Genuine Parts cuts upper end of annual EPS forecast to $7.75

Key Facts

Genuine Parts lowered the upper end of its adjusted earnings per share forecast for 2026 as it reported third-quarter results on October 20, despite earnings and revenue beating analyst estimates. The expected annual range is now $7.50 to $7.75 per share, according to guidance reported by StreetInsider in its coverage of the earnings announcement. The company had set a range of $7.50 to $8.00 in its July announcement, according to Investing.com coverage. The company thus retained the lower end of its previous forecast while cutting its annual earnings target ceiling. It also left its sales growth forecast unchanged, according to its announcement, concentrating the latest revision on the adjusted earnings range as year-end approaches.

Adjusted earnings per share were $2.07 in the third quarter of 2026, according to Investing.com's report on the company's results. That exceeded analyst estimates of $2.04 per share, which StreetInsider cited in its coverage of the announcement. For comparison with the year-earlier period, Investing.com's results table showed earnings per share of $1.98 in the third quarter of 2025. The company posted quarterly revenue of $6.52 billion, according to results figures reported by StreetInsider. Consensus revenue estimates stood at $6.49 billion, meaning both sales and adjusted earnings exceeded market expectations for the quarter as the company narrowed its annual forecast range.

Third-quarter revenue grew 4.2% year on year, according to Investing.com, continuing to rise from the same period a year earlier. The pace of growth was slower than in the second quarter, however, when revenue rose 6.0% year on year, according to the site's coverage of that period's results. The company's ability to sustain sales growth was central to UBS's assessment published after the July results. The bank said at the time that the key question was whether Genuine Parts could maintain its revenue growth trajectory in the second half of the year. Its assessment linked that question to the company's ability to improve incremental margins over the same period, according to Investing.com's account of its post-earnings comments.

Management had addressed cost pressures on the July earnings call while discussing higher freight and fuel expenses and the impact of the conflict with Iran. It said on the call, according to the transcript published by Investing.com: "We now expect additional costs of between $20 million and $30 million for the remainder of the year as a result of the conflict with Iran." Those estimates covered the second half of 2026, the period that includes the reported third quarter and over which the expected cost impact extends through year-end. The estimate of additional expenses came on the previous call, when management presented its outlook for the rest of the year in light of those higher expenses. Management included those expenses among conflict-related costs, alongside its discussion of freight and fuel in reviewing the company's performance and outlook.

Genuine Parts shares fell 8.2% in premarket trading on the day of the earnings announcement, according to Investing.com's report dated October 20, 2026. The move came in the same session as the release of quarterly results and the update to the expected full-year earnings range. On business restructuring, the company continues to prepare to separate its automotive business from its industrial business, according to its announcement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The September announcement confirmed that the target for completing the separation remains the first quarter of 2027. The announced timetable therefore calls for completion after the end of the fiscal year in which the company narrowed its earnings forecast range, while separation preparations proceed toward the target date.

According to the regulatory disclosure on leadership arrangements, Will Stengel will continue as the company's chairman and chief executive until the separation is completed. That was disclosed as part of the appointment of Kurt Carrothers as CEO-elect, with Stengel remaining in his roles until the transaction closes. Ahead of the target separation date, the company scheduled separate investor events for Genuine Parts and Motion, according to its announcement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Genuine Parts' investor day is scheduled for December 8, 2026, according to the timetable announced by the company. Motion's investor day follows on December 9, 2026, placing both events in December ahead of the target completion date for the separation the following year.