AutoNation profit rises 2 percent, while revenue slips

AutoNation's first-quarter profit rose 2 percent, though revenue slipped.

The auto retailer said the number of new cars it sold fell 4 percent from a year ago to 75,798. The number of used cars it sold rose 4 percent to 60,608.

CEO Mike Jackson said in a statement that he expects used car sales to increase in the second quarter.

Overall, the Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based company reported net income of $98.1 million, or 97 cents per share, in the three months ending March 31. That's up from $95.9 million, or 89 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.

Its earnings per share results beat Wall Street expectations of 91 cents per share, according to Zacks Investment Research.

Revenue slipped to $5.14 billion from $5.12 million a year ago, falling short of Street forecasts for revenue of $5.31 billion, according to Zacks.

Shares of AutoNation Inc., which are down about 9 percent so far this year, fell 6 cents to $44 in premarket trading Tuesday.

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on AN at https://www.zacks.com/ap/AN

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Keywords: AutoNation, Earnings Report