Genuine Parts GPC
A parts distributor founded in 1928, about to split into NAPA auto parts and Motion industrial parts. The open question is whether the auto side can stop losing margin to faster rivals once it stands on its own. Seven questions that follow the money through the business, the price and the tape. Every number comes from SEC filings and market data, and every score from a rule printed next to it.
What this File stands on. Annual figures: FY2025 10-K (year to 2025-12-31, filed 2026-02-20). "Last 12 months" figures add the quarters through 2026-09-30 (10-Q, filed 2026-10-20). Prices to 2026-10-21. "Last 12 months" figures leave out a one-off: the Q4 2025 pension settlement, First Brands bad debt, asbestos and retirement charges, after tax (-$761M, quarter to 2025-12-31, Q4 2025 results release (8-K, 17 Feb 2026)), taken out of net income. "Last 12 months" figures leave out a one-off: the Q4 2025 First Brands bad debt, asbestos and retirement charges inside operating profit (-$284M, quarter to 2025-12-31, Q4 2025 results release (8-K, 17 Feb 2026)), taken out of operating_income. The numbers rebuild every Monday, so each new 10-Q or 10-K appears within a week of filing. The written parts (business, defences, risks, the read) are from the FY2025 10-K, and the terminal read is dated 2026-10-20.
39 cents of every revenue dollar come from North America Automotive, up 3% on the year.
What it does
Distributes replacement parts. NAPA supplies car parts to repair shops and drivers in North America, Europe and Australasia. Motion supplies bearings, motors and other parts that keep factories running.
How it charges
It buys parts in bulk and resells them through more than 7,600 stores and branches in North America alone. Automotive is about 63% of sales, Industrial about 37%, and Industrial earns the higher margin.
Who buys, and why
Independent repair shops, fleets and do-it-yourself drivers on the auto side; more than 180,000 factories, mines and plants on the industrial side. They come for parts on hand today, close by.
Of every $100 of sales, $3 is left for owners once staff stock pay is counted as a cost.
Owner earnings = operating cash flow minus capital spending minus stock-based pay. Stock pay is a real cost: it is paid in shares instead of cash.
What it is building Harvesting
It spends little on growth. The business is being run for cash, not built.
R&D is treated as an investment written off over 5 years. Capital spending up to depreciation keeps the business standing; anything above it is growth spending. A company that puts more than 10% of sales into R&D and growth capex is building; it is paying off when after-tax profit has grown by at least 12 cents for every extra dollar of capital it put in.
The share count is shrinking 0.7% a year, so each share owns a little more of the business every year.
CEO Will Stengel, in the seat since 2023.
The strongest defence is scale economies. Gross margin has been steady, within 2 points over 6 periods.
A repair shop can order the same part from AutoZone or O'Reilly the same day. Motion holds factories a little better by managing their stock on site.
More shops buying from NAPA does not make NAPA better for the next shop.
Over 10 million parts across thousands of local stores and branches is hard to copy, but North American auto margins fell in 2025 and again this quarter while larger rivals hold theirs.
NAPA is a trusted trade name with about 4,300 independent owners tied to it, and Motion serves more than 180,000 industrial customers.
Sources are rated from the annual report (notes file). The two evidence checks are computed: margins that hold and high returns on capital are what a real defence looks like in the numbers.
A reverse discounted cash flow: the growth today's price requires, set against what the business has actually delivered, and how that changes if you demand a different return.
The IVT terminal read on the weekly and daily charts: bias, money flow, strength, whether the entry window is open, and the sharp captures.
The worst fall of the last five years, the balance sheet, the pressure points and the specific conditions that would break the case.
Where the business sits on quality against price, the quality score line by line, and the conclusion.
The rest of the GPC File
Chapters 5 to 8: the growth today\'s price assumes, the full IVT terminal read with sharp captures, what would break the case, and the final read.
Where every number comes from 15 figures, each linked to its SEC filing
| Figure | Value | Period | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $24.3B | FY25 | 10-K, filed 2026-02-20RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax |
| Gross profit | $8.9B | FY25 | 10-K, filed 2026-02-20GrossProfit |
| Cost of sales | $15.4B | FY25 | 10-K, filed 2026-02-20CostOfGoodsAndServicesSold |
| Net income | $66M | FY25 | 10-K, filed 2026-02-20NetIncomeLoss |
| Operating cash flow | $891M | FY25 | 10-K, filed 2026-02-20NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities |
| Capital spending | $470M | FY25 | 10-K, filed 2026-02-20PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment |
| Stock-based pay | $49M | FY25 | 10-K, filed 2026-02-20ShareBasedCompensation |
| Buybacks | $0 | FY25 | 10-K, filed 2026-02-20PaymentsForRepurchaseOfCommonStock |
| Dividends | $564M | FY25 | 10-K, filed 2026-02-20PaymentsOfDividends |
| Diluted shares | 139M | FY25 | 10-K, filed 2026-02-20WeightedAverageNumberOfDilutedSharesOutstanding |
| Cash and investments | $900M | 2020-09-30 | 10-Q, filed 2020-10-22CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue |
| Debt due within a year | $250M | 2026-09-30 | 10-Q, filed 2026-10-20LongTermDebtCurrent |
| Long-term debt | $4.5B | 2026-09-30 | 10-Q, filed 2026-10-20LongTermDebtNoncurrent |
| Short-term borrowings | $389M | 2026-09-30 | 10-Q, filed 2026-10-20CommercialPaper |
| Shareholders' equity | $4.6B | 2026-09-30 | 10-Q, filed 2026-10-20StockholdersEquity |
Educational research, not investment advice and not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Scores are mechanical and reproducible from public filings; the notes are the author's judgment. Author position in GPC: none. Sources: SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts (filings to 2026-09-30), daily prices to 2026-10-21. Past performance does not predict future returns.