NEW YORK, July 3, 2026, 10:01 EDT
- U.S. stock markets are closed Friday for the Independence Day holiday. Genuine Parts Company NYSE:GPC finished at $132.57 on Thursday, its last regular price this week.
- GPC finished 12.9% higher after Bloomberg News said O’Reilly Automotive NASDAQ:ORLY made a cash offer for its auto parts division, according to Reuters.
- The gain in the stock put around $2.1 billion onto the company’s market cap, well short of the more than $10 billion low-end value reported for the unit.
- Genuine Parts (GPC) is set to report Q2 earnings on July 21, with a call scheduled for 8:30 a.m. ET.
NYSE markets are closed Friday for the Independence Day holiday. Thursday’s session was the last trading day this week for Genuine Parts Company NYSE:GPC, which finished at $132.57, gaining 12.9% for the day. The stock is up about 14.3% from a June 26 close of $116.02.
The question for investors now isn’t only if O’Reilly Automotive NASDAQ:ORLY will pick up GPC’s auto-parts arm. The market is also starting to focus on the value of what’s left—Motion, GPC’s industrial parts division. Bloomberg reported the auto unit could fetch $10 billion or more, Reuters said, and noted GPC might still hold onto the business, go for a spinoff, or wait for another offer. GPC had no comment, according to Reuters.
Investors didn’t treat the report as settled money. Shares of GPC jumped $15.17 in the regular session, adding about $2.1 billion to its equity base off a $18.2 billion market cap at Thursday’s close. That’s only about a fifth of the $10 billion low end reported for the auto unit.
| Latest regular-session read | Close | Move |
|---|---|---|
| Genuine Parts Company NYSE:GPC | $132.57 | up 12.9% |
| O’Reilly Automotive NASDAQ:ORLY | $90.25 | down 2.7% |
| AutoZone Inc. NYSE:AZO | $3,159.28 | off 2.0% |
| Advance Auto Parts Inc. NYSE:AAP | $61.53 | fell 2.4% |
| LKQ Corp. NASDAQ:LKQ | $26.55 | added 1.5% |
| SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) | $744.78 | slipped 0.1% |
| Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSEARCA:XLY) | $117.12 | lost 0.8% |
The read-through is straightforward. At the reported low end, the auto bid puts Global Automotive at about 8.3x 2025 EBITDA and under 0.7x sales. Giving $10 billion to the auto unit, GPC’s leftover market cap values Motion at around $8.2 billion before accounting for debt, taxes, or split costs. Back in February, GPC said Global Automotive had more than $15 billion projected 2025 sales with $1.2 billion EBITDA, while Global Industrial (under Motion) generated roughly $9 billion in sales and $1.1 billion in EBITDA.
| Simple sum-of-parts check | 2025 sales | 2025 EBITDA | Value used | Read-through |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Global Automotive, reported sale case | over $15 bln | $1.2 bln | $10 bln or more | $10 bln is about 8.3x EBITDA |
| Motion stub, value after $10 bln on auto | around $9 bln | above $1.1 bln | near $8.2 bln | close to 7.5x EBITDA |
This matters since a cash sale would lock in a set price for the lower-margin unit. Spinning it off means investors would have to price both businesses. The market’s pricing in some benefit for GPC from a possible sale, but not all of it.
GPC chair-elect and CEO Will Stengel set off that debate back in February, saying that “Creating two focused, independent companies” would bring “clarity and speed” and let each business invest on its own. The company said it’s planning the split for the first quarter of 2027 and it won’t need a shareholder vote. GenPT
The margin difference is why this reported bid has more weight than a usual M&A rumor. Industrial turned in a 13.6% EBITDA margin in Q1. North America Automotive had 6.6%, and International Automotive was at 9.1%. Stengel said in April that the quarter came in “ahead of expectations” and GPC was “making strong progress” on the split. PR Newswire
| GPC segment, Q1 2026 | Sales | Sales change | Segment EBITDA | EBITDA margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North America Automotive | $2.4 bln | up 4.3% | $156 mln | 6.6% |
| International Automotive | $1.6 bln | up 13.2% | $145 mln | 9.1% |
| Industrial | $2.3 bln | up 5.2% | $314 mln | 13.6% |
GPC stayed under its 52-week high of $151.57 after the sharp move on Thursday. Shares could see another bid, a competing offer, or slip back if no deal is announced. MarketWatch showed GPC up 14.26% for five days and up 35.07% over the past month after Thursday’s close.
Stock trading resumes Monday as markets reopen following the U.S. holiday. The next event for GPC comes July 21, with second-quarter results and a management call set for 8:30 a.m. ET.
