Advance Auto Profit Tops Street; Stock Up - Update

(RTTNews) - Advance Auto Parts Inc. (AAP) Thursday reported a lower fourth-quarter profit, hurt mainly by weak margins while sales climbed six percent from last year. However, results for the quarter topped Wall Street estimates.

The auto parts retailer also provided guidance for 2014. Investors cheered the outcome, sending Advance Auto shares soaring 13 percent in morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Roanoke, Virginia-based company reported fourth-quarter net income of $49 million or $0.67 per share, compared with $65 million or $0.88 per share last year.

Results for the recent quarter included expenses of $0.24 per share related to the acquisition of General Parts International Inc. and $0.03 per share of integration costs.

Excluding items, comparable earnings for the quarter were $69 million or $0.94 per share.

On average, 15 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of $0.79 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Sales for the fourth quarter climbed to $1.41 billion from $1.33 billion in the prior year. Sixteen analysts, on consensus, estimated sales of $1.39 billion for the quarter.

On a same store basis, sales climbed 0.1 percent compared with a 1.9 percent slump last year.

Gross margin for the quarter dropped to 49.8 percent from 49.9 percent last year, while operating margin declined to 6.4 percent from 8.5 percent.

For fiscal year 2014, the company expects comparable earnings of $7.20 to $7.40 per share and comparable sales growth in the flat-to-low single digits. Analysts currently expect earnings of $7.09 per share for the year.

Advance Auto stock is trading at $125.14, up $14.39 or 12.99%, on a volume of 1.7 million shares.