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Introduction & Market Context
AUTO1 Group SE (XETRA:AG1) delivered strong financial results in its Q2 2025 trading update presentation on July 30, 2025, reporting significant growth across all key metrics. The company, which operates the AUTO1.com merchant platform and Autohero retail business, saw its revenue increase by 29.8% year-over-year to €1.97 billion, while its adjusted EBITDA more than doubled to €42.3 million. Despite these impressive results, the stock declined by 2.72% following the earnings release, closing at €27.14, possibly reflecting concerns about the company’s high valuation with a P/E ratio of 89.67.
Quarterly Performance Highlights
AUTO1 Group’s Q2 2025 performance demonstrated robust growth across all key metrics, with total units sold increasing by 20.6% year-over-year to 200,498. This growth was accompanied by a 7.7% increase in average selling price to €9,828, contributing to the 29.8% revenue growth. Gross profit rose by 33.4% to €231.2 million, with gross profit per unit (GPU) improving by 10.3% to €1,148.
As shown in the following chart of key growth metrics:
The company’s merchant business, operating through AUTO1.com, continued to show strong momentum with units sold increasing by 18.9% to 176,674 and gross profit growing by 24.4% to €169.7 million. The merchant segment’s GPU improved by 4.6% to €961.
The following chart illustrates the merchant business growth:
The retail segment, Autohero, demonstrated even stronger growth with units sold increasing by 34.6% to 23,824 and gross profit surging by 66.6% to €61.5 million. Retail GPU showed impressive improvement, increasing by 22.2% to €2,538.
The retail segment’s performance is illustrated in this chart:
Strategic Initiatives
AUTO1 Group continues to expand its European footprint, with its drop-off network growing to 649 branches, adding 40 new locations in Q2 2025 alone. This expansion represents a 40% increase year-over-year and strengthens the company’s pan-European sourcing capabilities.
The company’s European sourcing network is visualized in the following map:
The company’s financing services showed particularly strong growth, with merchant sales financed increasing by 79% year-over-year to €328 million and units financed growing by 71% to 29,000. The portfolio balance reached €264 million.
The growth in merchant financing is illustrated in this chart:
AUTO1 Group has also improved its retail customer experience by reducing delivery times through its express hub network. The average delivery time decreased by 24% year-over-year to 9.4 days, with express hubs offering cars available within 72 hours.
Another strategic initiative highlighted was the expansion of in-house consumer financing to Spain, building on existing operations in Germany and Austria. This move supports the company’s vertical integration strategy and provides additional revenue streams.
Detailed Financial Analysis
AUTO1 Group’s Q2 2025 financial figures show strong performance across all key metrics, with operating expenses growing at a slower rate than revenue, contributing to the significant improvement in adjusted EBITDA.
The comprehensive financial overview is presented in this table:
The company’s adjusted EBITDA increased by 104.1% year-over-year to €42.3 million, with the adjusted EBITDA margin improving by 0.7 percentage points to 2.1%. However, compared to Q1 2025, the adjusted EBITDA decreased from €58.1 million, primarily due to increased employee costs, marketing expenses, and logistics costs.
The following EBITDA bridge explains the quarter-over-quarter change:
AUTO1 Group maintains a strong balance sheet with €618 million in cash and no corporate debt. The company’s inventory increased to €822 million, financed through its inventory ABS facility, while captive finance assets grew to €710 million, comprising €264 million in merchant loans and €446 million in consumer loans.
The balance sheet summary is shown in this chart:
Forward-Looking Statements
Based on the strong performance in Q2 2025, AUTO1 Group has upgraded its full-year 2025 guidance across all metrics. The company now expects group units sold to reach 772,000-817,000 (up from 735,000-795,000), with merchant units of 680,000-720,000 and Autohero retail units of 92,000-97,000.
The financial guidance has also been upgraded, with gross profit now expected to reach €890-940 million (up from €845-905 million) and adjusted EBITDA projected at €160-190 million (up from €150-180 million).
The upgraded guidance is presented in this table:
Looking beyond 2025, AUTO1 Group maintains its long-term target of capturing 10% of the European used car market, which represents 27.7 million transactions and €700 billion in value. The company’s current market share stands at 2.5%. Additionally, AUTO1 Group targets a long-term adjusted EBITDA margin of 5-9%, showing steady progress toward this goal with the current 2.1% margin.
The company’s progress toward long-term targets is illustrated in this chart:
Investor Perspective
Despite AUTO1 Group’s strong financial performance and upgraded guidance, investors responded cautiously, with the stock declining by 2.72% following the earnings release. This reaction may reflect concerns about the company’s high valuation, with a P/E ratio of 89.67 suggesting investors have already priced in significant future growth.
The company faces several challenges and risks, including potential supply chain disruptions, increased competition in the used car market, macroeconomic pressures affecting consumer purchasing power, regulatory changes in key markets, and currency fluctuations.
However, AUTO1 Group’s vertically integrated business model, expanding geographic footprint, growing financing services, and improving operational efficiency position it well for continued growth in the European used car market. The company’s strong balance sheet with no corporate debt provides financial flexibility to pursue strategic initiatives and navigate potential market challenges.
As AUTO1 Group continues to execute its growth strategy and progress toward its long-term market share and profitability targets, investors will closely monitor its ability to maintain growth momentum while improving margins in an increasingly competitive market.
Full presentation:
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