Lithia shares drop by 23% - Worst performer on the NYSE

[XDCX]

It's never a good day when your stock price drops 23% and it's even worse when your company is #1 on the list of leading decliners on the New York Stock Exchange. Today was not a good day for Lithia Motors.

Lithia's stock dropped by 23% based on reports that their earnings for the most recent quarter would be between $0.00 and $0.02 per share.

Perhaps of greatest interest to the members of the forum, Lithia cited inventory issues at their Chrysler stores as a primary reason for their poor performance.

It was also interesting to note that Lithia will reverse their decision to sell 10 dealerships and keep them as part of their on-going operations. Lithia indicated that a poor market and the inability of prospective buyers to secure credit were factors in deciding to retain the dealerships.

Here's a link to the full report - click here

[Ralph]

Well....the truth is at least getting to the media. I had a long discussion with Automotive news yesterday about the same issues. I had two issues....one was, why have you not combined the story about Fiat building a new Lancia Badged model this year based on the new Chrysler 300/Charger platform...in a mere 12 months from the bankruptcy...when we wont see it for another 12 months ourselves, and yet they can't bring a Lancia platform to the US, badged as a Chrysler for anotehr 2-3 years?

Second was, based on the obvious issues of dealers lack of inventory...why haven't you asked the question, who is Chrysler today...an American Manufacturer with 2200 American dealers to feed...or a subsidiary of Fiat with a world view and 2200 American dealers only a side note? I cited Wrangler, the biggest seller we have, and no one can get them.

Interestingly enough, he said he asked the question of Wrangler availability directly to the head honcho of Jeep, and he vehemently denied ANY issue of availability. He said they have all the capacity in the world, and as many Wranglers as the dealers waht, they can get.

Go figure....back to smoke screens and "misstatements"

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by Ralph

Second was, based on the obvious issues of dealers lack of inventory...

I wonder how widespread this problem is?

Based simply on Day's Supply it would appear the Chrysler dealers have an adequate inventory. While almost every dealer faced an inventory shortage due to the bankruptcy induced production stoppage and the success of the CARS program I was under the impression that most dealers have been able to re-stock.

Maybe I should start a new thread? It would be interesting to learn if there are other Chrysler dealers who feel their sales are being impacted due to inventory issues.

[SHACOS]

I'm just glad I sold the remainder of my LAD stock a month ago when it was at $9.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by SHACOS

I'm just glad I sold the remainder of my LAD stock a month ago when it was at $9.

Smart decision...

Lithia's stock has been all over the board during the past year - from a low of $1.85 to a high of $16.49 and now back under $6.00. Who knows where it will go from here?

I did notice that you can buy/sell options on LAD now - I wonder when that started?