ROANOKE, Va.—Auto parts retailer Advance Auto Parts Inc. said Thursday its first-quarter profit rose 8 percent, boosted by sales at new stores.
The results beat Wall Street predictions, sending Advance Auto Parts shares up $2.86, or 8.3 percent, to $37.50 in aftermarket electronic trading, from their close at $34.64 in the regular session.
For the quarter ended April 19, Advance Auto Parts earned $82.1 million, or 86 cents per share, compared with $76.1 million, or 71 cents per share, for the corresponding quarter in 2007.
Revenue rose 4 percent to $1.53 billion, from $1.47 billion in the year-ago period.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, expected a profit of 78 cents per share on $1.51 billion in revenue.
Advance Auto Parts said the revenue increase reflected the net addition of 141 new stores and a same-store sales increase of 0.6 percent.
Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is a key indicator of retailer performance since it measures growth at existing stores, rather than newly opened ones.
The same-store sales growth included a 10.6 percent jump in commercial sales, which was partially offset by a 3 percent drop in do-it-yourself sales.
Advance Auto Parts cautioned that it is in the midst of a turnaround and expects short-term earnings volatility.
