Advance Auto Parts Hits 52-Week High
Shares of Advance Auto Parts Inc. (AAP) hit a new 52-week high of $86.92 on May 16, which is above its previous level of $86.23, and closed at $85.42 on the same date. The closing price represented a one-year return of 4.4% and a solid year-to-date return of 17.9%.
The leading retailer of replacement parts (excluding tires), accessories, maintenance items, batteries and automotive fluids for cars and light trucks has a market cap of $6.4 billion. Average volume of shares traded over the last three months stood at approximately 852.26K.
Shares of the company started escalating in anticipation of an improved 2013-first quarter results, to be released on May 23 as most of the leading automotive aftermarket parts retailer, including AutoNation Inc. (AN), CarMax Inc. (KMX) and O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (ORLY), have performed well during the quarter.
For 2013, Advance Auto Parts expects operating EPS between $5.45 and $5.60, which excludes one-time integration costs for BWP Distributors of roughly 15 to 20 cents per share. The expected EPS is higher than $5.22, reported in 2012. The company also expects revenues to increase roughly $170 million to $180 million during the year due to the acquisition of BWP. Shares of the company currently retain a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
In the first quarter of 2013, AutoNation posted a 21.4% rise in earnings per share to 68 cents from 56 cents in the same quarter of 2012, topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5 cents. Revenues increased 10.8% to $4.1 billion, nearly tallying the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.0 billion.
In the same quarter, O’Reilly Automotive posted a 19.3% increase in earnings to $1.36 per share compared with $1.14 in the year-ago quarter, exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny. Revenues during the quarter scaled up 4% to $1.59 billion from $1.53 billion in the same period a year ago.
Last month, CarMax posted a profit of $107.2 million or 46 cents per share in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 ended Feb 28, 2013, barely exceeding the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny. Profits increased 12.8% from $95.0 million or 12.2% from 41 cents per share in the prior-year quarter. Net sales and operating revenues in the quarter rose 14% to $2.83 billion, topping the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.70 billion. Currently, shares of CarMax retain a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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