Lithia Motors’ third-quarter adjusted diluted earnings per share of $10.34 beat the $9.77 LSEG consensus, and the company announced a 7% increase to its quarterly dividend to $0.75 per share. Management said share repurchases remain attractive, and third-quarter buybacks totaled about $84.9 million.
Lithia’s growth runway looks very long to us; acquisitions are opening up new areas of the US, and international expansion has started by entering Canada in 2021 and the UK in 2023.
Bears
Lithia could need additional capital to fund expansion. In addition, it will face increased competition for acquisitions now that it will operate in large cities.
Lithia Motors is a retailer of new and used vehicles and related services. The company offers nearly 60 brands of vehicles at nearly 500 stores globally across the US, Canada, and UK. The company has expanded largely through the acquisition of dealerships in smaller regional markets but now seeks to grow in any part of the US. We expect more deals over time in the US and, at times, abroad. Annual revenue in 2025 was $37.6 billion, and we see over $50 billion possible in a few years. The US was 78.5% of 2025 revenue and the UK second at 18.4%, due to the 2024 Pendragon acquisition. In 2025, new vehicle sales were about 50% of total revenue. Lithia was founded in 1946, went public in 1996, and is the largest US auto dealer. It is based in Medford, Oregon.