Graco Earnings: Core Sales Climb 10% Despite Weakness in Asia-Pacific

Wide-moat-rated Graco posted strong first-quarter results, featuring double-digit year-over-year core sales growth despite headwinds in Asia-Pacific. However, management said on the earnings call that order rates in Asia-Pacific improved throughout the quarter and that it anticipates full-year sales growth in the region to be positive. We’ve increased our fair value estimate to $75 per share from $73, which reflects our slightly more optimistic operating margin assumptions as well as the time value of money.