Good morning. As earnings season continues, uncertainty around tariffs is leading some companies to pull timelines for financial targets.
CarMax, the largest retailer of used cars in the U.S., reported results on Thursday for its fourth quarter that ended Feb. 28. But missing expectations and backing away from offering a long-term financial goals timeline, “given the potential impact of broader macro factors,” sent its stock price tumbling. At market close, CarMax shares were down about 17% amid a broader stock market selloff.
Bill Nash, president and CEO of CarMax, was asked on Thursday’s earnings call for further explanation of why the timeline was removed and whether the company had a pessimistic outlook on the economy. “It definitely wasn’t pessimistic,” Nash said.
He added: “Why put a target out there that’s really speculative, not knowing exactly where this environment is going to go?” Despite publicly not offering guidance, the company still intends to reach its long-term goals, he said.
CarMax is focused on growing sales and the bottom line, Enrique Mayor-Mora, EVP and CFO, said on the call. “I think that’s what’s important in this kind of environment,” he said. “At the appropriate time, we’ll come back with a timing outlook as well. We just need some more stability in what’s out there.”
The company’s fiscal Q4 net earnings per share was $0.58, up 81% versus a year ago, but missed analyst expectations of $0.66. And, the withdrawal of CarMax’s timeline to reach 2 million units of sales, $33 billion of annual revenue, and more than a 5% market share of up to 10-year-old vehicles “adds further uncertainty to high market uncertainty around U.S. tariff policy,” David Whiston, a strategist for Morningstar, wrote in an analyst note on Thursday. In addition, the company only updates its long-term goals at fiscal year-end. “We are maintaining our fair value estimate but will reassess all modeling inputs once the 10-K is filed,” he writes.
CarMax (No. 141 on the Fortune 500) reports its latest financial results in the shadow of a 25% tariff on auto imports to the U.S. that went into effect last week. U.S. car sales got a boost in March in anticipation of the added costs due to tariffs.
New car prices are definitely going to go up due to tariffs, Nash said during the earnings call. “I think, over time, what could happen is that the used car prices will also go up,” he said. “Now the question is how much will they go up over what period of time.”
CarMax isn’t the only Fortune 500 company this week that decided to pull some of its guidance. “Given the lack of economic clarity, it is premature at this time to provide an updated full-year outlook,” Delta Air Lines announced in its earnings report on Wednesday. In the first quarter, Delta’s revenue was $14 billion, up 2% year over year, and net income rose to $240 million, up from $37 million last year.
Have a good weekend. See you on Monday.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
Leaderboard
Fortune 500 Power Moves
Brian Newman has been appointed EVP and CFO of CVS Health (No. 6), effective April 21, the company announced Tuesday morning. Newman will succeed current CFO, Tom Cowhey, who began the role in January 2024. Cowhey, with CVS Health since 2022, will transition to serve as a strategic advisor to the president and CEO David Joyner, effective May 12. Joyner began his tenure as CEO in October.
Newman was most recently EVP and CFO of United Parcel Service. Before UPS, he spent 26 years with PepsiCo and served in finance leadership roles across Europe, Asia, and North and South America.
Mike Hansen will retire from his role as EVP and CFO of Cintas Corporation (No. 437), effective May 31. Hansen will transition to a new role as assistant to the CEO. Scott Garula, currently president of Cintas’ rental division, will succeed Hansen as EVP and CFO. Garula joined Cintas in 1996 as an accountant and has held various leadership positions within the company, including key roles within the finance team and was president of First Aid and Safety and Fire Protection before becoming president of the rental division.
Every Friday morning, the weekly Fortune 500 Power Moves column tracks Fortune 500 company C-suite shifts—see the most recent edition.
More notable moves this week:
Darline Llamas Llopis was named CFO of The Baltimore Orioles, a Major League Baseball team. Llamas Llopis spent four seasons with the Miami Dolphins, Hard Rock Stadium, and the F1 Miami Grand Prix as VP of finance and retail. She also previously served for four years as the director of finance and controller at the Los Angeles Rams.
Fred Cromer, EVP and CFO of Spirit Aviation Holdings, Inc., parent company of Spirit Airlines, LLC, (NYSE: SAVE), along with John Bendoraitis, EVP and COO, and Thomas Canfield, SVP and general counsel, are members of the Office of the President on an interim basis. Ted Christie, president and CEO, stepped down, effective April 7. The board of directors is in the process of appointing a permanent replacement.
Junichi Arai was appointed EVP and CFO of Recruit Holdings, the Japan-based global technology company and parent of Indeed and Glassdoor. Junichi was previously SVP of Corporate Strategy and Investor Relations at Recruit Holdings and director of Recruit Co., Ltd. He has held several other leadership roles over his nearly nine-year tenure at the company. Before joining Recruit, Arai-san was the founding partner of Nakamura Arai Partners and held management positions at Morgan Stanley Securities (currently Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities).
Carl T. “Pat” Schultz was appointed CFO of Microvast Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: MVST), a provider of advanced battery technologies. Schultz brings over 20 years of financial leadership experience. He spent 10 years at Air Liquide, serving most recently as CFO of North America. Before Air Liquide, he was at Genworth Financial serving in various accounting and financial leadership roles.
Big Deal
“The CFO Roadmap: Expanding Success Beyond Financial Metrics” is a new report by Aon. Multidimensional growth requires a strategic approach that includes funding through M&A, shaping through talent and market diversification, and securing through risk management, according to the report. Aon finds that there are three key drivers of change to consider when making growth plans.
Going deeper
Here are four Fortune weekend reads:
“Gold prices are on fire. Here’s why it’s a favorite investment during market volatility” by Jeff John Roberts
“Mira Murati’s reported $2 billion ‘seed’ funding suggests the AI boom is alive and well, even after a week of economic chaos” by Allie Garfinkle
“Treasuries have been a safe investment for decades, but that may be changing: ‘Other countries have a much better balance sheet’” by Alicia Adamczyk
“8 signs your work-life balance is in poor health—and how to fix it” by Judith Joseph
Overheard
“The most transformative advancements emerge not from haste, but from deliberate, strategic progress in both creation and application.”
—Faisal Hoque writes in a new Fortune opinion piece. Hoque is the founder of Shadoka, NextChapter, and other companies and the author of Transcend: Unlocking Humanity in the Age of AI.