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Newsweek's 2026 Most Trustworthy Company Honoree Strengthens Sonic's Northern California Presence and Expands Its Porsche Portfolio to Six Dealerships

, /PRNewswire/ -- Sonic Automotive, Inc. (NYSE: SAH), one of the nation's largest automotive and powersports retailers and a recipient of Newsweek's 2026 Most Trustworthy Companies in America recognition, today announced the acquisition of Porsche Walnut Creek, further expanding its presence in the Bay Area market.

This acquisition advances Sonic Automotive's investment in luxury automotive retail and strengthens its relationship with the Porsche brand. Porsche Walnut Creek serves Walnut Creek, the East Bay, and the greater San Francisco Bay Area, and is located in one of Northern California's most desirable automotive markets, where clients expect performance, personalization, convenience, and exceptional care.

Previously operated by Fletcher Jones Automotive Group, Porsche Walnut Creek is located at 2555 N. Main Street in Walnut Creek, California, ideally situated off the 680 Freeway. The dealership is known for its boutique guest experience, and this acquisition complements that legacy with Sonic Automotive's reputation for delivering world-class guest experiences.

"The Bay Area is one of the most important luxury automotive markets in the country, and this acquisition reflects our ongoing commitment to expanding in premium, high-performing markets," said David B. Smith, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sonic Automotive, Inc. "Porsche Walnut Creek has an outstanding reputation and a guest experience that aligns perfectly with our vision for the future of luxury automotive retail. We are proud to welcome this dealership and teammates into the Sonic Automotive family."

With the addition of Porsche Walnut Creek, Sonic Automotive now operates six Porsche dealerships nationwide, enhancing its ability to serve Porsche clients and enthusiasts in key luxury markets. This acquisition supports Sonic's broader luxury growth strategy and expands its California portfolio, which includes BMW, Honda, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, MINI, and Toyota. The company also operates EchoPark Automotive and Harley-Davidson dealerships in the state.

Porsche Walnut Creek offers the full Porsche experience, including new Porsche vehicles, Porsche Certified Pre-Owned vehicles, pre-owned vehicles, factory-trained service, Porsche Genuine Parts, and personalized support throughout the ownership journey. Serving the Walnut Creek community since 2006, the Porsche Center has built its reputation around experienced teammates, long-standing client relationships, and a deep appreciation for the Porsche brand. The team brings decades of combined automotive and German luxury experience across sales, service advising, and technical expertise, including Porsche Certified Gold Technicians.

The acquisition comes at an exciting time for Porsche's SUV portfolio. The Cayenne has long been a cornerstone of the brand, and the Cayenne Electric, the first fully electric version of one of Porsche's most iconic nameplates, is now beginning to arrive. Joining the existing gas and hybrid variants, it further expands customer choice across the Cayenne family and the broader Porsche lineup. For Porsche Walnut Creek, this creates an opportunity to introduce Bay Area clients to a new expression of Porsche performance, versatility, and electric innovation.

Clients will continue to be served by the same dedicated Porsche Walnut Creek team, including General Manager Mike Pardini, who has served clients there for 22 years. A Walnut Creek native, Pardini has deep roots in the community and a long-standing personal connection to the Porsche brand. His father also served clients at Porsche Walnut Creek for 15 years, creating a family legacy tied to the Porsche Center and its clients.

In addition to Porsche Walnut Creek, Sonic Automotive serves automotive and powersports clients in California through its portfolio of dealerships, including Autobahn Motors, Beverly Hills BMW, BMW and MINI of Monrovia, Buena Park Honda, Carson Honda, Concord Honda, Concord Toyota, Crown Lexus, EchoPark Sacramento, Honda of Serramonte, Honda of Stevens Creek, Jaguar Land Rover Beverly Hills, Jaguar Land Rover Newport Beach, Jaguar Land Rover San Jose, Land Rover Pasadena, Land Rover Santa Monica, Lexus of Marin, Lexus of Serramonte, Long Beach BMW, Mercedes-Benz of Calabasas, Mercedes-Benz of Walnut Creek, Poway Honda, San Diego Harley-Davidson, Stevens Creek BMW, and W.I. Simonson Mercedes-Benz.

About Porsche Walnut Creek

Porsche Walnut Creek is an established Porsche Center serving Walnut Creek, the East Bay, and the greater San Francisco Bay Area. The Porsche Center offers new Porsche vehicles, Porsche Certified Pre-Owned vehicles, pre-owned vehicles, factory-trained service, genuine Porsche parts, and personalized support throughout every stage of the Porsche ownership journey. Serving the Walnut Creek community since 2006, Porsche Walnut Creek is committed to delivering an elevated automotive experience defined by performance, expertise, hospitality, convenience, and long-term client relationships. Find out more at porschewalnutcreek.com.

About Sonic Automotive

For more than 60 years, Sonic Automotive has pursued a single purpose: to deliver an experience for our guests and our teammates that fulfills dreams, enriches lives, and delivers happiness. We don't simply sell and service vehicles. We help people pursue their dreams, whether it's a guest purchasing their first vehicle, a family creating lifelong memories, or a teammate building a meaningful career.

Founded in 1966 by Bruton Smith, the company has grown into a Fortune 300 company under the leadership of Chairman and CEO David B. Smith. Today, more than 11,000 teammates bring the company's purpose to life across a nationwide network of 173 automotive and powersports franchises in 145 locations in 90 cities and 21 states. We are proud to represent 24 automotive and 15 powersports brands and have helped more than 7 million guests purchase vehicles, delivered over 40 million service experiences, and earned more than 1 million 5-star reviews by consistently putting people first.

At Sonic Automotive, we believe trust isn't claimed — it's earned through transparency, consistency, integrity, and genuine care. That's why we were the only automotive and powersports retailer recognized by Newsweek as one of America's Most Trustworthy Companies in 2026. As the automotive and powersports industries continue to evolve, our mission remains constant: to innovate, lead with integrity, and create exceptional experiences that inspire confidence, build lifelong relationships, and positively impact every life we touch.

Sonic Automotive. Driven By People. Inspired By Purpose. For more information, visit www.sonicautomotive.com and ir.sonicautomotive.com.

Sonic Automotive Press Inquiries
Sonic Automotive Media Relations
[email protected]

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Key Takeaways Sonic Automotive's Q2 adjusted EPS beat estimates by 4%, while revenues rose 8% to $3.93 billion.EchoPark revenues rose 15% as retail used-vehicle sales volume increased 17%, but unit profit fell 12%.Sonic Automotive's Powersports revenues surged 53%, while new and used retail unit volumes rose sharply. Sonic Automotive, Inc. (SAH - Free Report) reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.82 per share. Earnings declined 17% year over year but beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.75 by 4%. Revenues rose 8% to $3.93 billion and topped the consensus mark of $3.78 billion by 4%. The quarter benefited from higher retail new and used vehicle volumes and growth across EchoPark and Powersports segments.

At the consolidated level, gross profit rose 2% to $616.2 million. Adjusted SG&A expenses increased 6% to $443.4 million. Adjusted SG&A, as a percentage of gross profit, was 72.0% compared with 69.2% a year earlier. Adjusted net income fell 23% to $58.3 million.

SAH’s Franchise Revenues Rise as Vehicle Margins NarrowFranchised Dealerships segment revenues increased 6% year over year to $3.28 billion. New-vehicle revenues rose 5% to $1.76 billion, while used-vehicle revenues increased 9% to $814.3 million. Parts, service and collision repair revenues advanced 6% to $515.5 million, while finance, insurance and other revenues increased 2% to $147.9 million.

Retail new-vehicle unit volume rose 1%, and used-vehicle volume advanced 6%. Profit per vehicle remained under pressure. Reported retail new-vehicle gross profit per unit fell 11% to $3,024, while used-vehicle gross profit per unit declined 12% to $1,399.

Segment income was $70.7 million, down 23% from the year-ago period. Management cited difficult comparisons tied to pre-tariff consumer demand pull-forward in the second quarter of 2025.

Sonic’s EchoPark Growth Comes With Lower Unit ProfitEchoPark revenues increased 15% to $582.9 million, while gross profit rose 4% to a second-quarter record $64.3 million. Retail used-vehicle sales volume increased 17% as Sonic carried more affordable inventory and expanded its non-auction sourcing mix. Wholesale vehicle volumes increased 12%.

That volume growth came with lower per-unit economics. Total used-vehicle and F&I gross profit per unit fell 12% to $3,292. Segment income dropped 38% to $7.2 million, while adjusted EBITDA declined 15% to $13.9 million.

SAH’s Powersports Business Posts Strong ExpansionPowersports revenues surged 53% to a second-quarter record $73.5 million. Gross profit increased 58% to $19.7 million. New retail unit volume rose 27% to 1,775 units, while used retail volume jumped 61% to 1,317 units.

Finance and insurance revenues climbed 75% to $3.5 million, with F&I gross profit per unit up 27% to $1,125. Segment income improved to $2.3 million from breakeven, and adjusted EBITDA increased 145% to $4.9 million. The five Harley-Davidson dealerships acquired in April are expected to add about $100 million in annualized revenue.

SAH Raises New-Vehicle GPU View, Keeps Growth FocusSonic ended the quarter with about $294 million of cash and floor plan deposits and roughly $676 million of total available liquidity. The board approved a quarterly dividend of 41 cents per share, to be paid out on Oct. 15, 2026, to stockholders of record as of Sept. 15.

Management raised full-year new-vehicle gross profit per unit guidance to $2,850-$3,000 from $2,700-$3,000. EchoPark is still expected to deliver 12%-15% retail used-unit growth, total gross profit per unit of $3,100-$3,300 and adjusted EBITDA of $35-$40 million. Sonic also expects $8-$12 million of incremental EchoPark brand marketing expense in the fourth quarter and plans to open an Orlando location during the quarter.

Sonic currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Peer ReleasesPenske Automotive Group, Inc. (PAG - Free Report) reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $3.62 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.38 by 7.1%. Adjusted earnings declined 4.2% from the comparable $3.78 per share a year ago. Penske’s revenues rose 6% year over year to $8.51 billion and topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7.93 billion by 7.4%. For the first six months of 2026, cash flow from operations totaled $418 million and capital expenditures were $134.9 million. As of June 30, Penske’s liquidity was about $1.4 billion, including $69.5 million in cash.

Lithia Motors (LAD - Free Report) posted second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $10.03 per share, which increased 9% from $9.20 a year ago. The bottom line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $8.67 by 15.7%. Quarterly revenues increased 2.2% year over year to $9.79 billion and topped the consensus estimate of $9.64 billion by 1.6%. As of June 30, 2026, Lithia had cash, restricted cash and cash equivalents of $363.9 million, up from $341.8 million as of Dec. 31, 2025.During the quarter, Lithia repurchased roughly 854,000 shares at a weighted average price of $284, representing $242 million of share repurchases.

AutoNation, Inc. (AN - Free Report) reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $5.56 per share, up 1.8% from $5.46 a year ago. Earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5.43 by 2.4%. Revenues of $6.93 billion declined 0.6% year over year and missed the consensus estimate of $6.97 billion by 0.6%. Parts and service revenues increased 3.4% year over year to $1.26 billion. Gross profit rose 1.4% to a record $607.1 million, making After-Sales the largest contributor to AutoNation's gross profit. As of June 30, 2026, AutoNation had cash and cash equivalents of $53.3 million. Non-vehicle debt was $4.43 billion.

Wall Street expects a year-over-year decline in earnings on higher revenues when Sonic Automotive (SAH - Free Report) reports results for the quarter ended June 2026. While this widely-known consensus outlook is important in gauging the company's earnings picture, a powerful factor that could impact its near-term stock price is how the actual results compare to these estimates.

The earnings report, which is expected to be released on July 30, might help the stock move higher if these key numbers are better than expectations. On the other hand, if they miss, the stock may move lower.

While management's discussion of business conditions on the earnings call will mostly determine the sustainability of the immediate price change and future earnings expectations, it's worth having a handicapping insight into the odds of a positive EPS surprise.

Zacks Consensus EstimateThis auto dealer is expected to post quarterly earnings of $1.75 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of -20.1%.

Revenues are expected to be $3.78 billion, up 3.4% from the year-ago quarter.

Estimate Revisions TrendThe consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has been revised 0.35% lower over the last 30 days to the current level. This is essentially a reflection of how the covering analysts have collectively reassessed their initial estimates over this period.

Investors should keep in mind that the direction of estimate revisions by each of the covering analysts may not always get reflected in the aggregate change.

Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Earnings WhisperEstimate revisions ahead of a company's earnings release offer clues to the business conditions for the period whose results are coming out. Our proprietary surprise prediction model -- the Zacks Earnings ESP (Expected Surprise Prediction) -- has this insight at its core.

The Zacks Earnings ESP compares the Most Accurate Estimate to the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the quarter; the Most Accurate Estimate is a more recent version of the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. The idea here is that analysts revising their estimates right before an earnings release have the latest information, which could potentially be more accurate than what they and others contributing to the consensus had predicted earlier.

Thus, a positive or negative Earnings ESP reading theoretically indicates the likely deviation of the actual earnings from the consensus estimate. However, the model's predictive power is significant for positive ESP readings only.

A positive Earnings ESP is a strong predictor of an earnings beat, particularly when combined with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold). Our research shows that stocks with this combination produce a positive surprise nearly 70% of the time, and a solid Zacks Rank actually increases the predictive power of Earnings ESP.

Please note that a negative Earnings ESP reading is not indicative of an earnings miss. Our research shows that it is difficult to predict an earnings beat with any degree of confidence for stocks with negative Earnings ESP readings and/or Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell) or 5 (Strong Sell).

How Have the Numbers Shaped Up for Sonic Automotive?For Sonic Automotive, the Most Accurate Estimate is the same as the Zacks Consensus Estimate, suggesting that there are no recent analyst views which differ from what have been considered to derive the consensus estimate. This has resulted in an Earnings ESP of 0%.

On the other hand, the stock currently carries a Zacks Rank of #2.

So, this combination makes it difficult to conclusively predict that Sonic Automotive will beat the consensus EPS estimate.

Does Earnings Surprise History Hold Any Clue?While calculating estimates for a company's future earnings, analysts often consider to what extent it has been able to match past consensus estimates. So, it's worth taking a look at the surprise history for gauging its influence on the upcoming number.

For the last reported quarter, it was expected that Sonic Automotive would post earnings of $1.46 per share when it actually produced earnings of $1.62, delivering a surprise of +10.96%.

Over the last four quarters, the company has beaten consensus EPS estimates two times.

Bottom LineAn earnings beat or miss may not be the sole basis for a stock moving higher or lower. Many stocks end up losing ground despite an earnings beat due to other factors that disappoint investors. Similarly, unforeseen catalysts help a number of stocks gain despite an earnings miss.

That said, betting on stocks that are expected to beat earnings expectations does increase the odds of success. This is why it's worth checking a company's Earnings ESP and Zacks Rank ahead of its quarterly release. Make sure to utilize our Earnings ESP Filter to uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they've reported.

Sonic Automotive doesn't appear a compelling earnings-beat candidate. However, investors should pay attention to other factors too for betting on this stock or staying away from it ahead of its earnings release.

Expected Results of an Industry PlayerAnother stock from the Zacks Automotive - Retail and Whole Sales industry, Lithia Motors (LAD - Free Report) , is soon expected to post earnings of $8.67 per share for the quarter ended June 2026. This estimate indicates a year-over-year change of -15.3%. Revenues for the quarter are expected to be $9.64 billion, up 0.6% from the year-ago quarter.

The consensus EPS estimate for Lithia Motors has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. However, a lower Most Accurate Estimate has resulted in an Earnings ESP of -0.31%.

When combined with a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold), this Earnings ESP makes it difficult to conclusively predict that Lithia Motors will beat the consensus EPS estimate. Over the last four quarters, the company surpassed consensus EPS estimates three times.

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.