Avis Budget (CAR) Stock Gains Ahead of Earnings Report

Avis Budget (CAR) shares are higher with heavy trading volume ahead of the company's third quarter earnings report, which is due after the market closes.
By Lindsay Ingram ,

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Avis Budget Group (CAR) - Get Report were gaining 4.5% to $52.16 in afternoon trading on Monday, ahead of the car rental company's third quarter earnings report, which is due after the market closes.

Analysts expect Avis to report earnings of $2.02 a share and revenue of $2.6 billion for the third quarter.

Avis reported earnings of 84 cents a share for the second quarter, above analysts' estimates of 69 cents a share. The company reported revenue of $2.17 billion for the second quarter, compared to analysts' estimates of $2.24 billion.

The company reported earnings of $1.91 a share for the third quarter of 2014, above analysts' estimates of $1.81 a share. Avis saw revenue of $2.54 billion in the year-ago quarter, compared to analysts' estimates of $2.55 billion.

About 3.5 million shares of Avis were traded by 1:38 p.m. Monday, above the company's average trading volume of about 2.2 million shares a day.

TheStreet Ratings team rates AVIS BUDGET GROUP INC as a Buy with a ratings score of B-. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

We rate AVIS BUDGET GROUP INC (CAR) a BUY. This is driven by some important positives, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its impressive record of earnings per share growth, compelling growth in net income, notable return on equity and expanding profit margins. We feel its strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had generally high debt management risk by most measures that we evaluated.

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

  • AVIS BUDGET GROUP INC reported significant earnings per share improvement in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. The company has demonstrated a pattern of positive earnings per share growth over the past year. We feel that this trend should continue. During the past fiscal year, AVIS BUDGET GROUP INC increased its bottom line by earning $2.22 versus $0.07 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($3.34 versus $2.22).
  • The net income growth from the same quarter one year ago has significantly exceeded that of the S&P 500 and the Road & Rail industry. The net income increased by 450.0% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, rising from $26.00 million to $143.00 million.
  • The company's current return on equity greatly increased when compared to its ROE from the same quarter one year prior. This is a signal of significant strength within the corporation. Compared to other companies in the Road & Rail industry and the overall market, AVIS BUDGET GROUP INC's return on equity significantly exceeds that of both the industry average and the S&P 500.
  • 48.14% is the gross profit margin for AVIS BUDGET GROUP INC which we consider to be strong. It has increased from the same quarter the previous year. Despite the strong results of the gross profit margin, CAR's net profit margin of 6.58% significantly trails the industry average.
  • Regardless of the drop in revenue, the company managed to outperform against the industry average of 7.3%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly dropped by 0.9%. The declining revenue has not hurt the company's bottom line, with increasing earnings per share.
  • You can view the full analysis from the report here: CAR
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