gupta: Great. Thanks for taking the question. I had a question on this SG&A going forward. Obviously, that the GPU trajectory is a bit uncertain and how to predict. But how should we think about the SG&A drop through as those gross profit dollars come down over the next 12 to 18 months. And maybe if you’re willing to, can you give us a range of SG&A gross profit that you’re thinking about for 2023? And I have a follow-up. Thanks.

Joe Lower: Sure, Rajat. Good talking to you. So SG&A as you kind of saw in the release in my comments, maintain strict discipline. As we think about it, you obviously have a fluctuation primarily in comp associated with GPUs. Think of the flow through your SG&A per dollar growth is somewhere between $0.25 and $0.30 per dollar. Beyond that, what we’re trying to do is obviously be very efficient in our advertising and marketing and you can see relatively flat sequentially and then really controlling the store and corporate overhead, which again was essentially flat sequentially. Results of that, as you can see, it’s still below 60%, I think there is some slight pressure on that going forward, but in a strong intent on maintaining our discipline.

And then I mentioned the investments, which was maybe 100 basis points as a percentage of growth this quarter. I don’t see that getting much beyond 200 basis points in the course of 2023 as we make what I think are absolutely essential investments to ensure the longevity and well positioning down the road. And I can kind of give you a range, I mean, we clearly intend to stay below 65% this year with a target to be at the lower end of kind of the 60% to 65% range. And that will fluctuate somewhat with the GPUs. But the other measures including overhead and advertising in our elements that we’re going to maintain strict discipline on. So that’s how we think about it and that’s how we manage it every day.

Rajat Gupta: Got it. Got it. That’s helpful color. Maybe just to follow-up on the prior question around like the manheim print and like just used car prices turning. Are you able to comment on how first quarter for January and February months to-date has been in terms of demand or like just unit comps for you, both new and used?

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