Paccar Q3 2026 earnings: truck slump pressures results, parts business shines
Paccar's Q3 2026 profit and sales came in a bit below Wall Street's targets as the heavy-truck market keeps cooling, though its parts and financing businesses stayed strong.
| Q3 2026 | Reported | Expected | Surprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| EPS | $1.61 | $1.63 | -1.2% |
| Revenue | $7.38B | $8.03B | -8.2% |
Key takeaways
- Earnings per share of $1.61 came in just shy of the $1.63 analysts had expected, and revenue also missed Wall Street’s forecast, underscoring how much the heavy-truck market has cooled after its post-pandemic boom.
- Paccar delivered roughly 40,100 trucks in the quarter, held back by parts shortages from its suppliers rather than weak customer demand, according to the earnings call.
- Management guided to 41,000–43,000 truck deliveries for the fourth quarter and expects a gross margin of 14%–15% on trucks, parts and other combined, close to this quarter’s 14.5%, as supplier bottlenecks are expected to ease gradually.
- The Parts division — which sells replacement parts and services rather than new trucks — posted a record quarter of roughly $1.78 billion, which the company attributed to new distribution centers, dealer-inventory programs, Fleet Services, and its TRP all-makes brand; this steadier, higher-margin business helps offset swings in new-truck sales.
- Paccar Financial Services, the unit that finances and leases trucks for customers, also delivered strong profits for the quarter, the company said.
- Looking at the trailing twelve months, both revenue and earnings per share are down from a year ago (roughly 11% and 19% respectively), reflecting the broader slowdown in truck orders industry-wide — but Paccar is still solidly profitable, with an operating margin near 12.8%, a net margin around 9%, and return on equity above 12%, showing the downturn hasn’t eroded the company’s underlying efficiency.
- In recent quarters Paccar’s leadership has pointed to firming freight rates and clearer trade policy as reasons to expect the Class 8 heavy-truck market to strengthen into 2026, even as near-term results stay pressured by supply constraints.
How the stock took it
Paccar Inc closed at $104.37 on Oct 26, 2026, the last session before the report, and at $102.42 on Oct 28, 2026, the first session after it — -1.9% across the report.
Closes from the market's daily record. Each figure spans the report date — from the last session that closed before it to the first that closed after — because a company may report before the open or after the close.
Fundamentals
| Metric | Value | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 20.0% | Trailing 12 months |
| Operating margin | 12.8% | Trailing 12 months |
| Net profit margin | 9.0% | Trailing 12 months |
| Pretax margin | 11.5% | Trailing 12 months |
| EPS | $4.75 | Trailing 12 months |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | -10.6% | Trailing 12 months |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -18.6% | Trailing 12 months |
| Return on equity | 12.7% | Trailing 12 months |
Sources: company report · earnings call