You are given a text that consists of multiple sentences. Your task is to perform abstractive summarization on this text. Use your understanding of the content to express the main ideas and crucial details in a shorter, coherent, and natural sounding text. 
Text: Please ensure that your lines are muted until the operator announces your turn to ask a question.
Leading our call today will be Mike Jackson, our Chief Executive Officer; and Joe Lower, our Chief Financial Officer.
I will be available by phone following the call to address any additional questions that you may have.
Today, we reported all-time record quarter results with adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations of $2.79, an increase of 207% compared to last year.
These outstanding results were driven by strong performance in new, used and customer financial services and disciplined expense management.
Demand continues to exceed supply for new vehicles, and we expect this to continue through 2021 in part due to the production disruption.
More importantly, low interest rates and consumer preference for vehicle ownership versus ridesharing and public transportation are supporting demand.
We expect our shipments from the manufacturers to double in the second quarter compared to the prior year.
AutoNation same-store new vehicle units were up 22% year-over-year and up 12% compared to 2019.
We remain focused on our pre-owned vehicle procurement strategy, nearly 90% of our pre-owned vehicles retailed in the first quarter were self- sourced, meaning, we acquired through trade-in, switch returns.
We'll Buy Your Car or service loaners and avoided auctions.
Acquiring vehicles at the right price, speed to the front line, a fair one price environment and leading digital capabilities are winning formula for our customers, which shows in our results.
AutoNation same-store pre-owned units were up 28% year-over-year and 20% compared to 2019.
We continue to leverage our digital capabilities to drive cost reductions and increase efficiency.
Tools like Customer 360, which has over 10 million active customer records, enable us to provide a truly comprehensive and personal experience for our customers, which leads to higher close rates and increased vehicle sales.
These efforts allowed us to deliver adjusted SG&A as a percent of gross profit, a 62.7% in the first quarter of 2021 which represents a 1,120 basis point improvement compared to the first quarter of 2020.
Our target is to operate at or below 65% SG&A as a percent of gross profit for '21.
We are committed to our business growth strategy through investment in our existing franchise business.
Expansion of AutoNation USA and future acquisitions.
We are on track to open five new AutoNation USA stores in 2021 and 12 additional new stores in 2022.
Our target is to have over 130 AutoNation USA stores in operation from coast to coast by the end of 2026.
Today, we announced that we signed an agreement to acquire 11 stores and one collision center for Peacock Automotive Group in Hilton Head and Columbia, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia, representing approximately $380 million in annual revenue.
The brands acquired are Porsche, Jag [Phonetic], Land Rover, Audi, Subaru, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Volkswagen and Hyundai.
This acquisition will increase AutoNation's footprint from coast to coast to over 325 locations and it's set to close in the summer.
We have set the target to sell 1 million combined new and pre-owned vehicles annually.
AutoNation remains committed to delivering value to our shareholders, which includes opportunistic share repurchase.
During the quarter we bought back 3.8 million shares or 5% of our shares outstanding.
Today we reported adjusted net income from continuing operations of $234 million or $2.79 per share versus $82 million or $0.91 per share during the first quarter of 2020.
This represents an all-time high quarterly earnings per share and a 207% increase year-over-year.
During the quarter, we sold our remaining stake in Vroom for a gain of approximately $6 million after tax or $0.07 per share, which was excluded from our adjusted results.
Our first quarter same-store revenue increased $1.3 billion or 27% compared to the prior year due to strong growth in new, used and customer financial services.
While prior-year comparisons are impacted by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to see strong consumer demand exceed supply for new vehicles.
Given this backdrop, we remain focused on optimizing our business in the current environment.
For the quarter, same-store total variable gross profit increased 52% year-over-year, driven by an increase in total combined units of 25% and an increase in total variable PVR of $767 or 21%.
Our customer care business continues to gradually improve with same-store customer care gross profit increasing 1% year-over-year.
Taking together, our same-store total gross profit increased 27% compared to the prior year.
First quarter SG&A as a percentage of gross profit was 62.7%, as Mike stated a 1,120 basis point improvement compared to the year-ago period.
This strong performance was driven by a combination of strict cost discipline, leverage of our digital capabilities and healthy vehicle margins.
As measured against gross profit, overhead decreased 590 basis points, compensation decreased 320 basis points and advertising decreased 210 basis points.
Based on current business conditions, we project SG&A as a percentage of gross profit to be at or below 65% for the full year 2021.
Floorplan interest expense decreased to $9 million in the first quarter of 2021 due to lower interest rates and lower average floorplan balances.
This, combined with lower non-vehicle interest expense, a lower effective tax rate and fewer shares outstanding generated record adjusted EPS.
Regarding our balance sheet and liquidity, we have ample capacity to continue investing in our business, including our AutoNation USA expansion as well as opportunistic share repurchases and acquisitions.
Our cash balance at quarter end was $350 million which combined with our additional borrowing capacity resulted in total liquidity of approximately $2.1 billion.
Our covenant leverage ratio of debt to EBITDA declined to 1.3 times at the end of the first quarter, down from 1.8 times at the end of the fourth quarter.
Including cash and used floorplan availability, our net leverage ratio was 1.1 times at the end of March.
Our AutoNation USA expansion continues to provide a very attractive growth opportunity.
During the first quarter, our five existing AutoNation US stores generated over $3 million in pre-tax profit.
As Mike referenced earlier, we plan to open five new stores by the end of this year and 12 new stores in 2022 and targeting over 130 total locations by the end of 2026.
And we will continue to look for attractive acquisitions that complement our portfolio and we – and meet our return thresholds.
During the first quarter, repurchased 3.8 million shares of common stock for an aggregate price of $306 million.
We have approximately $892 million of remaining Board authorization for share repurchases and approximately 80 million shares outstanding.
Looking ahead, we will continue our disciplined capital allocation strategy, utilizing our strong balance sheet, robust cash flow generation and ample liquidity to invest in our business and drive long-term shareholder value.
We had another impressive and record-breaking quarter.
We remain focused on delivering a peerless customer experience with industry leading digital capabilities and outstanding associate interactions.
Our commitment to the customer experience is why we're number 1 for the J.D. Power Dealer of Excellence Recognition Program for the third year in a row.
Less than 2% of all US franchise dealers achieved this honor.
78 AutoNation stores representing over 20% of our dealerships were recognized.
Our associates did not let the pandemic interfere with their ability to provide a great experience.
We're in the stores and in the offices to meet the needs of our customers.
With that, I'm delighted to take any questions.

user
qtrly adjusted earnings per share from continuing operations $2.79.
qtrly revenue $5.90 billion, up 27%.
qtrly same-store used vehicle unit sales increased 28%‍​.
to acquire 11 stores and 1 collision center.
targets selling 1 million combined new and pre-owned vehicles annually.
qtrly same-store new vehicle unit sales increased 22%‍​.
targeting to have over 130 autonation usa stores in operation by end of 2026.

assistant