On the back of higher sales of used vehicles, CarMax Inc. posted a much better-than-expected report for the year's third-quarter, which led to its shares hitting a 2 year trading high. In the 2009 financial year, the largest retailer of used cars in the US has managed to complete the construction of as many as 3 superstores, but has announced that these will not be operational till market conditions improve.

"We have determined we are now in a position to open these stores during the first half of fiscal 2011, as we believe that these openings will be accretive to earnings", the company said.

For the third quarter up-to November 30, CarMax posted net earnings of $74.6 Million, 33 cents per share, a substantial improvement compared to a loss of $21.9 Million, or 10 cents a share, posted for the same period last year.

Revenue also managed to rise as much as 19% to $1.73 Billion, and sale of used cars surged by 20% to $1.40 Billion.

The figures have managed to beat the forecast pegged by analysts who estimated a per share earning of 16 cents on a revenue of $1.66 Billion.

Investors are celebrating the figures and expecting the company to do even better over the coming times. Shares of the firm gained 3% on the NY Stock Exchange on Friday to trade at a new high of $22.53.