Advance Auto Parts (AAP +14.07%) stock soared on Thursday after the company posted much better-than-expected earnings in the first quarter. The company's share price closed out the daily session up 14.5% and had been up as much as 21.4% earlier in trading.
Advance Auto published its Q1 results before the market opened this morning and posted sales and earnings for the period that beat Wall Street's expectations. With the benefit of today's valuation pop, the stock is now up roughly 49% across 2026's trading.
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Advance Auto crushed Q1 profit expectations
Advance Auto recorded non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings per share of $0.77 on sales of $2.61 billion in the first quarter, beating the average analyst estimate's call for a per-share profit of $0.44 on sales of $2.57 billion. Even though year-over-year sales growth came in at a modest 1.2%, the sales performance was better than expected -- and margins for the quarter crushed Wall Street's expectations.
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Key Data Points
What's next for Advance Auto Parts?
With its Q1 report, Advance Auto reiterated guidance for full-year sales of roughly $8.5 billion and comparable sales growth between 1% and 2%. The company also said that it expected an adjusted operating income margin between 3.8% and 4.5%.
Meanwhile, adjusted earnings per share are projected to be between $2.40 and $3.10, and free cash flow for the year is projected to come in at roughly $100 million. Even though the company didn't issue big upward guidance revisions, Advance Auto's strong Q1 results have boosted investors' expectations for outperformance this year.
