Rush Reports Higher Third-Quarter Earnings
Rush Enterprises said its third-quarter profit increased to $15.2 million, or 37 cents a share, from $14.9 million, or 38 cents, a year ago. Sales rose 22.5% to $913.1 million.
The truck dealer said Class 8 retail sales increased 15% from the same time last year and accounted for 5.2% of the U.S. market.
Rush Enterprises is the only major publicly traded U.S. truck dealership, specializing in Peterbilt and Navistar International Corp. Class 8 tractors.
“We are encouraged by Navistar's progress over the past several months in regaining customer confidence in their truck and engine combinations. This was evidenced by their increase in order intake in September, the highest since December of 2011. We believe there is strong marketplace acceptance of the Cummins ISX 15-liter engine and Cummins SCR technology on the MaxxForce 13-liter engine in Navistar's Class 8 products,” Chairman and CEO W.M. “Rusty” Rush said in a statement.
Classes 4-7 medium-duty sales jumped 47%, and light-duty truck sales rose 42%.
The San Antonio-based company completed acquisitions in Kansas, Missouri and Virginia this quarter. It also entered into purchase agreements with two dealer groups to acquire locations in Illinois and Indiana.
“While we are pleased with our revenue growth this quarter, we continue to make substantial investments in acquisitions, technology and human resources that are necessary to support the growth of the organization and our long-term strategy,” said Rush.
