Image source: The Motley Fool.
CDK Global Inc (CDK)
Q3Â 2019 Earnings Call
April 30, 2019, 8:30 a.m. ET
Contents:
- Prepared Remarks
- Questions and Answers
- Call Participants
Prepared Remarks:
Operator
Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the CDK Global Third Quarter Fiscal 2019 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question-and-answer session and instructions will follow at that time. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, today's conference will be recorded.
I'd now like to introduce your host for today's conference, Katie Coleman, Senior Director, Investor Relations.
Katie Coleman -- Senior Director of Investor Relations
Thank you.
Good morning and thank you for joining us for our third quarter fiscal 2019 earnings call and webcast. Joining me on today's call are Brian Krzanich, CEO, and Joe Tautges, CFO.
A few items before we get started: throughout today's call, unless otherwise noted, all references to financial amounts are on a non-GAAP adjusted basis, and for purposes of comparability, all results and year-over-year comparisons are presented in accordance with ASC 605. Reconciliations of the adjusted amounts to the most directly comparable GAAP amounts are included in this morning's press release and are available in the Investor Relations section of our website.
I would also like to remind everyone that remarks made during this conference call will contain forward-looking statements. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, including the risks detailed in our filings with the SEC, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.
And finally, we anticipate filing our Form 10-Q later today.
With that, it's my pleasure to turn the call over to Brian.
Brian M. Krzanich -- Chief Executive Officer
Thanks, Katie, and good morning, everyone.
Q3 was another strong quarter, with total Company revenue growth of 4% and 8% revenue growth in core auto software. Within core auto software, Retail Solutions North America grew 11%, attributable to the ELEAD acquisition as well as growth acceleration driven by improvements in auto sites and key layered applications.
In our International business, Q3 revenue grew 1% year-over-year on a constant currency basis, which is clearly not where we expected to be this year. Delays in a couple of key rollouts and in our strategic growth initiatives have contributed to the lower performance this year. Joe and I spent time with the team this quarter, and we remain optimistic that the growth investments made this year will allow the business to reaccelerate its top line growth in line with our previously shared long-term expectations.
Advertising revenue has continued to be a headwind on total Company growth. Q3 revenue declined by 18% in the quarter, which is in line with our internal expectations and the guidance provided last quarter. We put an increased focus on the advertising area by, as you'll recall, putting in place a new leader, regular reviews of the business and focused sales team to bring the performance of this business in line with expectations. We continue to focus on reducing revenue concentration in the segment away from centralized OEM spend toward diversified dealership advertising spends. We have a similar focus to improve performance and diversify our website business, which is also highly concentrated with one OEM. Joe will provide additional details on this area of the business in just a few moments. We do see opportunity to grow both the advertising and website businesses over time and are actively working on these plants.
Now moving to the bottom line. We're pleased with the profit growth achieved while integrating the ELEAD business and investing in several growth focused initiatives aimed at better serving our dealers while also absorbing the headwinds from advertising.
Q3 EBITDA and EPS grew 4% and 9% year-over-year, respectively. In a few moments, Joe will provide more insight into the specific drivers of our financial performance.
I want to now turn to some highlights from the quarter. As you'll recall, a stable CDK North America auto site count is foundational to our long-term growth objectives. We're delighted to report that auto sites were up 48 sequentially and 19 year-over-year to 8,936 sites. This represents CDK's first year-over-year increase in auto sites in the last 10 quarters. This site improvement manifested due to collaboration across the entire organization. I applaud all of our teams for their hard work that led to the strong results this quarter.
A stable to growing site count is dependent on sales, implementation and retention efforts. So let me first start with sales. Our new site acquisition team had their highest sales quarter of the year in Q3. We expect sales to continue to ramp, especially as Drive Flex is more broadly rolled out. We have approximately two dozen dealers signed up for Drive Flex that will convert from our legacy dash product as well as brand new conquest sites. The first Drive Flex site has been fully installed, tested and in operation now for several weeks, and we have several more sites going through installation currently.
Our assessment of the market leads us to believe that there is a population of at least 50,000 retail locations globally for which Drive Flex can eventually be a viable DMS solution. And this number includes the North America franchise dealerships that we currently serve, along with other customer segments with similar technology needs, both inside and outside the automotive vertical. While this is an early assessment, we are growing increasingly optimistic that our unique technology assets are sufficiently versatile to transform our addressable market.
The second area to highlight is our installation team. As our sales have increased, so have our implementations. Auto site installations were up 30% year-over-year, which corresponds to the investment we made to expand our implementation capacity in late fiscal 2018. Balancing implementation resources and capacity will continue to be an important focus for us to manage the backlog.
The third area to highlight is improved retention. We saw a 50% reduction in site losses this quarter year-over-year and a 40% improvement versus the second quarter. We're changing the culture to be more customer-centric, and one example of this is the launch of our post-install transition team or PIT team, who enhance the new customer onboarding experience. For existing customers, we've expanded our support hours and will be ramping up hiring in the fourth quarter for our new customer success organization. These initiatives and the focus on the customer have been pivotal in making a difference with our dealers to continue to choose CDK.
And we're committed to growing sites over time. While we may see variability quarter-to-quarter, I'm optimistic that our efforts will continue to build momentum in Q4 and beyond. Our current estimates are that we will end fiscal 2019 with a positive auto site growth year-over-year. A stable site count is just one component of our long-term growth strategy. Also pivotal to our growth are fostering deeper relationships with existing dealers and expanding our reach into non-CDK sites.
Layered application sales were particularly strong this quarter, notably in our CRM, service and Doc Cloud application areas. For example, in CRM, our product improvement and service efforts have us seeing more demand than anticipated at the time of the ELEAD acquisition. And Doc Cloud and service continue to be strong performers as each grew relative to Q3 fiscal 2018, which was itself a strong quarter.
In addition to selling to existing dealers, we're also expanding our reach to an audience broader than just the CDK DMS footprint. This quarter, we sold more than 140 application units to non-CDK DMS users.
And finally, I want to finish with an update on Fortellis. We have to key applications coming available soon with Repair Order and Hailer, our app for dealers to hail a lift for their customers.
Starting with Hailer. We've had pilot sites using the application and have received favorable reactions from these dealers. We've pre-launched sales of this solution in select major markets, and the early feedback we're receiving reinforces our excitement for the partnership with Lyft.
We will also soon be launching our Repair Order API on Fortellis. This API will provide dealers, software vendors and OEMs the ability to seamlessly integrate their service workflows with the CDK DMS. For example, a service checking tablet using the Repair Order API, through Fortellis, will now be able to automatically create a repair order in CDK Drive for the customer at check-in.
And as we head into Q4 and fiscal 2020, we're focused on continuing to build on the success we've experienced so far, transforming the way we deliver value to and interact with and ultimately grow with our dealers.
And with that, I'll turn it over to Joe.
Joseph Tautges -- Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Thank you, Brian, and good morning, everyone.
We had another good quarter, and I'm pleased with the progress made this year on several fronts. On the top line, we saw good growth in Retail Solutions North America, offset by softness in International and the expected headwinds in Advertising. On profitability, EBITDA grew in the quarter, although growth was lower than past quarters due to dis-synergies related to the ELEAD acquisition and investments we are making in the business. I'll share more detail on these items momentarily.
In Retail Solutions North America, revenue grew double digits, delivering a strong quarter across several key indicators in the core business. In particular, we were happy with the strong sales results in sites and key applications as well as better retention, leading to the first year-over-year increase in auto sites in two and a half years. We have also accelerated growth in the ELEAD business, both in CDK and non-CDK DMS sites, which we expect to continue being a growth driver in (ph) our applications suite.
International growth was below our internal expectations, as Brian mentioned. Advertising performance has remained a headwind to total Company growth, declining 18% in the quarter. This performance was in line with our internal expectations and the guidance previously shared for the segment's second half performance.
Now onto the detailed results for the quarter.
On an ASC 606 basis, total Company revenues were $602 million. Core auto software revenues were $542 million. EBITDA was $222 million, resulted in a margin of 37%. Our effective tax rate was 25.7%, and diluted earnings per share was $0.98.
On an ASC 605 basis, total Company revenues were $601 million, equivalent to 4% and 6% growth year-over-year on a reported and constant currency basis, respectively. Core auto software revenues were $540 million, growing 8% and 9% on a reported and constant currency basis, respectively. Growth was driven by revenue benefits arising from commercialization, new site and application installs and recent acquisitions. This growth was partially offset by cannibalized revenue due to the recent ELEAD acquisition and a double-digit decline in website revenue.
I want to stop and take a moment to talk about our website business before I discuss the rest of the results of the quarter. While we don't explicitly disclose revenue associated with each layered application, I can share that annual revenues associated with this business are in excess of $100 million. As you may be aware, our largest website customer is General Motors, for which we are currently the sole endorsed provider of websites in the United States and Canada. However, GM has announced its intention to move away from the sole endorsement model in these markets and toward a multi-vendor program during calendar 2019, similar to what they did earlier this fiscal year with the advertising spend.
We look forward to participating as one of the vendors and continuing our service to GM dealers in these programs. Depending on the final construct of the multi-vendor programs, we expect there will be changes to the services we provide today and the number of GM dealers we serve, with corresponding financial impacts that start in Q4 of this fiscal year and build as we move into fiscal 2020.
The impact from these changes and others could represent, at a minimum, 1 to 2 points of revenue growth headwinds in fiscal 2020. We are actively working to retain and grow our website business, although these efforts will take time. We will provide another update on our Q4 earnings call and the implication on our fiscal 2020 guidance as we better understand the impact of the new programs.
Now back to the results of the quarter. Total company EBITDA dollars grew 4% to $218 million, and margins contracted 20 basis points year-over-year to 36.3%. Margin contraction is a result of dis-synergy arising from the ELEAD acquisition and higher incentive compensation. Our effective tax rate was 25.7% for the quarter. Diluted EPS was up 9% year-over-year to $0.95. Growth was driven by increases in operating income and lower average share count due to buybacks, which were partially offset by increased interest expense.
Now turning to segment results.
Under ASC 606, the Retail Solutions North America segment recorded $451 million in revenue. Pretax income was $193 million, resulting in a margin of 42.8%. Under ASC 605, our Retail Solutions North America segment revenues were $452 million, growing 11% on both a reported and constant currency basis.
Subscription revenues were up 9%, driven by the ELEAD acquisition and mid-single-digit increases to revenues from three-plus auto site groups, partially offset by low-single-digit decline from one to two site groups and lower website revenue. Note that revenue per site growth was adversely impacted by the revenue cannibalization of the ELEAD acquisition this quarter.
Transaction revenues were up 1%. Other revenues were up 31%, primarily due to recent acquisitions, partially offset by lower consulting revenues.
North America auto sites were up 48 sequentially to 8,936 sites or up 0.2% year-over-year. Growth in auto sites was largely driven by reduced site losses in our one-to-two-site segment. This was our lowest sequential loss quarter in over five years in this segment of the market, an indication that Drive Flex and our focus on the customer is resonating with dealers.
Pretax income was $193 million, and margins contracted 240 basis points to 42.7%. Margin contraction was caused by a shift in revenue mix from acquisitions and higher incentive compensation, partially offset by benefits from subscription revenue growth as well as the business transformation plan.
Moving on to International. Under ASC 606, the segment recorded $91 million in revenue. Pretax income was $28 million, resulting in a margin of 30.7%. The third quarter was particularly strong in International on an ASC 606 basis, primarily due to the timing of annual renewal activity in the quarter. Revenue recognition for the onsite license component of the renewals were recorded in the period under ASC 606 versus ratably over the contract term under ASC 605. As we look forward to Q4, we anticipate a sequential step-down in both revenue and earnings on an ASC 606 basis.
Under ASC 605, International revenues were $88 million. Revenue declined 6% year-over-year on a reported basis and increased 1% on a constant currency basis. Constant currency growth was driven primarily by improved revenue per site, offset by decline in sites and timing of certain other revenues.
International sites were down 179 sequentially to 12,988 sites or down 4% year-over-year. Year-over-year site declines were driven primarily by the previously disclosed OEM customer loss and higher loss activity in legacy products. Pretax income was $23 million as margins contracted 240 basis points to 26.8%. Margin contraction was caused by the timing of certain other revenues and investments relating to strategic growth initiatives, partially offset by scale from increased revenue per site.
Now Advertising North America results. On an ASC 606 basis, the segment recorded $60 million in revenue. Pretax income was $4 million, resulting in a margin of 7.3%. Under ASC 605, Advertising revenue was $61 million, a decline of 18% year-over-year. This decline was driven primarily by reduced advertising revenue from direct OEM networks and dealer spend. Pretax income came in at $5 million as margins contracted 630 basis points to 7.6%. Margin contraction was due to lower volume-based benefits as a result of lower revenue.
Our cash balance was $307 million, of which $274 million is held outside of the United States. Year-to-date free cash flow was $270 million, a decrease of 3% year-over-year, primarily driven by timing of receivables collections and tax payments as well as capital expenditures and capitalized software investments.
We returned $89 million to shareholders through a combination of dividends and share repurchases in the quarter. We ended the quarter at 3 times net debt to adjusted EBITDA, in line with our targeted range of 2.5 to 3 times leverage ratio. We expect to continue executing our capital return program with a goal of returning $750 million to $1 billion to shareholders through a combination of dividends and share buybacks in calendar year 2019, while staying at approximately 3 times net debt to adjusted EBITDA.
Now I'll provide an update on our guidance for the fiscal year, which we provide on an ASC 606 basis. We are maintaining a revenue guidance range of $2.32 billion to $2.35 billion. We are tightening our EBITDA dollar range to between $860 million and $875 million. We maintain our EPS guidance range for fiscal 2019 at the higher end of $3.70 to $3.80. Finally, we are maintaining our previous tax rate guidance of 25% to 26%. The details of our guidance ranges are included in today's press release and in the Investor Relations section of our website.
I'll now turn the call back over to the operator and we'll be happy to take your questions.
Questions and Answers:
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Ian Zaffino with Oppenheimer. Your line is now open.
Ian Zaffino -- Oppenheimer -- Analyst
Hi. Great, thank you very much. Just honing in on the guidance a little bit more. The revenue guide seems to be the same; the EBITDA guide changed a little bit. Can you just give an idea of what's driving that? Is it more on the cost front? Is it more on a mix-front? Then I have a follow-up. Thanks.
Joseph Tautges -- Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Yeah, good morning, Ian. Thanks for the question. When we look at the guide, Q3 was particularly strong as a result of 606 and so some of it is just the seasonality of the business. As you look at it, like you said, we feel good about -- about revenue being there. But when you look at the seasonality of 606, that drives a lower EPS in Q4. In addition, you heard Brian talk about some delays that we're experiencing in International, and that for sure -- we continued to invest both in North America and international, but some of those delays certainly had a bit of an impact on the bottom line as well.
Ian Zaffino -- Oppenheimer -- Analyst
Okay. I mean, I would have thought that the -- so on the International side, it's -- basically you're spending the cost right now and you're not seeing the revenues flow through because I would have thought that International has just some naturally lower margins, you would have sort of a favorable mix if International is a little bit weaker. But is that just the cost that you're kind of spending to support the rollout that's now been delayed?
Joseph Tautges -- Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Yeah. And I would say, just to make sure, Ian, the whole difference between Q3, Q4 is 606. It's just around how the treatment is handled for onsite licenses in International and that income and revenue gets reported largely when those are renewed, which was in our fiscal Q3. And I think this is the new normal around seasonality of the business.
Ian Zaffino -- Oppenheimer -- Analyst
Okay. And then, congratulations on having a higher site count year. Can we just dive into that a little bit more? What was the mix there between one to two dealers -- or one to two sites and then maybe larger site dealerships as well?
Joseph Tautges -- Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Yeah, I mean, listen, we're really pleased with the site performance. I mean, this has been a lot of hard work by the team, and when you look at sites, it was good performance across both segments. We saw continued strength in the three-plus segments. When you look at the one to two market, while it still had a slight decline, it was significantly better than where we've been historically. And to be honest with you -- I'll let Brian add in -- that just -- the messages and actions we're taking are resonating quite strongly with our customers and as well as rallying the Company around the focus around it. And this is -- I think when you look at a number of things that we're working through, whether it's some of the comments made on websites and so forth, when this team gets around an area and focuses on it, we can deliver quite exceptionally well, and we feel really good about where sites are at and with our ability to grow them for the year. So I'll let Brian add anything else.
Brian M. Krzanich -- Chief Executive Officer
Yeah. I think the only thing I would add is -- I think about sites with kind of three buckets. As you said, kind of the smaller sites, maybe one -- five or less rooftops, and then five and more, and going all the way up to the large enterprises. And then the third bucket being acquisition of new sites or winning share from our competitors. And if you look, all three of those segments did very well this quarter. And so I wouldn't say anyone is doing necessarily the heavy-lifting versus -- our focus is, again, all three. With the smaller sites, we're really showing them Drive Flex and beginning to show them just what's coming down the pipe as from technology. With the larger sites, a lot of it's around our customer success and really just providing them better support and service. And then with the new acquisition of sites, it's kind of a combination of all of those and the promise that CDK has about the technology.
Ian Zaffino -- Oppenheimer -- Analyst
Okay. Thank you very much for this. Appreciate it. I'll get back in queue. Thanks.
Brian M. Krzanich -- Chief Executive Officer
Thanks.
Operator
Our next question comes from the line of Matt Pfau with William Blair. Your line is now open.
Matt Pfau -- William Blair -- Analyst
Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my question. First, wanted to start off on the comments you made about the ability with Drive Flex to potentially target a broader set of potential customers. So maybe you can just help me understand what is it about Drive Flex that's different from your prior offering that's going to enable you to target a broader set of potential customers? And then if you do decide to do this, what does the investment around that look like? Do you need to hire out a new sales staff? Or what other support is needed to address those customers? Thanks.
Brian M. Krzanich -- Chief Executive Officer
Sure, I'll start and then Joe can add in. The way Drive Flex is kind of architected is, there -- a core layer that has all of the main components of the DMS and financial accounting and all that. And then you can get like modules added on top of that to allow you to do all the other desk -- an offer or bring in service and those kind of things. What Drive Flex allows us to do is really -- we can de-feature or feature and add as we go through. So when we looked at this, what we saw was an ability to go very quickly. The other thing is, because it's all based in the cloud, being able to do an installation remotely to some extent, especially with the -- a more simplified installation, we're able to do more of the work remotely, all based in the cloud, which allows us to access more customers. So when we talk about 50,000, I'd say there is the 20,000 dealers that are the traditional dealers that we talk about the large franchise dealers. There is an additional, say, 20,000 or so independent dealers that are accessible with Drive Flex. They typically need a slightly more de-featured solution, and we're able to do that with a relatively low investment of engineering effort, and we can approach those through the cloud as I described. And then there is an additional set of dealers that are both broader, across North America, Canada and Mexico and places like that, plus going into other areas like recreation, truck -- large truck, in areas like that that really allows us to go into a broader market there. And the flexibility of Drive Flex by its architecture and the fact that it's cloud based allows us to do that, from an engineering standpoint, with a relatively low investment. We think from a sales standpoint, it will require some investment, but the investment is not going to be equal to the franchise dealer type of market because we're able to do a lot of this over the phone or with the same resources we have in those locations. So there will be some additional resources to go after these larger markets, but increasing the TAM by that number we think is a significant improvement in our ability to grow the Company.
Joseph Tautges -- Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Yeah. I mean, the only thing I would add is just when you look at the investment, we were quite excited about how fast Drive Flex was taken up with almost two dozen. We did our second go-live just in the last day or two, a second dealer. And so we are sizing the investment. The good news is there's plenty of opportunity, and we see an opportunity to really accelerate the growth here. And so our forecast contemplates some portion of that investment, but we will update you as part of our year-end earnings as we look at the growing sites on a more accelerated pace and investing in the business and just looking at those trade-offs.
Matt Pfau -- William Blair -- Analyst
Great. And then just last one from me. On the advertising and website business, you mentioned that eventually you think those businesses have the potential to get back to growth. Maybe just help me understand what sort of factors are needed there to -- to grow those businesses. It seems like the website is moving, just in general, more away from exclusive providers to multi-source providers. So are there OEMs that you can get on their purchasing list or what's the plan there to help grow that business? Thanks.
Brian M. Krzanich -- Chief Executive Officer
Sure. I'll start and then Joe could add. We talked about it in the prepared remarks, but we've added additional resources and really focused the leadership in this space. One of the things we've done as a company is kind of spread those resources out across many organizations, and I'd say the organization didn't have quite the focus that I wanted to have it have. So we're bringing that back together, putting the leadership together for this to really drive -- we're expanding across additional OEMs. We are already in talks with several OEMs about expanding beyond. So there was just too much revenue concentration with one OEM. We're continuing to work with GM on this business. So we want to retain, even though they're going into choice, our goal is to retain as many of those customers as we can with great service and great technology. There are some investments we're going to make in the technology. I wouldn't say they are huge. But there are some improvements we can do to make ease of use and kind of the user interface a bit more friendly. And then we're going to go beyond I'd say the OEM market into kind of the local marketing groups that dealerships have in local areas that, again, kind of gets us to the next year but allows us to expand the available market as well. And so we think when we can get through those and kind of get over the hump of what's going to happen in the GM transition, we can grow this back again. But there will be a transition period that we go through next year.
Joseph Tautges -- Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Yeah. The only -- the only thing I would add is when we look at it, this will take us the next year to go work through. I think both the advertising and website programs have gone through quite a lot of change, and the team here has done a really nice job of working through that. Nonetheless, anytime you have that level of concentration, particularly within one segment, it's going to take us, like Brian said, some time to work through, and we'll continue to do that in a productive way at the same point in time just be clear about as we think about the impact it could have for next year.
Matt Pfau -- William Blair -- Analyst
Great. That's it from me, guys. Thanks a lot.
Joseph Tautges -- Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Thank you.
Operator
Our next question comes from the line of Gary Prestopino with Barrington Research. Your line is now open.
Gary Prestopino -- Barrington Research -- Analyst
Hi. Good morning, everyone. A couple of questions. I didn't get the core software sales in North America and across the enterprise. What was that percentage of this quarter?
Joseph Tautges -- Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
We don't disclose the specific sales number, but it is -- it is up high single digits.
Gary Prestopino -- Barrington Research -- Analyst
Okay, all right. Then, where exactly is your website revenue in our book? Is it in advertising? Or is it in the Retail Solutions?
Joseph Tautges -- Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
The website revenue is within RSNA.
Gary Prestopino -- Barrington Research -- Analyst
Okay, thanks. And then in terms of with GM giving dealers choices, what -- how does that work through the channel? I mean, you basically -- you've got the website of the dealer right now. Does GM then channel co-op advertising or co-op assistance to other providers and that would -- might give the incentive for a dealer to de-convert?
Joseph Tautges -- Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Yeah. So I'll start and then others can add. So right now, yes, there's co-op dollars under a sole endorsed arrangement. I think as you look at the RFP going forward, there is a different contemplation of services and website solution that's been asked to be provided by the vendors they've asked to participate. So we're in early stages, Gary. I don't know how it will land and what the economic construct of it will be. What I would tell you is that GM has taken a very similar approach with websites is it did with advertising, open up to multi-vendors, let the companies come in and participate. And quite frankly, we think we fared quite well in the advertising biz with the multi-vendor program and now website's just going through that. So we'll update you more. It's still very early, and we're working it, and, as we say, continue to be the sole endorsed provider. Nonetheless, we'll share more updates as we get closer to Q4 and we start to see how this plays out.
Gary Prestopino -- Barrington Research -- Analyst
Okay. And then two more questions. Where -- what OEMs have endorsed you for Drive Flex at this point?
Brian M. Krzanich -- Chief Executive Officer
Currently, it's -- the only one that we've completed still is GM. We are going through a couple of other vendors or OEMs currently.
Gary Prestopino -- Barrington Research -- Analyst
Okay. And when -- when do you think you get your main OEMs or -- the OEMs that you want on that endorsement list?
Brian M. Krzanich -- Chief Executive Officer
Sure. So, we're still targeting roughly toward the end of calendar 2019 for getting the major OEMs completed. We are adding in now the ability, like I said, to go after the independents and some work in Canada as well. So we're actually adding to our workload. But our plan is still to get the major OEMs done by roughly the end of calendar 2019.
Gary Prestopino -- Barrington Research -- Analyst
Okay. And then the last question I have, in terms of the average monthly revenue per site. Is that mainly a function of your leads and additional layered application sales? I would assume that that's what's driving that number.
Joseph Tautges -- Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Yes, that's right, Gary, and don't forget, I think this quarter versus last quarter, we did -- we did decide that there were certain charges that we charge related to the data services for that business and now that we own it effective January 1st, those charges went away to our customers. And so...
Brian M. Krzanich -- Chief Executive Officer
Specifically around ELEAD.
Joseph Tautges -- Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Specifically around ELEAD and so you'll see that that had some impact on the slower site growth in the quarter year-over-year. But you're right, the contributing factors -- and we continuing to see good penetration, particularly in Doc Cloud as well as service and as well as adding ELEAD.
Gary Prestopino -- Barrington Research -- Analyst
Okay. Thank you.
Joseph Tautges -- Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Yup.
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Our next question comes from the line of Brian Essex with Morgan Stanley. Your line is now open.
Jonathan -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Hey, guys, this is Jonathan on for Brian. Thanks for taking my question. Brian, this one is for you. Now that you've been with CDK for about six months and you've had sort of time to dig into it, what is the opportunity you see before you in near term and then in the longer term?
Brian M. Krzanich -- Chief Executive Officer
Sure, Brian. I tell you it hasn't changed dramatically. I mean, I guess I'd done enough research prior to coming to CDK that -- the model that I had coming in has only probably increased both in detail and scope of what's available. And that's really around -- in what you -- and you heard it in our prepared remarks today, that we can turn the site loss, right, so we talked about 10 quarters of site loss being turned around in this quarter. I'm really proud of the team. It's, as you said, six months. We made some big announcements at NADA. The team has worked really hard. And all three segments really improved, both small sites, larger sites and site acquisitions relative to our competition. Joe and I talked about -- we think we can continue to grow that. We've then identified expenses TAM by going into the independent market and we've already made progress in that space. And then the conversion to Drive Flex and expansion of our layered apps into -- beyond CDK DMS sites will allow us to, I believe, continue to grow the Company quite nicely over the next few years. And then the headwinds that we've talked about at this earnings are ones that I think were visible coming into the Company, namely, that some of the layered apps and some of the applications needed more engineering focus. I think the team is pivoted well. You saw our announcement this morning of our new CTO. Mahesh comes with a lot of really good industry experience; excited to have him join the Company. And then I think the website and advertising is an area where we really just had to get the right leaders in place kind of recoalesce the team and get growth mindset back in there. We'll have to work through the GM headwinds. We had too much singular OEM focus or concentration. But we'll work through that over the next year, and I'm confident the team can make good progress there as well. So I tell you, it's the main thing -- major concepts that I had coming in. But I think we've actually found more opportunity. I'll tell you that the independents wasn't on my list. Understanding what the opportunities are in Canada and other international markets wasn't quite clear to me coming in. And so those are much better than what I anticipated.
Jonathan -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Appreciate the color, Brian. Thank you.
Operator
And I'm showing no further questions in queue at this time. I'd like to turn the call back to Brian for management's closing remarks.
Brian M. Krzanich -- Chief Executive Officer
Sure. I just want to thank you all for joining us this morning. As I said in the prepared remarks and then -- and I hope they came across in Joe's and my (ph) responses in the questions, we're really happy with the results this quarter, and we're seeing positive signs that we believe that we're very clearly indicating that we're on a path for sustainably delivering strong revenue and earnings growth. I look forward to providing you more updates as we go through the next quarter and complete 2019 fiscal year. So everybody have a great day. And thank you very much for coming.
Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your participation in today's conference. This concludes the program, and you may now disconnect. Everyone, have a great day.
Duration: 42 minutes
Call participants:
Katie Coleman -- Senior Director of Investor Relations
Brian M. Krzanich -- Chief Executive Officer
Joseph Tautges -- Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Ian Zaffino -- Oppenheimer -- Analyst
Matt Pfau -- William Blair -- Analyst
Gary Prestopino -- Barrington Research -- Analyst
Jonathan -- Morgan Stanley -- Analyst
Transcript powered by AlphaStreet
This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability.
