Genuine Parts narrows 2026 profit outlook as Motion split stays on track for 2027

Shares rose 4.7% in pre-market trading but remained down 4.1% at $124.84 after Genuine Parts cut the top of its earnings guidance.

Genuine Parts reported third-quarter earnings of $2.07 a share, with revenue of $6.52 billion, short of the $6.59 billion analysts had expected. Estimates on the earnings figure varied: a survey of five analysts by Zacks Investment Research, cited by the Associated Press, had put the consensus at $2.09 a share, meaning Genuine Parts missed on that measure. A separate tracking by AlphaStreet and MarketBeat put consensus lower, at $2.04 a share across nine analysts, with estimates ranging from $1.95 to $2.12, which would make the result a beat.

The company narrowed its full-year 2026 adjusted earnings guidance to $7.50 to $7.75 a share, down from $7.50 to $8.00. StockStory calculated the change as a 1.6% cut to the midpoint, now $7.63. The new range keeps the floor in place but removes the top 25 cents, a signal that management sees less room for upside than it did last quarter even with the midpoint largely unchanged.

In the prior quarter, reported July 21, Genuine Parts posted $2.15 a share, beating a $2.08 consensus, on revenue of $6.54 billion, up 6% from a year earlier, according to MarketBeat. Shares had opened at $129.57 on October 13, when the company carried a market capitalization of $17.86 billion, MarketBeat said. Yahoo Finance's one-year analyst target for the stock stood at $140.56 heading into Tuesday's report.

Chairman and CEO Will Stengel said the company hit milestones in separating into two independent companies, GPC and Motion, and remains on track to launch them in the first quarter of 2027. That timeline is unchanged from what the company has previously said. Revenue falling short of expectations while per-share profit held in line suggests the company is leaning on margin management rather than growth to hit its numbers, and investors pursuing the breakup as a catalyst are still being asked to wait more than a year for it, with this quarter's results showing only incremental progress toward that goal.