AutoNation, Inc.

Good morning. My name is Shalon, and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the AutoNation second quarter 2021 earnings conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star, followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press the pound key. Thank you. I would now like to turn the call over to Rob Botero, Vice President of Investor Relations. You may begin your conference.

Thank you. Good morning and welcome to AutoNation's second quarter 2021 conference call and webcast. Please ensure that your lines are muted until the operator announces your turn to ask a question. Leading our call today will be Mike Jackson, our Chief Executive Officer, and Joe Lauer, our Chief Financial Officer. Following their remarks, we will open up the call for questions. I will be available by phone following the call to address any additional questions that you may have. Before we begin, let me read our brief statement regarding forward-looking comments. Certain statements and information on this call, including any statements regarding our anticipated financial results and objectives, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Federal Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks that may cause our actual results or performance to differ materially from such forward-looking statements. Additional discussions of factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially are contained in our press release issued earlier today and in our SEC filings, including our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K. And now I'll turn the call over to AutoNation's Chief Executive Officer, Mike Jackson.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us. Today we reported all-time record quarter results with adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations of $4.83, an increase of 243% compared to last year. This marks AutoNation's fifth consecutive all-time record quarter with stellar performances across all our business sectors. Our second quarter of same-store revenue was an industry-leading record $7 billion, which was up 54% compared to the same period a year ago and up 33% compared to 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a dramatic shift in consumer spending priorities. They want bigger homes and the safety and convenience of personal transportation. Combined with low interest rates, this strong vehicle demand has led to faster inventory turnover and consumers are buying vehicles before they even arrive at our stores. We expect the current environment of demand exceeding supply to continue into 2022. New vehicle shipments for the quarter were up 100% compared to last year and only down 6% compared to 2019. With demand outpacing supply, manufacturers are unable to increase their available inventory, and with a limited supply of new vehicles, many consumers are opting for pre-owned vehicles. With consumer demand high for personal transportation, we're aggressively moved to increase our availability of pre-owned vehicles. Almost 90% of our pre-owned vehicles retailed in the second quarter were self-sourced. Self-sourcing is a core capability and a competitive advantage for automation. A proven acquisition strategy, successful will-buy-your-car program, digital tools, and operational execution allow us to source attractive inventories drive used vehicle fares, and deliver a peerless customer experience. AutoNation's same-store pre-owned units were up 37% year-over-year and up 32% compared to 2019. Continued strength of our pre-owned business was also evident in the success and profitability of our six AutoNation USA stores. We opened AutoNation USA San Antonio in May. The store exceeded expectations, and the store was profitable in its first full month of operation. We are on track to open four additional stores in the second half of this year. Turning to capital allocation, from January 1st to July 15th, we repurchased 15% of our shares outstanding. We remain committed to opportunistic capital allocation and delivering value to our shareholders. I now turn the call over to Joe Lauer, our Chief Financial Officer.