CarLotz, Inc.

NasdaqGM:LOTZ Stock Report

Market Cap: US$17.7m

This company has been acquired

The company may no longer be operating, as it has been acquired. Find out why through their latest events.

CarLotz Dividends and Buybacks

Dividend criteria checks 0/6

Key information

n/a

Dividend yield

-0.8%

Buyback Yield

Total Shareholder Yield-0.8%
Future Dividend Yieldn/a
Dividend Growthn/a
Next dividend pay daten/a
Ex dividend daten/a
Dividend per sharen/a
Payout ration/a

Recent dividend and buyback updates

No updates

Recent updates

Seeking Alpha • Aug 23

CarLotz: High-Return Merger Arb Play

Used vehicle e-commerce company Shift Technologies is acquiring peer CarLotz in an all-stock deal. At current prices, the spread stands at 17% in a hedged trade. The merger is highly rational for the buyer as it will provide Shift with CarLotz’s net cash while also allowing the company to launch its platform in East Coast markets. Spiking borrowing fees are the main risk in this merger arbitrage setup. A merger in the used vehicle ecommerce space. Shift Technologies (SFT) is buying a peer CarLotz (LOTZ) in an all-stock transaction. The exchange ratio is ~0.69 and at current prices implies a 41% spread. The main reason for the widespread seems to be SFT borrowing fees which now stand at 45%. Borrowing fees have lowered since the transaction announcement on August 9, however, there is still a risk that they spike to much higher levels which would erode the current spread in a hedged trade. Another risk is that of a forced buy-in if borrow would disappear. Current fee level would reduce the spread to 17% assuming the merger closes in Q4’22 as expected by the companies. The exchange ratio will be adjusted at closing but any changes should not be material. SFT Borrowing Fees (Interactive Brokers) Overall, the transaction seems highly rational for the buyer. First of all, the merger is basically an equity raise for SFT as the company will issue new shares worth $74m to receive $112m in LOTZ’s net cash. SFT currently has $100m in gross cash (-$156m in net cash) while the business has recently been burning ~$40-$50m in operating losses per quarter. Notably, the buyer’s cash burn should be somewhat lower going forward as the company has recently shifted its strategy to cut corporate overheads and perform most sales through online checkout sales. Nevertheless, the transaction will supply SFT with much needed liquidity. SFT’s management projects that after the merger no further financing will be needed to fund the operations through 2024 when the company is expected to reach profitability. Operationally, the merger appears to be equally synergistic. The companies have virtually no geographic overlap as LOTZ runs its business in mid-Atlantic markets whereas SFT primarily operates in West Coast states, suggesting that SFT’s platform launch in East Coast areas post-merger is likely. Moreover, given somewhat similar businesses, cost synergies coming from lower overheads and enhanced processes are expected to be significant (see below for more details on strategic rationale). Shift Technologies Investor Presentation, August 2022 Merger is subject to buyer and target shareholder approvals as well as a minimum net cash position of both companies upon closing. These conditions, however, are likely to be satisfied: LOTZ shareholder approval. 25% of the outstanding shares are held by PE firm TRP Capital Partners (19%) and sponsor Acamar Partners (6%). The Board, where directors from both TRP and Acamar have seats, has unanimously approved the merger. Other institutional shareholders, such as Tremblant (7%) and Vanguard (3%), are likely to approve the deal given premium to current share price and an all-stock deal which will allow to capture post-merger synergies. Adding other institutional equity holders, the count should easily exceed 50%. SFT shareholder approval. The management, which has already approved the merger, owns 9%. Another 16% are owned by Lithia Motors which is likely to vote for the merger given that it has been a strategic partner of SFT since 2018. Lithia helped the company obtain floor plan financing and has allowed SFT to use its facilities for car reconditioning/storage. Approval from institutional shareholders (the largest one is Nantahala Capital Management with an 8% stake) seems very likely considering the strategic rationale and LOTZ’s net cash position. Minimum cash amounts. The merger requires the companies to have at least -$10.5m (for Shift) and $58m (for CarLotz) in net cash if the merger closes in 2022 (the condition does not deduct long-term debt). Currently, SFT has $6m in gross cash less flooring line of credit, implying that the company can burn ~$16m by year-end to satisfy the requirement. This is admittedly a low figure given recent cash burn of $40-$50m per quarter. Despite the fact that management expects the new business strategy to yield $80m in standalone annual SG&A cost savings, an equity raise will likely be needed. The company has not provided any information on a potential equity raise so far. Meanwhile, for LOTZ the threshold implies that the company can have a cash burn of $25m per quarter and still make the cut. The company has recently had operating losses of $27m-$30m per quarter (excluding $11m in Q2’22 restructuring expense). However, in June LOTZ closed 50% of its stores - the move is expected to lower cash burn by ~$5m per quarter conservatively assuming the stores cannot be sub-leased. It is worth noting that if merger closing is delayed beyond year-end, the minimum cash threshold will be lowered by $5m for each additional month in 2023 for both companies. Spiking borrowing fees remain a risk in the setup. However, I believe this merger arbitrage might be worth playing without a short leg as LOTZ’s net cash position provides a margin of safety unless merger closing extends into mid-2023. Notably, there are still risks given SFT’s lackluster financial/liquidity position, the fact that SFT traded at breakeven price only recently and potential equity raises that the buyer might have to perform. Moreover, SFT would likely drop sharply in case of a deal break.
Seeking Alpha • Mar 16

CarLotz - Time To Abandon Ship

CEO summarily dismissed is a negative sign. Near-term trends look poor, and the Company is running out of time. Don't believe strategic value exists to lure a white knight at a large premium to cash.
Seeking Alpha • Jan 04

Why CarLotz Stock Looks Attractive Right Now

In Q3 2021, net revenue of the company increased by 128% to $68 million. Net losses increased to $3.5 million in the Q3 from $0.5 million in the year ago quarter. The company has opened 14 new hubs in 2021 to reach a cumulative number of 22 hubs. The new hubs are not generating results as expected and the pandemic has adversely affected the business. The company offers a digital and hassle-free process for its retail buyers, including a whole range of services like financing, insurance, and extended warranties.
Seeking Alpha • Nov 19

My DCF Model And Marketing Expenditures Make CarLotz A Buy

CarLotz offers a consignment-to-retail used vehicle marketplace. In the last annual report, the company noted that marketing expenditures would increase from around $4 million to more than $15 million. As a result, I expect revenue growth. I expect the company’s technology and data analytics tools to successfully offer real-time information about prices, sellers, and buyers. As a result, the company will decrease the days-to-sale figure. If the company continues to build hubs, revenue growth would also continue. Notice that management needs the hubs to support the reconditioning fees charged to LOTZ’s corporate vehicle sourcing partners. Notice that I am using a WACC of 15%, which was above the discount used by other investment advisors. Investors lost a fortune on the stock, and the volatility in the past was significant. I want to be very cautious with LOTZ.
Seeking Alpha • Aug 14

CarLotz Is A Buy At 1.15x Forward Sales

CarLotz, Inc. runs a vehicle consignment and remarketing business. Over the last six months, LOTZ opened a significant number of new hub locations. The number of employees also increased, and major marketing initiatives took place. If we assume a share price of $4, close to 66% of the company’s share price is represented by cash or assets that the company can sell. If we assume a market capitalization of $450 million, the enterprise value is equal to $230 million. With sales of $200 million, the company’s EV/Sales is 1.15x, which is cheap. Many individuals in social media are claiming that the company is highly undervalued.

Stability and Growth of Payments

Fetching dividends data

Stable Dividend: Insufficient data to determine if LOTZ's dividends per share have been stable in the past.

Growing Dividend: Insufficient data to determine if LOTZ's dividend payments have been increasing.

Dividend Yield vs Market

CarLotz Dividend Yield vs Market
How does LOTZ dividend yield compare to the market?
SegmentDividend Yield
Company (LOTZ)n/a
Market Bottom 25% (US)1.4%
Market Top 25% (US)4.3%
Industry Average (Specialty Retail)2.3%
Analyst forecast (LOTZ) (up to 3 years)n/a

Notable Dividend: Unable to evaluate LOTZ's dividend yield against the bottom 25% of dividend payers, as the company has not reported any recent payouts.

High Dividend: Unable to evaluate LOTZ's dividend yield against the top 25% of dividend payers, as the company has not reported any recent payouts.

Earnings Payout to Shareholders

Earnings Coverage: Insufficient data to calculate payout ratio to determine if its dividend payments are covered by earnings.

Cash Payout to Shareholders

Cash Flow Coverage: Unable to calculate sustainability of dividends as LOTZ has not reported any payouts.

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Company Analysis and Financial Data Status

DataLast Updated (UTC time)
Company Analysis2022/12/11 04:45
End of Day Share Price 2022/12/08 00:00
Earnings2022/09/30
Annual Earnings2021/12/31

Data Sources

The data used in our company analysis is from S&P Global Market Intelligence LLC. The following data is used in our analysis model to generate this report. Data is normalised which can introduce a delay from the source being available.

PackageDataTimeframeExample US Source *
Company Financials10 years
  • Income statement
  • Cash flow statement
  • Balance sheet
Analyst Consensus Estimates+3 years
  • Forecast financials
  • Analyst price targets
Market Prices30 years
  • Stock prices
  • Dividends, Splits and Actions
Ownership10 years
  • Top shareholders
  • Insider trading
Management10 years
  • Leadership team
  • Board of directors
Key Developments10 years
  • Company announcements

* Example for US securities, for non-US equivalent regulatory forms and sources are used.

Unless specified all financial data is based on a yearly period but updated quarterly. This is known as Trailing Twelve Month (TTM) or Last Twelve Month (LTM) Data. Learn more.

Analysis Model and Snowflake

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Industry and Sector Metrics

Our industry and section metrics are calculated every 6 hours by Simply Wall St, details of our process are available on Github.

Analyst Sources

CarLotz, Inc. is covered by 3 analysts. 1 of those analysts submitted the estimates of revenue or earnings used as inputs to our report. Analysts submissions are updated throughout the day.

AnalystInstitution
Gary PrestopinoBarrington Research Associates, Inc.
Emmanuel RosnerDeutsche Bank
Sharon ZackfiaWilliam Blair & Company L.L.C.