What: Shares of TrueCar (TRUE -3.00%), a leading Internet based car-buying services company, moved 10% higher on Tuesday after the automotive industry reported strong sales figures for the month of October.
So what: The 10,000 foot view for TrueCar's 10% move Tuesday is pretty straightforward. As the number of new-vehicle sales surges higher in the U.S. market -- October's annualized sales rate checked in at 18.23 million, the highest since July 2005 -- TrueCar's transactions between its dealership network and car-buying consumers should be poised to benefit.
"October marks the 22nd consecutive month of record-setting revenue, and the industry remains healthy even with an uptick in incentives," said TrueCar Executive Vice President Larry Dominique, who also leads TrueCar's ALG unit, in a press release. "Automakers are enjoying double-digit revenue gains in advance of the holiday season. Historically, December is a strong month for the industry in terms of both sales and revenue."
While U.S. new-vehicle sales remain red hot, and we're entering a strong holiday season, it's also important for investors to understand some context about the strong automotive sales reported Tuesday.
First, there was one additional selling day in this year's October, compared to last year, and many automakers report the total volume gains rather than an adjusted figure. Second, in addition to one more selling day, October gifted automakers a fifth Saturday, which enabled more weekend foot traffic and transactions to take place.
Now what: There's no question that a surging U.S. automotive industry provides a healthier landscape for TrueCar's business, and that's providing optimism heading into the company's third-quarter earnings conference call on Thursday, November 5, 2015. Last quarter, TrueCar's revenue and average monthly unique visitors continued moving higher, but the company's adjusted-EBITDA plunged, and its stock price mimicked that plunge. Those will be three things for investors to watch come TrueCar's conference call on Thursday.
