Record quarterly revenue and unit sales through Certified Dealers
TrueCar, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRUE), the modern car-buying service, today announced its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2015.
- Third quarter total revenue up 28% from a year ago to a record $72.4 million; best-ever transaction revenue of $67.4 million, up 30% year over year.
- TrueCar users purchased 208,034 vehicles from TrueCar Certified Dealers, up 21% year over year and the most in company history.
- Net loss of $(11.1) million, or $(0.13) per share, compared to net loss of $(14.7) million, or $(0.18) per share, in the second quarter of 2015.
- Third quarter Non-GAAP net loss(1) of $(2.1) million, or $(0.03) per share, compared to Non-GAAP net loss of $(3.8) million, or $(0.05) per share, in the second quarter of 2015.
- Third quarter Adjusted EBITDA(2)[1]of $2.7 million, representing an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 3.7%, up from $0.5 million, representing an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 0.7% in the second quarter of 2015.
- Third quarter operating cash flow of $2.7 million, up from $1.5 million in the third quarter of 2014.
- Franchise Dealer count(3) was 8,702 as of September 30, 2015, representing approximately 28% of all new car franchises.
Management Commentary
“I’m pleased with our execution and financial performance for the quarter,” said Mike Guthrie, TrueCar’s Chief Financial Officer and interim Chief Operating Officer.
In the third quarter, TrueCar reached all-time records for unique visitors, prospects and units across all three channels: USAA; TrueCar-branded; and Other Partner. Total unique visitors reached 6.6 million in the third quarter, representing year-over-year growth of 43%.
Traffic in the TrueCar-branded channel alone was 4.6 million, up 55% over last year, while unique visitors in the USAA channel grew 32% year over year, versus just 3% growth last quarter. Traffic in our Other Partner channel also exhibited strong improvement in growth with unique visitors of 1.4 million for the quarter, up 18% year over year, versus 8% traffic growth in the second quarter of this year.
TrueCar’s prospect levels crested one million for the first time in the third quarter and grew by 29% year over year, an acceleration over the first and second quarter of this year when prospect growth rates were 21% and 20%, respectively.
TrueCar’s Certified Dealer partners sold a record 208,034 new and used vehicles to TrueCar users during the quarter, up 21% from a year ago. USAA units grew by 19% year over year, an acceleration over the past two quarters when unit growth was 10% and 14%, respectively.
Cost per sale in the TrueCar channel improved by 11% sequentially to a near-record low of $193, while units in the channel grew to just under 90,000, up 28% year over year.
“I am particularly excited with the performance of our affinity partner channels this past quarter, where we had healthy growth rates across all of our key metrics,” Guthrie said. “In particular, we are working better than ever with our partners at USAA and are pleased that more USAA members than ever are having great car buying experiences at TrueCar Certified Dealers. Also, with new partners such as Sam’s Club coming online, we believe our dealer partners will see significant demand from our affinity channels in the fourth quarter and into 2016.”
Third Quarter 2015 Financial Highlights
- Record total revenue of $72.4 million and record transaction revenue of $67.4 million.
- Net loss of $(11.1) million, or $(0.13) per basic and diluted share, compared to net loss of $(14.7) million, or $(0.18) per share, in the second quarter of 2015. This compares to a net loss of $(13.6) million, or $(0.18) per basic and diluted share, in the third quarter of 2014.
- Non-GAAP net loss of $(2.1) million, or $(0.03) per basic and diluted share, improved from Non-GAAP net loss of $(3.8) million, or $(0.05) per basic and diluted share in the second quarter of 2015. This compares to Non-GAAP net income of $0.3 million, or $0.00 per basic and diluted share, in the third quarter of 2014.
- Adjusted EBITDA of $2.7 million, representing an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 3.7%, up from $0.5 million in the second quarter of 2015.
Key Operating Metrics[2]
- Average monthly unique visitors(4)increased 43% to a record 6.6 million in the third quarter of 2015, up from approximately 4.6 million in the third quarter of 2014.
- Units(5)increased 21% to 208,034 in the third quarter of 2015, up from 171,775 in the third quarter of 2014.
- Monetization(6)was $324 during the third quarter of 2015 compared to $303 during the third quarter of 2014.
- Franchise Dealer count was 8,702 as of September 30, 2015, representing approximately 28% of all new car franchises.
Business Outlook
TrueCar’s guidance for the fourth quarter ending December 31, 2015 is as follows:
- Revenues are expected to be in the range of $64.0 million to $65.5 million.
- Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be $0.5 million to $1 million.
Guidance for the full year ending December 31, 2015 is as follows:
- Revenues are expected to be in the range of $260.2 million to $261.7 million.
- Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in the range of $8.0 million to $8.5 million.
Conference Call Information
Members of TrueCar management will host a conference call today, November 5, 2015, to discuss the third quarter results at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. To participate, callers in the U.S. and Canada should dial 1-877-407-0789 and international callers should dial 1-201-689-8562 and reference the conference ID: 13620310. In addition, a live webcast of the call will be accessible through the Investor Relations section of TrueCar’s website at ir.true.com and will be archived online for 90 days upon completion of the conference call. A replay of the call will also be available until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time, on Thursday, November 19, 2015, by dialing 1-877-870-5176 (domestic) or 1-858-384-5517 (international) and entering the replay pin number: 13620310. TrueCar has used, and intends to continue to use, its Investor Relations website (ir.true.com), Twitter (@TrueCar) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/TrueCar), as means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD.
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