Dive Brief:

• AutoNation, one of the nation’s largest car dealerships, said the previously disclosed cyberattack against software provider CDK Global will result in a $1.50 per-share hit against AutoNation earnings for the second quarter, in a Monday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company’s second quarter ended June 30, before CDK restored service.
• The June 19 cyberattack at CDK impacted dealer management systems at numerous auto dealerships, including AutoNation, Sonic Automotive, Penske Automotive Group, Group 1 Automotive and Lithia Motors. CDK’s systems outage impacted sales, service, inventory, customer relationship management and accounting. 
• The financial impact on AutoNation was split between lost productivity between June 19 and June 30, and certain one-time costs related to guaranteed compensation for commission-based workers. The company said it does not expect the incident to have a material impact on its long term financial status or ongoing operations.

Dive Insight:

CDK provides dealer management software for more than 15,000 dealerships across North America. The attack caused ripple effects across the industry as numerous car dealers warned of immediate disruptions. 

AutoNation, in the Monday filing, said it has restored its dealer management systems and core functions, however warned of lingering impacts to its scheduling, ordering, payment and reporting functions. The company expects to have those systems fully restored by the end of July. 

The company said it plans to factor in the one-time costs for calculating non-GAAP earnings. AutoNation now expects GAAP earnings to range between $3.15 and $3.30 per share for the quarter ended June 30. 

The company cautioned the estimates are based on information currently available and could still need to be updated. AutoNation’s second quarter earnings are scheduled for release on July 31.