Ticker: LKQ 🐻➡️🐂
Price: $31.98 (+0.02, +0.06%) as of Sep-03-2025, 4:15 PM ET

🏭 What on Earth Is LKQ?

LKQ Corporation isn’t your average auto-parts retailer. It’s basically the Costco of car guts, operating across North America and Europe, and even dabbling in specialty and salvage businesses.

Think:

• 🚙 Bumper covers, panels, hoods, lights (aka crash fashion)

• 🔧 Mechanical parts (clutches, brakes, spark plugs)

• ♻️ Salvaged engines & transmissions (your junker’s last hurrah)

• 💎 Catalytic converters with precious metals (the bling under your ride)

• 🛥️ Recreational vehicle and marine parts (because boats break too)

If your car sneezes, LKQ probably sells the tissue.

👀 Insider Buys: CEO and Friends Filling the Garage

Recent filings show that LKQ insiders aren’t just talking—they’re buying with both hands.

• Xavier Urbain (Director): Bought 15,000 shares at $32.12 → 80% boost in holdings. 🛠️

• Andrew Clarke (Director): Bought 5,000 shares at $31.95 → 31% more stock. 🚦

• Justin Jude (CEO): Snapped up 5,669 shares at $31.50 → now holding 286,446 shares. 🚗

If you’re wondering: Do insiders know something we don’t? Answer: maybe just that cars still break, no matter how many Teslas roll out.

🏦 Institutions: Owning More Shares Than Exist 🤯

Here’s where it gets wild:

• Institutional ownership: 107.76% of shares (don’t ask—shorting + lending explains the math).

• Vanguard & BlackRock: Both leading the charge, holding ~$1.7 billion worth of stock.

• State Street, Morgan Stanley, Nordea, Dimensional: All along for the ride.

Translation: Big Money likes LKQ. And when institutions own more shares than technically exist, either Wall Street broke the calculator or they really believe in aftermarket fenders.

For LKQ Corporation (LKQ)'s Institutional Ownership breakdown, 🔍 see here

📊 Recent Financial Results: Driving, but With a Squeaky Belt

2024 Recap:

• 💰 Annual revenue: $14.4B (+3.5% YoY)

• ⚙️ Parts/services organic revenue: -2.2%

• 📉 Net income: $690M vs $942M (ouch, -27%)

• 🧮 Adjusted EPS: $3.48 vs $3.83 (-9%)

• 💵 Free cash flow: $0.8B

• 🔄 Capital returned: Over 80% of FCF via buybacks + dividends

2025 Q2 Snapshot:

• Revenue: $3.6B (-1.9% YoY)

• EPS: $0.75 vs $0.70 (+7%)

• Adjusted EPS: $0.87 vs $0.98 (-11%)

• Cost savings: $125M+ already cut, targeting $75M more

• Shareholder love: $117M returned in Q2 alone

Translation: profits are under the hood, but revenue is idling. Management is tightening bolts and still rewarding shareholders.

🛠️ Strategy: Fixer-Upper with Potential

LKQ is leaning into:

1. Simplifying operations → selling off non-core assets.

2. Lean models → efficiency tuning worldwide.

3. Organic investment → pushing growth in collision & specialty.

4. Capital allocation → steady dividends ($0.30/share) + buybacks (billions authorized).

It’s a garage cleanout strategy: dump the junk, polish what works, and drive profits.

📉 Outlook: Revised Downward (Again)

2025 updated guidance:

• Organic revenue growth: -3.5% to -1.5% (previously 0%–2%)

• EPS: $2.47–$2.77 (cut from $2.91–$3.21)

• Adjusted EPS: $3.00–$3.30 (cut from $3.40–$3.70)

• Free cash flow: $0.60–$0.75B (down from $0.75–$0.90B)

Not great—but hey, at least it’s honest.

👉 Want the full picture? Dive into LKQ Corporation (LKQ)'s financials here.

📈 Valuation: Junkyard Bargain?

• P/E (fwd): 9.5 → 🚨 cheap by market standards

• PEG ratio: 0.9 → undervalued vs growth potential

• Price/Sales: 0.59 → selling for pennies on the revenue dollar

• Dividend yield: ~3.75% → better than many savings accounts

• EV/EBITDA: 8.5x → reasonable

Bottom line: this is priced like a clunker, but insiders think it’s a collectible.

⚠️ Risks: Warning Lights on the Dashboard

1. Slow growth: Organic revenue is sagging. Reliance on acquisitions = integration headaches.

2. Macro risks: High inflation + rates = consumers delay repairs.

3. Competition: OEMs and online retailers fighting for market share.

4. EV threat: Fewer parts + safer cars = less demand for replacement parts long-term.

Think of LKQ as a value stock with a warranty void if EVs go mainstream too fast.

💡💡💡 Curious about another deep oil exploration play?
Check our takes on UnitedHealth Group or even Oscar Health.

🏁 Conclusion: Bull Run or Value Trap?

Insiders are buying. Institutions are overweight. Valuation looks tasty.

But… growth is sputtering, guidance was trimmed, and the long-term EV shift is a storm cloud.

👉 If you’re a value investor, LKQ is like a used car with low mileage: cheap, dependable, but don’t expect Ferrari acceleration.

Our Funanc1al Take:

• Buy a starter position if you like dividends, insider signals, and the chance of recovery.

• Keep your seatbelt on: the ride could be bumpy.

⚠️ Disclaimer:

We like LKQ, but LKQ replaces parts and we replace… well, letters. 
Always DYOR, hold the FOMO, and don’t invest what you can’t afford to lose.

We laugh, we analyze, we meme. We sell jokes and opinions — and yes, we’re billing your sense of humor. 🎪💸 
We’re not financial advisors. We’re FUNancial advisors. 

Invest at your own risk.

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