News · LKQ Corporation (LKQ) · Consumer Cyclical

LKQ falls 22.5% after CEO ouster and Europe review

Session of October 23, 2026 · Published October 24, 2026 · 3 min read

What happened

LKQ fell 22.5% on October 23, 2026, after it removed its chief executive, named Salvatore A. Abbate as president and chief executive officer, disclosed significant underperformance in Europe and withdrew full-year 2026 guidance. The steep drop followed the company’s statement that third-quarter results showed weakness in Europe and that it had retained Alvarez & Marsal to advise on its European operations, according to GlobeNewsWire and the Wall Street Journal. Trading was heavy: the stock traded 7.2 times its 20-day average, and it opened 19.2% below the previous close.

Closing price over the last 30 trading sessions. On October 23, 2026, LKQ closed at $17.42, down 22.5% on the day and 26.7% lower than 30 sessions earlier.

How big was the move

The decline was a large, mostly company-specific move. The stock moved 6.0 times a typical daily move for this stock, and it was 20.9 percentage points worse than the Consumer Cyclical sector median on the day. By contrast, the S&P 500 fell 0.5% on the day and the sector median fell 1.6%, underscoring that company news was the likely driver. The stock’s market value stood at $5.62 billion on the session, and its beta of 0.55 indicates the stock tends to move less than the market in normal conditions.

Each bar is one day's price change; the outlined bar is October 23, 2026. A typical daily move over the past year was 2.2%, so the latest move equals 10.1 times that. Moves outside the dashed lines (about 4.5%) are unusual.

The technical picture

The technicals showed sustained weakness across time frames. The stock was 20.9% below its 20-day moving average, 26.0% below its 50-day moving average and 36.8% below its 200-day moving average. The 50-day average sat below the 200-day average, a sign of a weak longer-term trend. Momentum indicators were stretched to the downside, with the Relative Strength Index (14 days) at 22, below the commonly used oversold threshold of 30. Volatility was elevated: the stock’s 60-day annualized volatility was 60%, the highest reading of the past five years.

Closing price over the past year. LKQ ends the period 49.9% below its 52-week high, below its 50-day average ($23.55) and below its 200-day average ($27.55).

Price action over longer windows showed even steeper losses. The stock fell 24.3% over one month, 33.6% over three months and 42.6% over one year, leaving the stock 53.1% below its 52-week high and 56.4 percentage points behind the S&P 500 over the past year.

Fundamentals and valuation

Over the four quarters through June 30, 2026, revenue was $13.69 billion, a decline of 2.5% from a year earlier, and diluted earnings per share were $1.80, down 33.8% year over year. Gross margin narrowed to 37.7% from 39.2% a year earlier, and operating margin fell to 6.8% from 8.4%. Free-cash-flow margin was 4.6% and return on invested capital was 5.6%. The balance sheet showed net debt of 4.0 times EBITDA, and the company’s share count decreased by 1.6% over the past year.

Quarterly revenue by period end. The latest quarter brought $3.4B, 6.4% less than the same quarter a year earlier.

On valuation metrics the stock traded at 9.7 times trailing earnings, the lowest reading of the past five years, compared with a five-year median of 13.9 times earnings, and at 6.5 times expected forward earnings. The stock showed a free-cash-flow yield of 11.1%, and the PromtFinance Value score ranked 96 within the sector, marked Exceptional. PromtFinance scores signaled weaker fundamentals elsewhere, with Growth at 18 and Momentum at 9.

Earnings and analyst expectations

LKQ last reported on July 30, 2026, posting earnings per share of $0.67 against $0.71 expected, 5.4% below estimates. The company had recorded zero consecutive quarters beating estimates, and the average surprise over the last four reports was 0.3% below estimates. After recent reports the typical two-day reaction was a 3.8% decline. LKQ set its next earnings report for October 29, 2026.

Diluted earnings per share by quarter. The latest quarter shows $0.53, against $0.74 in the same quarter a year earlier.

Analysts covering the stock numbered 22, with 86% rating the stock Buy or Strong Buy and a consensus rating of Buy. The consensus price target was $31.30, 79.7% above the closing price.

What to watch

October 29, 2026: next earnings report is scheduled.
The company said it retained Alvarez & Marsal to advise on its European operations (reported by GlobeNewsWire and WSJ).
The firm withdrew its full-year 2026 guidance (reported by GlobeNewsWire and WSJ).
Block & Leviton LLP announced an investigation into whether LKQ misled investors on European operations and a software rollout (reported by GlobeNewsWire).
Consensus price target: $31.30, which is 79.7% above the closing price.

Full LKQ analysis: scores, chart and financials →