The auto industry might be wringing its hands over the current situation with tariffs, but one important operator in the business is cruising along nicely.
Genuine Parts (GPC -0.87%), a crucial supplier to companies in the sector, reported its latest quarterly results on Tuesday, and investors were satisfied with what they heard. They rewarded the stock with a nearly 3% rise in price on the day.
A double beat on earnings
Before market hours that morning, Genuine Parts offered a look under the hood of its first quarter. This revealed that the company's sales totaled $5.87 billion for the period, a slight (1.4%) improvement over the same quarter of 2024.
That wasn't organic, however, as management admitted it was largely due to the impact of acquisitions. Stripping those out of the equation, the company's comparable sales actually declined slightly, by 0.8%.
Regarding profitability, Genuine Parts' non-GAAP (adjusted) net income was a touch over $243 million ($1.75 per share), which was down from the nearly $311 million of the year-ago period.
In spite of these dynamics, the results topped the consensus analyst estimates. On average, pundits tracking Genuine Parts stock were modeling $5.83 billion for revenue and $1.68 in adjusted per-share net income.
Continuing to count on growth
In the earnings release, Genuine Parts maintained its existing guidance for the entirety of 2025. Management is still forecasting that sales will rise by 2% to 4% over the 2024 result, and adjusted net income will land at $7.75 to $8.25 per share. The consensus analyst estimate for the latter falls within that range, at $7.90.
Even at times that weren't overly favorable to the auto industry, Genuine Parts has found ways to grow. Given that, I find these projections to be achievable, and I think better times for the company are on the road ahead.
