Lear's stock falls, as auto-parts maker reports an earnings miss

By James Rogers

Shares of auto parts maker Lear Corp. are down 6.2% in premarket trades Tuesday

Shares of Lear Corp. were down 6.2% in premarket trading Tuesday after the auto-parts maker fell short of analysts' expectations in net income, despite posting increases in key metrics.

Lear (LEA) posted net income of $127.3 million, or $2.18 a share, compared with $118 million, or $1.97 a share in the same period last year. On an adjusted basis, Lear earned $3.03 a share, compared with $2.81 in the prior year's quarter. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were looking for adjusted earnings of $3.12 a share.

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The company reported $5.84 billion in sales - a 9% increase from $5.4 billion in the prior year's quarter. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were looking for sales of $5.7 billion.

In a statement, Lear said that its three-year core sales backlog is $2.8 billion and "will drive continued global revenue growth and sales diversification." The sales backlog has been impacted by launch delays and lower than originally expected volumes on certain electric vehicle programs, the company added.

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The company's fourth-quarter cost of sales was $5.4 billion, compared with $5 billion in the prior year's quarter, and compared with the analyst estimate of $5.21 billion.

Lear expects revenue between $24 billion and $24.6 billion for the full year. Analysts surveyed by FactSet are looking for full-year sales of $24.4 billion. Lear said that, at the midpoint of its guidance range, the company has assumed that global industry production will be 1% lower than in 2023.

Lear shares have fallen 5% in the last 52 weeks, compared with the S&P 500 index's SPX gain of 18.7%.

-James Rogers

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02-06-24 0812ET

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