Motion on Tuesday reported an increase in second-quarter sales after revenue attributed to its recent acquisitions overcame a slight decline in year-over-year comparable sales.
But the MRO and industrial technology distributor also reduced its forecast for the full year — a reflection of new and looming tariffs and potentially slower overall market growth.
Genuine Parts Company — the parent of the no. 2 distributor on ID’s latest Big 50 list — said that its industrial segment posted sales of $2.25 billion in the quarter, an increase of 0.7% compared to the same quarter last year.
Motion’s comparable sales were down by 0.1% over that span, but its recent acquisitions bolstered the overall sales number by 1.3% in the latest quarter. Foreign currency impacts dented its Q2 total by 0.5%
Motion also reported EBITDA of $288 million in the quarter — an increase of 1.1% year-over-year — and an EBITDA margin of 12.8%, which was up by 10 basis points.
Genuine Parts Company, which also includes the NAPA Auto Parts business, said that its overall sales rose from $5.96 billion in the second quarter of 2024 up to $6.16 billion in the latest reporting period, but net income fell from $295.5 million down to $254.9 million.
President and CEO Will Stengel said in a statement that the results were “in line with our expectations,” but the company curbed its outlook through the remainder of the year — both overall and within its auto and industrial segments — after incorporating the anticipated effects of tariffs and other market factors.
The Motion business now expects full-year sales growth of 1% to 3%, down from the earlier forecast of 2% to 4% growth.
“The evolving tariff landscape brings with it a degree of uncertainty, and as a result, we expect to see a more moderated improvement in market conditions than we projected in February,” GPC Executive Vice President and CFO Bert Nappier said in the company’s earnings release.
"As we turn to the second half of the year, we remain focused on what we can control as we proactively manage through an evolving external environment,” Stengel added.
