Charlotte-based Sonic Automotive Inc. saw its stock price rise 5.9 percent on Thursday, despite lower-than-expected third quarter earnings due to storm damage and other costs.

The company’s third quarter earnings were $15.3 million, down 22.3 percent from this time last year. Reasons for the drop included franchise disposal charges and executive transition costs, the company stated. Sonic’s previous CEO, Scott Smith, stepped down last month.

Third quarter earnings totaled 36 cents per diluted share. That’s slightly lower than average analyst projections of 43 cents per share.

Sonic’s EchoPark stores, which only sell used vehicles, saw revenues grow 226 percent — or nearly $130 million — from the third quarter of 2017. The company opened a new EchoPark location on Oct. 8 in Charlotte and plans to open another in Houston later this year.

The company anticipates continued growth of its EchoPark business in the fourth quarter, company CEO David Smith said in the release.

According to Yahoo Finance, analysts predict earnings per share could increase to 90 cents per share for the quarter ending in December 2018, up from 84 cents in the quarter a year ago.

Sonic Automotive, an automotive retailer, is one of the six Fortune 500 companies based in Charlotte, with $9.9 billion in revenue for 2017.

“I am pleased with the progress we are making but believe we have more opportunity for improvement with certain brands,” President Jeff Dyke said in the release.

Sonic Automotive’s stock rose $1.05 to $18.87 on Thursday.

The filing can be found here.