Costco saw a 9.4% sales boost the five weeks through April 7, driven by a surge in e-commerce activity. .
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BV Bank, a Brazilian bank leader in vehicle loans, is running a pilot that uses tokenization to manage vehicle financing and sales operations. The first phase of the tests involves automating consumer-to-consumer vehicle sales processes, including the delivery of tokenized money in exchange for the ownership of the vehicle. Brazilian BV Bank Pilots Tokenization Model […]
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The 2024 Buick Envista.
GM
DETROIT — General Motors on Tuesday reported a 1.5% decline in first-quarter U.S. vehicle sales compared to a year ago, as the overall auto industry normalizes after years of disruptions and volatile results.
The Detroit automaker said the decline to 594,233 vehicles sold during the first three months of the year was largely due to a 22.9% year-over-year decline in sales to fleet customers. Retail sales to customers were up 6%, GM said.
GM’s sales were in-line with Cox Automotive estimates but below expectations for the overall industry. The auto data firm forecast U.S. auto industry sales to be up 5.5% from a year earlier.
Buick was the only GM brand to report a sales increase during the quarter, up 16.4% from a year earlier. The GMC truck brand was off about 5%, while Cadillac and Chevrolet were both off about 2%.
GM reported sales of its full-size pickups totaled roughly 197,000 units during the first quarter, up 3.6% from a year earlier, marking its best performance during that time since the first quarter of 2020.
“GM gained retail market share year-over-year with strong mix and pricing, our inventories are in good shape heading into the spring, and production and deliveries of Ultium Platform EVs are rising, led by the Cadillac Lyriq. We’re on plan,” GM North America President Marissa West said in a statement.
Electric vehicle sales
Sales of GM’s all-electric vehicles, closely watched by Wall Street, remained miniscule during the first quarter. EV sales totaled 16,425 units, or 2.8% of the automaker’s overall sales during the period.
GM is in the process of ramping up production of its newest EVs, including the Cadillac Lyriq and the Blazer EV, while winding down sales of Chevrolet Bolt models, which were discontinued in December.
First-quarter sales of the Blazer EV were limited, totaling 600 units, due to a stop-sale that was in effect from late December until early March to resolve software issues.
Hyundai and other automakers
Other automakers reported varying results for the first quarter, as inventories and sales normalize to levels not seen since before the Covid-19 pandemic began.
Hyundai Motor America CEO Randy Parker noted the industry is getting more competitive as automakers attempt to maintain profits of recent years without oversubsidizing sales.
“The market is changing swiftly, and it’s gotten a lot more competitive,” Parker said Tuesday during a media call.
Hyundai reported its best March sales ever last month, at 76,920 vehicles sold, but its first-quarter sales were only up 0.2% compared to a year earlier.
Separately, Hyundai’s Genesis luxury brand reported sales of 14,777 vehicles during the first quarter, up 7.3% year over year.
Here is how other major automakers performed in U.S. sales compared to the first quarter of 2023:
- Toyota Motor reported a 16% increase in sales, including a 16.1% increase in March. The company sold nearly 388,000 vehicles during the first three months of the year.
- Honda Motor reported a 17.3% jump in sales to nearly 334,000 vehicles sold, including a 10.1% increase in March.
- Kia reported sales of 179,621 vehicles during the first quarter, off 2.5% year over year.
- Nissan Group announced first quarter sales of 252,735 vehicles, a 7.2% increase from a year earlier.
- EV startup Rivian Automotive reported vehicle deliveries of 13,588 vehicles during the first quarter, up from 7,946 vehicles a year earlier. The company reaffirmed guidance for annual production of 57,000 total vehicles, including 13,980 during the first three months of the year.
Home Depot on Thursday said it is acquiring SRS Distribution in an $18.25 billion deal, the latest and largest sign of its ambitions to drive sales by winning more business from contractors, roofers and other home professionals.
The home improvement retailer expects the acquisition to close this fiscal year, which ends in late January. It said it will finance the deal through cash on hand and debt.
Home Depot already draws half of its business from pros, while the other half comes from do-it-yourself customers. With the deal, the Atlanta-based company is making yet another push to gain the customers who tackle complex and lucrative construction jobs, particularly as homeowners pull back on DIY projects. That was one of the priorities that Home Depot leaders laid out for this year. It’s also why the company has been opening a growing network of distribution centers that can stock large quantities of items that pros need, such as lumber or shingles, and deliver them directly to a job site.
The acquisition is the largest in Home Depot’s history.
In an interview with CNBC, CEO Ted Decker described the deal as “a complementary accelerator” to its efforts to attract more pros. He said the deal increases Home Depot’s total addressable market by $50 billion.
SRS Distribution sells supplies to professionals in the landscaping, pool and roofing businesses. It’s owned by two private equity firms, Leonard Green & Partners and Berkshire Partners.
The McKinney, Texas-based company has approximately 11,000 employees and 760 branches across 47 states. It also has a fleet of 4,000 delivery trucks and a dedicated salesforce that caters to the home pros, Decker said.
The acquisition adds to other recent deals that the retailer has made in the pro space. They include the approximately $8 billion acquisition of HD Supply, a national distributor of maintenance, repair and operations products in the multifamily and hospitality markets, in 2020. Last year, it also made two other acquisitions for undisclosed amounts: International Designs Group, which owns Construction Resources, a distributor of surfaces, appliances and other products that sells to home pros; and Temco, an appliance delivery and installation company.
Decker said he’s confident the deal will get approved by federal regulators, even as they increase scrutiny of mergers and acquisitions.
“With the separate customer base, different channels, different purchase occasions, we feel good that this will go through,” he said.
The acquisition is expected to be dilutive to Home Depot’s earnings per share due to amortization, but accretive in terms of cash earnings per share in the first year after the deal closes.
Home Depot has leaned into the pro business as its growth stagnates. The retailer, a major beneficiary of pandemic trends, has dealt with moderating sales as consumers take on fewer home projects and spend more on grocery bills and experiences. Over the past few quarters, customers have bought fewer big-ticket items and tackled smaller, less pricey projects.
Decker said last month on an earnings call that Home Depot would focus on opening new stores, attracting more pro sales and trying to make customers’ shopping experience more seamless.
Home Depot plans to open a dozen new stores during the fiscal year. It recently announced it will open four distribution centers that help support sales to pros.
The acquisition comes after the home improvement retailer said last month that it expects slower sales trends to continue. It said it anticipates total sales for the full year will grow about 1%, including an additional week in the fiscal year. Yet it expects comparable sales, which take out the effect of store openings and closures and do not include the additional week, to drop by about 1%.
Home Depot had a total of 2,335 stores across the U.S., Mexico and Canada as of the end of the fiscal year in late January. It has about 465,000 employees.
As of Wednesday’s close, shares of Home Depot are up about 11% this year. That’s slightly ahead of the 10% gains of the S&P 500. Home Depot’s stock closed at $385.89 on Wednesday, bringing its market value to about $382 billion.
The furniture maker said that a “lagging” housing market, rising interest rates, and other headwinds contributed to lower sales.
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New home sales at 662,000 annual rate in February versus 664,000 in the prior month.
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This week’s non-fungible token (NFT) sales have taken another nosedive, intensifying the downtrend that began with a 16.55% decline from March 9 to March 16, 2024. The last seven days have witnessed an even steeper drop, with NFT sales plummeting by 18.57%. Cryptopunk #7,804 Shines in a Week of Falling NFT Sales In line with […]
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Thanks to its drinkable appeal, the St. Patrick’s Day favorite has soared in popularity over the past couple of decades — and seems poised for more growth
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Shares of Gap Inc. jumped after hours on Thursday after the clothing retailer reported fourth-quarter profit and sales that beat expectations, helped by yet another same-store sales gain at Old Navy and steady sales trends at its namesake stores.
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As the value of cryptocurrencies has risen, the non-fungible token (NFT) market has experienced a 35.14% increase in sales compared to the preceding week. This marks the third consecutive week of sales growth in the NFT sector, with NFTs based on Bitcoin leading the charge throughout this period. NFT Sales Surge Past $412 Million in […]
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