What Happened?
Shares of used-car retailer America’s Car-Mart (NASDAQ: CRMT) fell 22.2% in the morning session after the company reported disappointing second-quarter results that widely missed analyst expectations.
The used vehicle retailer posted revenue of $341.3 million, a decrease of 1.5% compared to the same period last year and short of Wall Street estimates. The more significant concern for investors was the company's bottom-line performance. Car-Mart reported a loss of $0.69 per share, a stark contrast to analysts' forecasts for a profit of $0.83 per share. This loss also widened significantly from the $0.15 per share loss reported in the prior-year quarter. Additionally, same-store sales, which measure performance at established locations, fell by 4.1% year on year, highlighting shrinking demand.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
America's Car-Mart’s shares are very volatile and have had 23 moves greater than 5% over the last year. But moves this big are rare even for America's Car-Mart and indicate this news significantly impacted the market’s perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 6 days ago when the stock dropped 3.4% on the news that markets pulled back with the decline concentrated in the tech space as investors engaged in profit-taking following a robust week that saw the S&P 500 hit a new record. Adding to the pressure, new inflation data, specifically the Core PCE, showed an acceleration in July, signaling that rising prices remain a risk despite being in line with expectations. This confluence of factors, including market highs heading into a historically weak September, led to a pullback, with the Nasdaq Composite shedding 1.15%. While the Federal Reserve has hinted at potential rate cuts, the focus on inflation and the jobs market continues to influence investor sentiment.
America's Car-Mart is down 30.2% since the beginning of the year, and at $34.76 per share, it is trading 44% below its 52-week high of $62.05 from July 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of America's Car-Mart’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $345.05.
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