ROANOKE, Va. – Shares of Advance Auto Parts Inc. Auto Parts fell Thursday after auto spare parts the retailer reported fourth-quarter earnings that disappointed Wall Street.
Shares fell $2.60, or 6.1 percent, to $40.28 Sewing machine parts in afternoon trading. They have traded in a 52-week range of $31.83 to $47.41.
Late Wednesday, the company reported adjusted profit of 39 cents per share, excluding the impact of store closures and other items. The company posted comparable profit of 41 cents per share in the same quarter of 2008.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected income of 46 cents per share in the latest quarter.
Craig Kennison, an analyst with Robert W. Baird & Co., said commercial business was robust, growing nearly 10 percent in the period. But Kennison was troubled that sales to do-it-yourself customers, which account for 70 percent of the retailer's revenue, continued to lag. Do-it-yourself business fell by 0.8 percent in the quarter.
"Do-it-yourself sales need to recover before investors gain confidence, in our view," Kennison wrote in a note to investors.
