PACCAR Inc PCAR delivered first-quarter 2026 earnings of $1.15 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.13 by 1.8%. The bottom line decreased 21.2% from $1.46 in the year-ago quarter.
Consolidated revenues (including trucks and financial services) were $6.78 billion, down from $7.44 billion in the corresponding quarter of 2025. The decline reflected lower industry volumes.
Sales from Truck, Parts and Other amounted to $6.23 billion. Global new truck deliveries totaled 33,100 units versus 40,100 a year ago.
PACCAR Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
PACCAR Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | PACCAR Inc. Quote
PCAR’s Revenue Mix Tilts Toward Trucks
By business line, Truck sales were $4.53 billion versus $5.23 billion a year ago. Parts revenues rose to $1.71 billion from $1.69 billion reported in the year-ago period. Financial Services revenues increased to $542.2 million from $528 million. PACCAR Sees Improving Demand in Key Markets
The company expects a “positive inflection” in the U.S. and Canada truck market as freight rates improve amid reduced trucking capacity. For 2026, the company expects U.S. and Canada Class 8 industry retail sales in the range of 230,000-270,000 trucks.
In Europe, PACCAR projected above 16-tonne registrations of 280,000-320,000 trucks in 2026, while the comparable South American market is expected to be 100,000-110,000 trucks. The company also pointed to product initiatives, including new DAF XD, XF, XG and XG+ Electric offerings and Kenworth’s newly unveiled C580 vocational truck, with production slated to begin in January 2027.
PCAR Parts and Financing Remain Key Profit Pillars
PACCAR Parts continued to be a major profit contributor, generating pretax income of $402.3 million in the quarter compared with $426.5 million a year ago. The segment’s performance improved due to investments in parts distribution centers, TRP all-makes parts and logistics capabilities supporting a broad dealer and service footprint.
PACCAR Truck's pre-tax income was $176.2 million, which decreased 51.7% year over year.
PACCAR Financial Services delivered pretax income of $115.5 million versus $121.1 million in the year-ago quarter. The business ended the period with a portfolio of 221,000 trucks and trailers and total assets of $22.3 billion, while PacLease’s fleet was about 37,000 vehicles. The company issued $400 million in medium-term notes during the first quarter.
PACCAR’s Costs and Other Items Shift Year Over Year
Within Truck, Parts and Other, the cost of sales and revenues were $5.42 billion, while research and development expense was $109.1 million and selling, general and administrative expense was $149.6 million. Truck, Parts and Other income before income taxes rose to $580.4 million from $438.2 million in the prior-year quarter.
A notable year-over-year swing came from “Interest and other (income) expense, net,” which was income of $21.3 million in the first quarter of 2026 compared with an expense of $325.8 million a year ago. The prior-year period included a $350.0 million charge related to civil litigation in Europe (EC-related claims). In Financial Services, provision for losses on receivables increased to $44.1 million from $18.3 million.
PCAR’s Cash Flow Stays Solid as Investment Continues
PACCAR generated $971.8 million of cash provided by operations in the quarter, up from $910.3 million a year ago. The company invested $135.5 million in capital projects and declared a dividend of 33 cents per share.
On the balance sheet, cash and marketable securities were $8.60 billion as of March 31, 2026, compared with $9.25 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025, while stockholders’ equity increased to $19.76 billion from $19.26 billion over the same span. Looking ahead, the company expects 2026 capital expenditures of $725-$775 million and research and development expenses of $450-$500 million as it steps up investment in next-generation powertrains, connected vehicle services, expanded manufacturing capabilities and its autonomous vehicle platform.
PCAR currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Key Releases From Auto Space
Autoliv, Inc. ALV reported first-quarter 2026 results on April 17. It posted adjusted earnings of $2.05 per share, which declined 4.7% year over year but came ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.77 by 15.8%. Net sales were $2.75 billion, up 6.8% from the year-ago quarter and above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.63 billion by 4.52%.
Autoliv ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $342 million, compared with $322 million a year earlier. Long-term debt was $1.7 billion, compared with $1.56 billion a year ago. Shareholder returns continued through dividends. Autoliv paid a cash dividend of 87 cents per share in the quarter, with dividends paid totaling $65 million.
Genuine Parts Company GPC reported its first-quarter 2026 results on April 21. It posted adjusted earnings of $1.77 per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.81 by 1.94%. The bottom line improved 1.1% from the year-ago quarter’s adjusted earnings of $1.75 per share. The company posted revenues of $6.27 billion, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.17 billion by 1.5% and increased 6.8% year over year. The performance was driven by solid sales growth across business segments and a 20-basis-point improvement in gross margin to 37.3%.
GPC’s total liquidity was $1.3 billion as of March 31, 2026, including $500 million in cash and $838 million of revolver capacity. During the quarter, GPC invested $98 million in capex and $14 million in acquisitions, while returning $142 million to shareholders via dividends. For 2026, the company targets $450-$500 million in capex and $300-$350 million in M&A, with approximately 7.5 million shares remaining under its repurchase authorization.
Tesla, Inc. TSLA reported first-quarter 2026 results on April 22. It posted adjusted earnings of 41 cents per share, which increased 52% year over year and came ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 36 cents by 13.04%. Quarterly revenues rose 15.8% from the year-ago quarter to $22.39 billion and topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $21.92 billion by 2.12%, supported by higher vehicle deliveries and stronger Services and Other activity.
Tesla generated $3.94 billion of net cash from operating activities in the quarter. Capital expenditures were $2.49 billion, up from $1.49 billion in the same period last year, resulting in free cash flow of $1.44 billion. Liquidity remained a key support for the company’s expanded investment agenda. Cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments ended the quarter at $44.74 billion, while debt and finance leases net of the current portion were $7.78 billion.
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