Fiat Chrysler, Ford February Sales Jump; GM Sales Falls

Mukesh Buch
01 Mar, 2016
New York City

AutoZone net soared 8%. Dollar Tree profit jumped 4%. Donaldson net plunged 21%. Fiat Chrysler February sales surged 12% and Ford sales surged 20% while GM sales fell 2%. Intercontinental Exchange may bid for London Stock Exchange. Medtronic net soared 13%.

[R]12:00 PM New York – AutoZone net soared 8%. Dollar Tree profit jumped 4%. Donaldson net plunged 21%. Fiat Chrysler February sales surged 12% and Ford sales jumped 20% while GM sales fell 2%. Intercontinental Exchange may bid for London Stock Exchange. Medtronic net soared 13%.[/R]

Tollbooth Index jumped 242.21 or 2.4% to 10,434.64.

Earnings Review

AutoZone, Inc ((AZO)) increased 1.5% or $11.73 to $786.30 after the automobile parts retailer said net sales in the second-quarter ending on February 13 jumped 5.3% from a year ago to $2.26 billion.

Net earnings in the quarter soared 8% to $228.6 million or $7.43 per diluted share compared to $211.7 million or $6.51 per share from the same quarter last year.

Dollar Tree, Inc ((DLTR)) gained 2.1% or $1.68 to $81.91 after the discount stores operator reported net sales in the fourth-quarter ending in January soared 116.7% from a year ago to $5.37 billion.

Same-store sales in the quarter jumped 5.6% and Family Dollar segment same-store sales increased 1.7%

Net income in the quarter jumped 4.3% to $229 million or 97 cents per diluted share compared to $206.6 million or $1 per share from the same quarter last year.

The discount stores operator estimated net sales in the first-quarter in the range of $5.05 billion to $5.12 billion and diluted earnings per share between 75 cents and 83 cents.

Donaldson Company, Inc ((DCI)) fell 12 cents to $28.12 after the filtration systems and parts maker said net sales in the second-quarter ending in January declined 12.1% from a year ago to $517.2 million.

Net earnings in the quarter plunged 20.8% to $38 million or 28 cents per diluted share compared to $48 million or 34 cents per share from the same quarter last year.

The company lifted adjusted earnings per share forecast for the fiscal 2016 between $1.51 and $1.61 compared to previous estimated range between $1.49 and $1.69.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV ((FCAU)) soared 6.2% or 43 cents to $7.28 after the vehicle maker stated U.S. sales in February surged 12% to 182,879 vehicles compared to 163,586 vehicles a year ago month.

Total passenger car sales in the month tumbled 27% to 33,691 vehicles while total truck sales jumped 27% to 149,188 vehicles.

Fiat brand sales fell 9% to 2,993 vehicles and RAM Pickup vehicles sales soared 23% to 38,555 units while RAM truck brand sales advanced 27% to 43,302 units.

Chrysler brand sales plunged 26% to 21,056 units but Dodge brand sales surged 12% to 47,251 units.

Ford Motor Company ((F)) jumped 4.5% or 56 cents to $13.07 after the automaker reported its best monthly U.S. Retail Sales in 11-Years and best-ever monthly sales for SUV. February U.S. total vehicles sales surged 20.4% to 217,192 vehicles.

Passenger car sales in the month jumped 18.8% to 66,613 units while utility vehicle sales soared 29.2% to 70,328 units and trucks sales advanced 14.8% to 80,251 while Lincoln sales increased 30.4% to 8,039 units.

Ford SUV sales in the month surged 28% to 65,016 vehicles and sales in F-Series jumped 10% to 60,697 vehicles from a year ago month.

The company said average transaction pricing in February jumped 2.6% to $36,520 while incentive spending dropped to $500 from a year ago.

General Motors Company ((GM)) rose 1.9% or 55 cents to $29.99 after the automaker reported February total sales fell 1.5% to 227,825 units while retail sales in the month jumped 7% to 179,958 units.

GM said sales in Chevrolet segment slid 0.7% to 158,644 units but sales in Cadillac added 0.9% to 11,840 units while sales in Buick segment grew 2.3% to 17,811 from a year ago month.

The automaker said average transaction prices in the month were $37,765, an increase of 1.9% from a year ago month.

GM estimated that the seasonally adjusted industry annual sale rate for light vehicles in February was 17.7 million units.

Intercontinental Exchange Inc ((ICE)) dropped 3.5% or $8.38 to $230.08 after the trading and clearing services provider agreed that it may approach to its U.K.-based rival London Stock Exchange.

Last week, Deutsche Boerse and LSE were in talks to create leading trading house of Europe.

Medtronic Plc ((MDT)) plummeted 5.2% or $4 to $73.39 after the Ireland-based medical devices maker reported revenues in the third-quarter ending on January 29 advanced 6% from a year ago to $6.93 billion.

Net income in the quarter soared 12.6% to $1.10 billion or 77 cents per diluted share compared to $977 million or 98 cents per share from the same quarter last year.