Monro reports Q3 adjusted EPS 43c, consensus 43c

Reports Q3 revenue $335.19M, consensus $330.88M. Comparable store sales, adjusted for days, increased approximately 8% for tires and 7% for maintenance services compared to the prior year period. Comparable store sales, adjusted for days, decreased approximately 5% for brakes, alignments and front end/shocks. "Driven by strength in tires and a comparable store sales increase of approximately 12% in our small or underperforming stores, we delivered mid-single digit comp store sales growth of approximately 6% in the third quarter. Given broad-based inflationary pressures on the consumer, we saw customers continue to trade down to lower priced tire options and defer vehicle maintenance in some of our key service categories. Repositioning our tire assortment ahead of the winter selling season to give our customers the right tire at the right price allowed us to drive additional customer traffic to our stores, which resulted in tire unit growth and outperformance in tire units versus the industry in the third quarter. In line with our strategy to develop a long-term relationship with our customers, we chose not to fully pass-through parts inflation to an already stretched consumer. While a higher sales mix of tires versus service, customer trade downs to opening price point tires, our investments in price, and continued labor cost pressure impacted our gross margin, prudent cost control in the third quarter allowed us to leverage operating expenses on mid-single digit growth in comparable store sales. Encouragingly, our sales momentum has continued into fiscal January, with our preliminary comparable store sales up approximately 8%," said Mike Broderick, president and CEO.