Year-over-year, LKQ Corp.’s net income fell about 15% in Q4 2024 and 27% for the full year.
By Bob Barney
In a major signal that the automotive parts and paint business significantly declined in 2024 and so far in early 2025, LKQ Corp. (Nasdaq: LKQ), the nations largest used parts, new parts and automotive paint distributor, representing all major paint brands, reported a $156 million of net income on revenue of $3.4 billion in 2024’s fourth quarter, and $690 million of net income on revenue of $14.4 billion for the full year. Year over year, this is about 27% less sales and income over the previous year.
The Tennessee-based LKQ reported results Feb. 20. The company sells aftermarket and recycled OEM parts, paints, equipment and services to the repair and body shop markets.
Parts and services organic revenue — receipts from core current operations — saw low quarterly and annual single-digit percentage declines. In 2025, LKQ expects flat results or a slight increase.
Annual diluted earnings per share fell one-fourth, to $2.62; 2025 diluted EPS will be $2.91 to $3.21.
LKQ, who owns Finish Masters Paint is the largest paint and allied distributor in the U.S., providing services nationwide in over 30 states within the Industrial Coatings & Automotive Refinish and Supplies segments. 0 states within the Industrial Coatings & Automotive Refinish and Supplies segments.
Tammy Barney (this authors wife) who co-owns Tamco Paint Manufacturing LLC, an international automotive, OEM, fleet, marine and aircraft paint manufacture told The Plain Truth, “2024 sales were the worst for Tamco in about 7 years, and 2025 has not looked any better yet.” She went on to say that the economy is not yet recovering from four years of policy failures from the Biden Administration and hopes that President Trump can get the small business economy in America moving as fast as possible. “People just don’t have money to spend, she said. We have had to have many sales, which lowers profits significantly just to keep our employees busy.”
Recent poll results have shown that many Trump voters are growing a little worried about proposed tariffs on Canada and other countries that we depend on for raw materials such as oil and minerals.
A gauge of future economic activity turned downward in January, reversing two months of gains, while a handful of surveys finds Americans disapproving of President Donald Trump’s economic policies.
The Conference Board’s leading economic index fell by 0.3% in January to 101.6 (100 equals where it stood in 2016), although December’s slight dip was revised upward.
The drop reversed most of the gains from the previous two months, noted Justyna Zabinska-La Monica, senior manager of business cycle indicators at the business organization.
“Consumers’ assessments of future business conditions turned more pessimistic in January, which – alongside fewer weekly hours worked in manufacturing – drove the monthly decline.”
However, the index’s six-month and annual growth rates continued to trend upward, Zabinska-La Monica added. “We currently forecast that real GDP (gross domestic product) for the U.S. will expand by 2.3% in 2025, with stronger growth in the first half of the year.”
Economists generally expect that the U.S. economy will continue to expand, though it may face headwinds in the second half of the year depending on whether Trump’s promise of import tariffsacross the board takes effect and the future path of inflation.
On Thursday, Walmart released earnings but also warned that it would not be immune to the effects of Trump’s tariffs – widely viewed by economists as leading to higher prices for consumers. The giant retailer, often seen as a proxy for the overall financial picture because of its massive role in the consumer-driven economy, imports a lot of its products from Mexico and other countries that Trump has threatened with tariffs.
Walmart Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey said that while the company makes or assembles two-thirds of the products it sells in the U.S., it is “not going to be completely immune” from any tariffs on Mexico or Canada.
“We’ve lived in a tariff environment for the last seven or eight years, and we’ll do what we know how to do,” he said. “We’ll work with suppliers. We’ll lean into our private brand. We’ll shift supply where necessary to try to take advantage of lower costs that we can then pass on to consumers.”
The latest news on the economy comes as there is growing evidence that Americans are becoming concerned about the effects of Trump’s economic policies on their pocketbooks – especially the threat of import tariffs and inflation that is continuing, despite his promise to lower prices on the first day of his return to the White House.
A Gallup poll taken Feb. 3-16 found Trump’s approval rating on the economy at 42%, lower than his 48% reading in February 2017 and below ratings for Presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama and George W. Bush during the early days of their terms.
“While nine in 10 Republicans again approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, independents’ approval is now 13 points lower, at 31%, and Democrats’ is eight points lower, at 5%,” than during the first month of Trump’s first term.
A Washington Post/Ipsos poll released Thursday found that a majority disapprove of how he is handling the economy, 53% to 45%, while 54% disapprove of how he is managing the federal government.
A Pew Research Center survey released on Wednesday found that Americans have a negative view of Elon Musk, who has emerged as a close adviser to Trump and is leading the charge to purge federal employees and dismantle several government agencies. More than half, 54%, expressed negative feelings about Musk, with 36% saying they view him in a “very unfavorable” light.
The Plain Truth urges that the Trump administration changes direction concerning “owning Gaza” and trying to bring peace and prosperity to Ukraine, while Americans are facing a very cold winter with prices still skyrocketing.
Simply demand that oil refineries make only one blend of gas and mandate that states cannot dictate special blends. Lowering the cost of all energy should be the top priority of this administration! 2026 elections are closer than we think….