Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Earnings: OLLI Stock Down on Weak 2019 Guidance

Ollie’s Bargain Outlet (NASDAQ:OLLI) posted its latest quarterly figures late Tuesday, bringing in earnings that topped the mark, while revenue and guidance disappointed.

The Harrisburg, Penn.-based retail chain posted net income of $49.9 million, or 76 cents per share for its fourth quarter of fiscal 2018. On an adjusted basis after considering tax and debt purposes, the business amassed earnings of 71 cents per share, roughly 20 cents per share above the year-ago period.

Wall Street called for Ollie’s to rake in adjusted earnings of 70 cents per share. The business added that its sales for its last three months of fiscal 2018 tallied up to $393.9 million, up from $356.7 million during the same period in 2017. Analysts predicted the company’s sales would come in at $398 million.

For its fiscal 2019, the retail company now sees its adjusted earnings as being somewhere in the range of $2.10 a share to $2.15 per share, above the $1.85 per share in adjusted earnings it brought in for its fiscal 2018. The range’s midpoint of $2.125 per share is below the Wall Street adjusted earnings guidance for Ollie’s fiscal 2019 of $2.15 per share.

The business also predicts revenue of $1.44 billion to $1.45 billion for its 2019, ahead of the $1.24 billion of its fiscal 2018. Analysts see this figure at $1.446 billion, ahead of the company’s own guidance.

OLLI stock is falling about 3.6% after hours on Tuesday following a 1% gain during regular trading Tuesday for Ollie’s.

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Steelcase Inc (SCS) Q4 2019 Earnings Conference Call Transcript

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Steelcase Inc  (NYSE:SCS)Q4 2019 Earnings Conference CallMarch 20, 2019, 8:30 a.m. ET

Contents: Prepared Remarks Questions and Answers Call Participants Prepared Remarks:

Operator

Good day, everyone, and welcome to Steelcase's Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2019 Conference Call. As a reminder, today's call is being recorded.

For opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Mike O'Meara, Director, Investor Relations, Financial Planning & Analysis.

Mike O'Meara -- Director, Investor Relations, Financial Planning & Analysis

Thank you, Sharon. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us for the recap of our fourth quarter and fiscal 2019 financial results. Here with me today are Jim Keane, our President and Chief Executive Officer; and Dave Sylvester, our Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Our fourth quarter earnings release, which crossed the wires yesterday, is accessible on our website. This conference call is being webcast and this webcast is a copyrighted production of Steelcase Inc. A replay of this webcast will be posted to ir.steelcase.com later today.

Our discussion today may include references to non-GAAP financial measures and forward-looking statements. Reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP measures and details regarding the risks associated with the use of forward-looking statements are included in our earnings release and we are incorporating, by reference into this conference call, the text of our Safe Harbor statement included in the release. Following our prepared remarks, we will respond to questions from investors and analysts.

I will now turn the call over to our President and Chief Executive Officer, Jim Keane.

James P. Keane -- President and Chief Executive Officer, Director

Thanks, Mike, and good morning, everyone.

Our fourth quarter results exceeded our expectations and contributed to one of the best years we've reported in over a decade. In Q4, we grew sales 18% globally on a reported basis and 15% organically. We showed strong growth across all segments and we believe we gained market share in many major markets around the world. BIFMA is reporting a strong growth across our industry, but our Americas organic revenue growth at 17% was about double the BIFMA's growth rate. Our earnings per share also grew strongly on both reported and adjusted basis, and that's related to improved profitability as well as revenue growth. As we expected, the two price increases we took earlier in the year in response to material inflation helped us to regain some lost gross margins in Q4.

Our EMEA segment was profitable in Q4, as we continue to drive robust top line revenue growth through improved win rates. While that's a sign of good progress, we recognized EMEA was not profitable for the full year. We continue to work on gross margin expansion initiatives that include specific improvements in our product lines, in our selling strategies and in our operational efficiency.

our APAC business is included in the other for segment reporting purposes. I want to recognize our entire team in Asia for delivering a record level of quarterly revenue in Q4. Dave will provide more detail about the quarter and our full-year results.

I want to spend the remainder of my time talking about our outlook, which remains positive. This is supported by our project pipelines, win rates and most of the macro economic factors that we track, such as GDP, unemployment, architectural billings and non residential fixed investment. We were all a bit surprised by the weak February job growth figures in the US. But unemployment rates also fell and pay rates rose. We interpret this as evidence of a very tight job market with likely far more open positions than qualified applicants. This is the war for talent. We hear stories about this every day from our customers. As customers compete for talent, they recognize they need to invest in their workplace. We believe this is helping to drive growth across our industry as seen in the BIFMA growth numbers.

Steelcase is in a particularly strong position to help. Over the last several years, we've invested in new products, new acquisitions and new partnerships aimed at helping our commercial customers compete for talent, shift their culture toward innovation and prepare for digital transformation. We aim to do more than just help with attracting and retaining talent. Our solutions are designed to help customers engage their existing workforce more completely and to help improve productivity, innovation and creativity. That's how you really win the war for talent in the long run.

In the Americas, order growth was very strong in December, but growth was weak in January. The year-over-year volatility could relate to this year's factors like the government shutdown, but also it's last year's factors like the steel tariffs and tax reform. We implemented a price increase in February last year, which caused some pull forward of orders impacting year-over-year comparisons. When we adjust for that, February order growth was better than January. BIFMA is expecting industry growth in North America to be about 3% in calendar 2019, which will be slower growth than 2018. We're targeting to grow a little faster than the industry organically, but the full year effect of our acquisitions adding some inorganic growth on top of that, along with an extra week in the fourth quarter, due to the timing of our year-end.

In EMEA, we see improving overall economic and political conditions in France, slowing growth in Germany, and of course, the disruptive effects of Brexit uncertainty in the UK. We are targeting top line organic growth above the industry, plus the inorganic full year effect of the Orangebox acquisition and continued margin expansion, to bring in EMEA to full year profitability in fiscal 2020.

For APAC, there are signs of slowing economic growth in China, but even a slower growing China is growing faster than other major economies. We expect to continue to make investments to

The stock market is aligned with a historical pattern that has a perfect record

Stocks hit a new high for the year this week, back on track to match a post-election pattern that has stood the test of time.

The stock market has risen in the year after all 18 midterm elections since World War II, with the S&P 500 delivering an average return of 14.5 percent, according to LPL Financial Research. The pattern is pointing to a longer bull run even after this year's epic rebound.

"With the S&P 500 up only 1.3 percent since the midterm election last November, there indeed could still be room for stocks to run in 2019," LPL's Ryan Detrick said in a note on Wednesday.

After this week's rally, the stock market has bounced back from December's steep sell-off with the S&P 500 up more than 12 percent year to date. And there are a couple catalysts that could send stocks even higher, including a China trade deal that could take the uncertainty out of the market and a helping hand from the Federal Reserve that already signaled a more "patient" approach to rate hikes and it is prepared to "adjust" balance sheet unwind if needed.

President Donald Trump, 'glued' to the stock market's fluctuations, is a big champion of this market pattern as he views a booming market as his way to re-election. CNBC reported last week Trump is pushing hard to strike a trade deal with China in the hope of lifting the stock market ahead of his re-election bid.

"The third year leading up to an election tends to be a very good one for the market because the president is trying to have the economy and the party in power looking good for getting re-elected," Andrew Slimmon, senior portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, said on CNBC's Power Lunch.

The year prior to a presidential election has almost always been a good one — in the last 19 such years, the market is up on average 15 percent and 18 out of 19 times it's been positive, according to Slimmon.

The pattern can also be explained by the gridlock situation often seen after an election, where lawmakers and the President are unlikely to do harm or remove any bullish policy that is already in place.

— With reporting from CNBC's Michael Bloom

Acadian Asset Management LLC Invests $61,000 in The Hackett Group, Inc. (HCKT)

Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Hackett Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCKT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,814 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $61,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of HCKT. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Hackett Group by 175.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,616,999 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,583,000 after acquiring an additional 1,030,786 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of The Hackett Group by 42.5% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 417,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,420,000 after acquiring an additional 124,559 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of The Hackett Group by 146.6% during the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 178,338 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,594,000 after acquiring an additional 106,032 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its position in The Hackett Group by 15.8% in the third quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 544,618 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,975,000 after purchasing an additional 74,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in The Hackett Group by 5.5% in the third quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,108,444 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,335,000 after purchasing an additional 57,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.97% of the company’s stock.

Get The Hackett Group alerts:

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barrington Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of The Hackett Group in a research report on Friday, February 15th. BidaskClub downgraded shares of The Hackett Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 24th. ValuEngine downgraded shares of The Hackett Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 5th. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of The Hackett Group from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 4th. Finally, William Blair assumed coverage on shares of The Hackett Group in a research report on Friday, January 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. The company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $21.33.

The Hackett Group stock opened at $15.95 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $469.64 million, a P/E ratio of 15.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.97. The Hackett Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $15.24 and a 1-year high of $22.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 1.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05.

The Hackett Group (NASDAQ:HCKT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 19th. The business services provider reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $66.54 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $67.43 million. The Hackett Group had a net margin of 8.28% and a return on equity of 23.15%. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Hackett Group, Inc. will post 0.91 earnings per share for the current year.

ILLEGAL ACTIVITY WARNING: This news story was originally posted by Ticker Report and is the sole property of of Ticker Report. If you are reading this news story on another publication, it was illegally stolen and republished in violation of international copyright & trademark legislation. The original version of this news story can be viewed at https://www.tickerreport.com/banking-finance/4222242/acadian-asset-management-llc-invests-61000-in-the-hackett-group-inc-hckt.html.

About The Hackett Group

The Hackett Group, Inc operates as a strategic advisory and technology consulting firm primarily in North America and European countries. Its executive advisory programs include best practice intelligence center, an online searchable repository of best practices, performance metrics, conference presentations, and associated research; best practice accelerators that provide Web based access to best practices, customized software configuration tools, and best practice process flows; advisor inquiry, an inquiry service used by clients for access to fact-based advice on proven approaches and methods; best practice research, a research that provides insights into the proven approaches; and peer interaction comprising member-led Webcasts, annual best practice conferences, annual member forums, membership performance surveys, and client-submitted content.

Featured Article: Current Ratio

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding HCKT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for The Hackett Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCKT).

Qudian Inc. (QD) Q4 2018 Earnings Conference Call Transcript

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Qudian Inc.  (NYSE:QD)Q4 2018 Earnings Conference CallMarch 18, 2019, 7:00 a.m. ET

Contents: Prepared Remarks Questions and Answers Call Participants Prepared Remarks:

Operator

Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by for Qudian Incorporated's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2018 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After management's prepared remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. Today's conference call is being recorded.

I will now turn the call over to your host, Ms. Annie Huang, Director of Capital Markets for the Company. Annie, please go ahead.

Annie Huang -- Director of Capital Markets

Hello, everyone; and welcome to Qudian's Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2018 Earnings Conference Call. The Company's results were issued via newswire services earlier today and were posted online. You can download the earnings press release and sign up for the Company's distribution list by visiting our website at ir.qudian.com. Mr. Min Luo, our Founder, CEO; and Mr. Carl Yeung, our CFO, will start the call with their prepared remarks.

Before we continue, please note that today's discussion will contain forward-looking statements made under the Safe Harbor provisions of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. As such, the Company's results will be materially different from the views expressed today. Further information regarding these and other risks and uncertainties is included in the Company's 20-F is included in the Company's 20-F as filed with the US SEC. The Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable law. Please also note that Qudian's earnings press release and this conference call includes discussions of unaudited GAAP financial information, as well as unaudited non-GAAP financial measures. Qudian's press release contains a reconciliation of the unaudited non-GAAP measures to the unaudited most directly comparable GAAP measures.

We also posted a slide presentation on our IR website providing details on our results in the quarter and the full year 2018. We will reference those results in our prepared remarks but will not refer to specific slides during our discussion.

I will now turn the call over to our CEO, Min Luo. Please go ahead.

Min Luo -- Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Thank you, Annie. I want to continue to thank all investors, analysts and media, who have taken the interest to join today's call. I have fine results to share. Then Carl Yeung will take you through more detail. We ended 2018 with another record quarter with RMB778.8 million of non-GAAP net income and achieved our (inaudible) target set in the beginning of 2018.

If we exclude foreign exchange loss and charges from one-time scaling down of Dabai Auto business, our underlying profit was RMB850.2 million for the quarter, a record quarterly earning for us. Throughout 2018, the market had all kinds of concerns, but it is (inaudible). Thanks to our solid execution and our institutional funding and user scale (ph) as well as very early efforts in beginning regulatory compliance. I'm encouraged that we achieved quarterly operating and financial results while operating under legal annual interest rate and continued to disprove this contract.

And for 2018, we added I believe we delivered into what we said. First our massive user base continues to grow vis-a-vis operate, manages. Our registered users grew to 71.8 million, and outstanding borrowers grew to 5.3 million since the end of the last quarter despite what has been too soft. User engagement through Alipay's, dedicated channel for online third-party service provider, officially ended in August 2018. So the fourth quarter was the first complete quarter without lists of credits (ph). Yet our registration and active outstanding borrowers continued to grow from the third quarter. This proves that an innately affordable and attractive service doesn't require costly marketing or special channels to successfully grow. For the year, as a result of our commitment in delivering risk-adjusted returns and a conservative risk management approach, our asset quality was tact within our capital levels.

During 2018, we made several carefully calculated management decisions to make sure asset quality was obtainable. First, we remained selective in several new users in light of increased delinquency and elevated credit risk in the industry during early 2018. Second, we prolonged the loan tenure for high quality borrowers with solid backlog while decreasing the loan size in line with their income growth, and making sure monthly repayment remain affordable. For example, average monthly principal and fees repaid in the fourth quarter was around RMB600. And the like new (inaudible) borrower default until it's losing and affordable credit line, and gets that credit record its loans. Third, we do not provide adequate loans. On first pay, the borrower is late, the entire credit line is taken away. And finally, thanks to all -- to our fully licensed this is, institutional funding structure, the majority of loan relationships are legally between licensed (inaudible) and the followers therefore, delinquency are reported to PBOC (inaudible) for these borrowers for the first time, a strong incentive not rely on the payment.

On regulatory risk, there were various new regulations and the guidance issued in 2018 for Internet finance. Yet we are the first in the industry to shift from being a direct lender to being a pure platform, assisting loans between borrowers and licensed institutional funding partners with annual interest rate pack under legal path (ph). Therefore there are no material regulatory uncertain swaps. We successfully spent our population with existing funding partners in full -- in funding size and scope, and secured 19 new funding sources compared with a year ago.

Looking into 2019, we are confident about our earnings outlook through active regions in our existing user base and the available funding. Yearly income related to risk taking, we are excited by the prospect that we move our balance sheet as a goal of change. As you may recall, we launched our traffic referral channel in the third quarter to referrals excess borrower checking through other lending and a compliant Internet financial service providers. The fourth quarter saw encouraging development in terms of revenue contribution of RMB30 million.

In addition to traffic referral, as part of our open-platform initiative. We recently started to refer transactions that we cannot fund through our licensed institutional lender partners, where we do not -- where we do no undertake any risk other than a greater margin compared to traffic refer. Finally, with a clear focus on our core consumption finance business, we will continue to explore emerging opportunities to keep our team challenged with cost, managed within our target. I'm confident we are well-positioned in delivering long-term growth for our shareholders.

With that, I will now turn the call over to our CFO, Carl Yeung, who will discuss more about our our operation.

Carl Yeung -- Chief Financial Officer

Thank you, Min; and hello, everyone. First, I'd like to touch base on a couple of highlights for the quarter and full-year 2018. 2018 marked another milestone for us as we achieved our guidance, while operating under the regulatory compliance APR cap. We achieved a non-GAAP net income of RMB2.55 billion after investment in new opportunities, and solid execution of our $300 million repurchase program, a clean delivery of what we guided at the beginning of the year. Moreover, if we excluded some non-operating charges of underlying profit for 2018, reached RMB2.68 billion, substantially ahead of our RMB2.5 billion guidance. Our solid results were attributable to our growing user base, low operating costs, regulatory compliant operating structure and solid asset quality.

In 2018, our loan book saw growth of 69.9% year-on-year, and this further demonstrated the strong demand from our users with reliable funding to serve. In addition, our asset quality remained healthy throughout 2018, validating management's decision to lower the management's decision to lower the risk exposure of our loan book in light of increased delinquencies and elevated credit risk in the industry during early 2018. Our vintage delinquency rates slightly increased as loan tenure increased from 2.5 months in 2017 to 8.1 month in 2018 for our high quality users. We were delighted to see our outstanding borrower base reach 5.3 million following the termination of paid marketing on Alipay, while our sales and marketing decreased 49.4% year-on-year for our core consumption finance business. This again proves our capability in sustaining users growth without relying on expenses largely (ph).

Looking into 2019, our outstanding loan balance have grown to RMB22 billion by March 15, 2019. Therefore, we are well on track to achieve our full year non-GAAP net income guidance of RMB3.5 billion, excluding non-operating costs and charges. Qudian is committed to delivering shareholder value. Therefore, the Company will continue to undertake new challenges, investments where we believe further new growth may emerge in addition to helping to keep our talent base challenged, sharp and intellectually growing. We shall do so responsibly with the priority that our core consumption finance operations are not interrupted and targets delivered.

One example is in 2018, with meeting earnings guidance as our top priority, we quickly scaled back Dabai Auto business when macro auto sales were slowing in order to reduce overhead and avoid potential risk exposure in asset residuals. Another example is the successful launch of our open-platform initiative. During its inaugural operations in the fourth quarter of 2018, open-platform contributed RMB30 million in revenues, carrying no material cost of operation on our dormant user base. We'll look to invest in production further by launching various services to activate or attract high-quality potential borrowers or our partners. These initiatives demonstrated our Company's execution strength and our focus. Looking ahead, any excess capital that cannot be deployed for value will be returned to our shareholders via buybacks or other shareholder value enhancing means.

Now, let me share with you some key financial highlights. In the interest of time, I will not go through the line items one by one. For more detailed discussions of our fourth quarter and full-year 2018 results, please feel free to refer to our press -- earnings release just issued earlier.

Total revenues for the full year 2018 increased by 61.1% to RMB7.69 billion, mainly driven by strong growth in our loan facilitation income, from off-balance sheet transactions, and a ramp up of Dabai Auto business. Non-GAAP net income for the full-year 2018 increased by 14.4% year-on-year to RMB2.55 billion or RMB7.92 per diluted ADS.

Particularly, I want to highlight that our underlying profit reached RMB2.68 billion for the full-year 2018, if we were to exclude the financial -- foreign exchange loss of RMB90.8 million, and a specific charge of RMB37 million incurred by scaling down of Dabai Auto business.

Our asset quality was stable. 2018 provision for receivables increased by 94.8% to RMB1.18 billion. This was primarily due to an increase in weighted loan tenure from 2.5 months to 8.1 months during 2018.

We will continue to benefit from word of mouth marketing by providing a better and more affordable product offering. Following the termination of engaging users through t

The 2 Best Biotech Stocks to Buy Now

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Biotech companies are known for their potential to break out when a new drug comes to market, and today we're giving you two of the best biotech stocks to buy now.

Now that the bull market is over a decade old and valuations are near all-time highs, investors need more than an index fund to net a solid return. And buying the top biotech stocks offers the sort of upside that's so hard to find right now.

In order to find the best biotech stocks, we've turned to the Money Morning Stock VQScore.

The VQScore system is our proprietary stock-ranking algorithm that helps us separate the wheat from the chaff. The VQScore finds only the 1,500 most profitable companies trading on the major American exchanges and then ranks them based on their growth potential.

Today, we've screened the biotech industry in the VQScore system to uncover our top biotech stocks to buy right now.

Best Biotech Stocks to Buy Now, No. 2

Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ: BIIB) is a Massachusetts-based company that focuses on discovering, developing, manufacturing, and delivering therapies for neurodegenerative and neurological diseases worldwide.

The company offers four major drugs for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). It also has drugs for the treatment of plaque psoriasis, spinal muscular atrophy, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), and pemphigus vulgaris.

5G Is Coming: The Tech Breakthrough of the Century Could Rest on This $6 Stock – Get All the Details Here

Biogen is also involved in the development of drugs to treat dementia and Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, chronic pain, and other neuromuscular disorders.

Company execs had promised to diversify its pipeline and make good this with a new acquisition. On March 4, Biogen announced that it would buy Nightstar Therapeutics Plc., a gene therapy developer, in a deal worth $877 million.

This new deal gives the company access to more later-stage assets. Specifically, Nightstar makes a gene therapy for choroideremia, an inherited and rare eye disease that can lead to blindness. It also has several gene therapies in its pipeline that are focused on treating rare eye disorders.

The company has beat earnings estimates over the past four consecutive quarters and is expected to make $28.67 per share this year. This represents 10% growth over the $26.24 EPS in 2018.

While some Wall Street analysts predict an earnings recession in 2019, this isn't a prediction for Biogen.

Growth is expected in both sales and revenue this year.

If history repeats itself and earnings bypass expectations, Biogen shares could soar past their 52-week high of $350 per share. Right now, you can pick up shares for about $319.

Currently, investors can get this stock for just 11 times expected earnings this year, which is exceptionally cheap. Plus, the company has committed to a $3.5 billion stock buyback, which is nearly 5% of its market cap.

Analysts predict shares of Biogen could soar 43% higher to $455 in the next 12 months.

But our top biotech stock to buy right now could soar even higher.

Join the conversation. Click here to jump to comments…

Why millennials aren't buying cars, homes

Amanda Hill, 27, deals with big student loan debt by doing everything she can to keep her other bills small. 

"I have cut out all the things that aren't absolutely necessary," Hill said. 

She eats out maybe once a month. She limits her driving to control how much she spends on gas. She lives in an apartment. 

She avoids getting her nails done or shopping. She buys clothes about two times a year.

Hill – who is juggling $90,000 in student loan debt after graduating in 2015 from Hampton University in Virginia – figured she didn't need a car payment on top of her monthly student loan payments. 

From Subarus to Chevys to Lexus: These car models are so hot they're flying off car dealers' lots

Tesla to reveal Model Y: Elon Musk bets big on new electric SUV

So she bought a 2005 Saturn Ion last year from a woman at her church.

She paid $500 for her car.

"And I was surprised it actually worked," she said. "But I had to learn how to drive a stick shift."

Amanda Hill, 27, poses next to her 2005 Saturn Ion she bought last year in order to avoid car payments. She paid $500 for that car but she's dealing with $90,000 in student loan debt. (Photo: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press)

Dreaming of buying a new car when you get that first job out of college? Or maybe buying your first house? It used to be a rite of passage. Not so much any more.

"It's not going to be you're 30 and you're married and you're going to have kids," said Hill. 

She has no timetable for when she'd like to buy a house or make other big purchases. She still hopes to go to graduate school but has delayed that until she has a better handle on her college debt for her bachelor of arts degree. 

Right now, she said, it's more about trying to stay afloat.  

Credit card debt: These states have the highest average balance

Millennials face $1 trillion in debt: Here's how they can manage their loans

About $1.46 trillion in student loan debt has many millennials, as well as others, hiding their wallets and putting big ticket commitments on the back burner.

Plain and simple, many young consumers just aren't ready to consume. And many sure don't want to shop until they drop like their parents. 

"This is really a pervasive trend and it will not be reversed any time soon," said Richard Curtin, director of the University of Michigan Survey of Consumers. 

Amanda Hill, 27, bought a 2005 Saturn Ion last year in order to avoid car payments. She paid $500 for that car but she's dealing with $90,000 in student loan debt. (Photo: Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press)

In a special report released in late February, the U-M research team noted that consumers younger than 35 aren't terribly optimistic about making big purchases – unlike previous generations. 

In the past decade, younger consumers have viewed buying conditions for homes, cars and other large household items far less favorably, the U-M survey noted. 

The survey, which monitors consumer attitudes and expectations, has been conducted by the U-M Institute for Social Research in Ann Arbor since 1946.

What's going on here? Some of it is, no doubt, all that college debt. But other factors may be coming into play, too. 

One reason many young consumers are holding back their spending is that they're frequently worried about taking on new debt, according to U-M report released Feb. 22. 

College debt holding consumers back

Student loan debt in total is intimidating. 

Outstanding student loan debt stood at $1.46 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. 

Those ages 18 to 29 had the most college debt – more than $1 trillion. 

"Average student loan debt at graduation is going to continue to increase," said Mark Kantrowitz, publisher and vice president of research for Savingforcollege.com.

The average debt at graduation is a bit under $30,000 for bachelor's degree recipients, Kantrowitz said. 

FacebookTwitterGoogle+LinkedInWhere credit card debt is highest in the US FullscreenPost to FacebookPosted!

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On average, Americans owe $6,354 on bank-issued credit cards. At the state level, average credit card debt per capita varies substantially. 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the average bank card balance from creditcards.com to identify the states with the most credit card debt. SIphotography / Getty ImagesFullscreen1. Alaska• Average credit card balance: $8,515• Cost of living: 5.4 percent more than Average• Average credit score: 668• Average number of cards: 2.9 Chilkoot / Getty ImagesFullscreen2. Connecticut• Average credit card balance: $7,258• Cost of living: 8.7 percent more than Average• Average credit score: 690• Average number of cards: 3.2 SeanPavonePhoto / Getty ImagesFullscreen3. Virginia• Average credit card balance: $7,161• Cost of living: 2.3 percent more than Average• Average credit score: 680• Average number of cards: 3.1 SeanPavonePhoto / Getty ImagesFullscreen4. New Jersey• Average credit card balance: $7,151• Cost of living: 13.2 percent more than Average• Average credit score: 686• Average number of cards: 3.5 SeanPavonePhoto / Getty ImagesFullscreen5. Maryland• Average credit card balance: $7,043• Cost of living: 9.5 percent more than Average• Average credit score: 672• Average number of cards: 3.2 SeanPavonePhoto / Getty ImagesFullscreen6. Hawaii• Average credit card balance: $6,981• Cost of living: 18.4 percent more than Average• Average credit score: 693• Average number of cards: 3.3 Eric Tessmer / Wikimedia CommonsFullscreen7. Texas• Average credit card balance: $6,902• Cost of living: 3.1 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 656• Average number of cards: 3.1 RoschetzkyIstockPhoto / Getty ImagesFullscreen8. Colorado• Average credit card balance: $6,718• Cost of living: 3 percent more than Average• Average credit score: 688• Average number of cards: 3.1 f11photo / Getty ImagesFullscreen9. Georgia• Average credit card balance: $6,675• Cost of living: 7.9 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 654• Average number of cards: 3.0 Sean Pavone / Getty ImagesFullscreen10. New York• Average credit card balance: $6,671 • Cost of living: 15.6 percent more than Average • Average credit score: 688 • Average number of cards: 3.3 Terabass / Wikimedia CommonsFullscreen11. Washington• Average credit card balance: $6,592• Cost of living: 5.5 percent more than Average• Average credit score: 693• Average number of cards: 3.0 evenfh / Shutterstock.comFullscreen12. New Hampshire• Average credit card balance: $6,490• Cost of living: 5.9 percent more than Average• Average credit score: 701• Average number of cards: 3.1 Sean Pavone / Getty ImagesFullscreen13. California• Average credit card balance: $6,481• Cost of living: 14.4 percent more than Average• Average credit score: 680• Average number of cards: 3.2 Art Wager / Getty ImagesFullscreen14. Illinois• Average credit card balance: $6,410• Cost of living: 1.1 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 683• Average number of cards: 3.1 lhongfoto / Getty ImagesFullscreen15. Nevada• Average credit card balance: $6,401• Cost of living: 2.6 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 655• Average number of cards: 3.2 f11photo / Getty ImagesFullscreen16. Arizona• Average credit card balance: $6,389• Cost of living: 4.1 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 669• Average number of cards: 3.0 Zereshk / Wikimedia CommonsFullscreen17. Florida• Average credit card balance: $6,388• Cost of living: 0.3 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 668• Average number of cards: 3.2 Sean Pavone / Getty ImagesFullscreen18. Rhode Island• Average credit card balance: $6,375• Cost of living: 0.4 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 687• Average number of cards: 3.3 SeanPavonePhoto / Getty ImagesFullscreen19. Delaware• Average credit card balance: $6,366• Cost of living: 0.2 percent more than Average• Average credit score: 672• Average number of cards: 3.1 DenisTangneyJr / Getty ImagesFullscreen20. Massachusetts• Average credit card balance: $6,327• Cost of living: 7.8 percent more than Average• Average credit score: 699• Average number of cards: 3.2 Sean Pavone / Getty ImagesFullscreen21. New Mexico• Average credit card balance: $6,317• Cost of living: 6.4 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 659• Average number of cards: 2.8 DenisTangneyJr / Getty ImagesFullscreen22. Oklahoma• Average credit card balance: $6,296• Cost of living: 11 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 656• Average number of cards: 2.7 Majestic_Aerials / Getty ImagesFullscreen23. Wyoming• Average credit card balance: $6,245• Cost of living: 3.3 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 678• Average number of cards: 2.8 undefined undefined / Getty ImagesFullscreen24. South Carolina• Average credit card balance: $6,157• Cost of living: 9.7 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 657• Average number of cards: 2.9 Sean Pavone / Getty ImagesFullscreen25. Pennsylvania• Average credit card balance: $6,146• Cost of living: 1.6 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 687• Average number of cards: 3.1 f11photo / Getty ImagesFullscreen26. North Carolina• Average credit card balance: $6,117• Cost of living: 9.1 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 666• Average number of cards: 3.0 Sean Pavone / Getty ImagesFullscreen27. Kansas• Average credit card balance: $6,082• Cost of living: 9.5 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 680• Average number of cards: 2.8 ricardoreitmeyer / Getty ImagesFullscreen28. Louisiana• Average credit card balance: $6,074• Cost of living: 9.6 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 650• Average number of cards: 2.8 GregJK / Getty ImagesFullscreen29. Oregon• Average credit card balance: $6,012• Cost of living: 0.2 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 688• Average number of cards: 3.0 4nadia / Getty ImagesFullscreen30. Tennessee• Average credit card balance: $5,975• Cost of living: 9.8 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 662• Average number of cards: 2.8 SeanPavonePhoto / Getty ImagesFullscreen31. Alabama• Average credit card balance: $5,961• Cost of living: 13.4 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 654• Average number of cards: 2.7 SeanPavonePhoto / Getty ImagesFullscreen32. Utah• Average credit card balance: $5,960• Cost of living: 2.7 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 683• Average number of cards: 3.0 johnnya123 / Getty ImagesFullscreen33. Vermont• Average credit card balance: $5,924• Cost of living: 1.6 percent more than Average• Average credit score: 702• Average number of cards: 2.9 Sean Pavone / Getty ImagesFullscreen34. Minnesota• Average credit card balance: $5,911• Cost of living: 2.5 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 709• Average number of cards: 3.0 RudyBalasko / Getty ImagesFullscreen35. Missouri• Average credit card balance: $5,897• Cost of living: 10.5 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 675• Average number of cards: 2.9 f11photo / Getty ImagesFullscreen36. Montana• Average credit card balance: $5,845• Cost of living: 5.9 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 689• Average number of cards: 2.9 TheBigMK / Getty ImagesFullscreen37. Ohio• Average credit card balance: $5,843• Cost of living: 10.7 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 678• Average number of cards: 3.0 Sean Pavone / Getty ImagesFullscreen38. Idaho• Average credit card balance: $5,817• Cost of living: 7 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 681• Average number of cards: 2.9 knowlesgallery / Getty ImagesFullscreen39. Maine• Average credit card balance: $5,784• Cost of living: 1.6 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 689• Average number of cards: 2.9 SeanPavonePhoto / Getty ImagesFullscreen40. South Dakota• Average credit card balance: $5,692• Cost of living: 11.7 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 700• Average number of cards: 2.8 EunikaSopotnicka / Getty ImagesFullscreen41. Arkansas• Average credit card balance: $5,660• Cost of living: 13.1 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 657• Average number of cards: 2.8 Belinda Hankins Miller from U.S.A., upload by Herrick 10:33, 15 November 2007 (UTC) / Wikimedia CommonsFullscreen42. Nebraska• Average credit card balance: $5,630• Cost of living: 9.5 percent less than Average• Average credit score: 695• Average number of cards: 2.8 ChrisBoswell / Getty ImagesFullscreen43. Michigan• Average credit card balance: $5,622 • Cost of living: 6.7 percent less than Average • Average credit score: 67