We continue to see that development play out as evidenced by the 45% same-store sales growth and earnings per share increasing more than sevenfold in the March quarter.
The record sales and earnings growth we delivered were driven by robust 45% same-store sales growth, which is on top of 1% same-store sales growth a year ago.
Our consolidated margins hit a March quarter record of 30% driven by increasing unit margins and the expansion of our higher-margin businesses, which I'll touch on shortly.
From a six-month perspective, same-store sales growth was up 33% on top of 12% a year ago.
Profitability-wise, the gross margin strength we produced last quarter continued into the March quarter, increasing 450 basis points to 30%.
In the quarter, the margin expansion and generally good expense control led to operating leverage of 21% and the record earnings and earnings per share of $1.69.
For the quarter, revenue grew 70% to over $523 million due largely to same-store sales growth of 45%.
This exceptional growth was driven by strong comparable new unit growth of 40% and a mix to larger boats.
Our gross profit dollars increased over $78 million while our gross margin rose 450 basis points to 30%.
Our operating leverage in the quarter was 21%, which drove very strong earnings growth, setting another quarterly record with pre-tax earnings of about $52 million.
Our record March quarter saw both net income and earnings per share rise more than seven-fold, generating $1.69 in earnings per share versus $0.23 a year ago.
For the first six months of the year, our revenue exceeds $934 million.
Gross margins are 30%.
Our operating leverage is around 20%.
Our earnings per share is at $2.73 and our EBITDA is over $92 million, an impressive start to the year.
We continue to build cash with about $143 million at quarter end versus $64 million a year ago.
Our inventory at quarter end was $303 million.
Customer deposits, while not the best predictor of near-term sales because they can be lumpy due to the size of deposits and whether a trade is involved or not, rose over 200% due to the demand we are seeing and a contribution from Skipper's.
Our current ratio stands at 2.14, and our total liabilities to tangible net worth ratio is 1.05.
Our tangible net worth was $381 million.
Accordingly, we are raising our earnings per share guidance to the range of $5.50 to $5.65 for 2021 from $4 to $4.20 that we guided to after the December quarter.
Our guidance uses a share count of about 23 million shares versus a little over 22 million last year, and an effective tax rate of 25% versus 23.5% last year.

Summary:
The record sales and earnings growth we delivered were driven by robust 45% same-store sales growth, which is on top of 1% same-store sales growth a year ago.
In the quarter, the margin expansion and generally good expense control led to operating leverage of 21% and the record earnings and earnings per share of $1.69.
For the quarter, revenue grew 70% to over $523 million due largely to same-store sales growth of 45%.
Our record March quarter saw both net income and earnings per share rise more than seven-fold, generating $1.69 in earnings per share versus $0.23 a year ago.
Accordingly, we are raising our earnings per share guidance to the range of $5.50 to $5.65 for 2021 from $4 to $4.20 that we guided to after the December quarter.