LKQ Corporation (LKQ) Stock Price & How to Invest

LKQ Corporation sources, distributes and sells replacement parts, components and systems used to repair and maintain vehicles, spanning recycled and aftermarket collision parts, salvage vehicles, remanufactured engines and mechanical components, and specialty accessories for trucks, RVs and marine. It operates primarily through its Wholesale North America and Europe segments plus a Specialty segment, serving body shops, mechanical repair shops and retail customers, and its scale in salvage and aftermarket sourcing is its core competitive moat.

The investment picture is one of a mature, highly cash-generative distributor navigating a weak repair-volume environment (fewer accident claims and mild pricing pressure) while trading at about 12.6x trailing and 7.3x forward earnings as of October 2026. Management has launched a strategic alternatives review that explicitly includes a potential sale of the company, and is simplifying the portfolio by divesting its Self Service segment and certain Eastern European operations while exploring a sale of Specialty. The result is a stock priced as a value and self-help turnaround, where free cash flow, debt paydown, the dividend and portfolio actions matter more than top-line growth.

The 2026 numbers have drifted the wrong way. Second-quarter revenue was about $3.41 billion, down roughly 3% year over year, and adjusted EPS of $0.67 missed the roughly $0.71 consensus after an in-line first quarter ($0.67) and a fourth-quarter 2025 miss ($0.59 vs $0.65). Analysts now expect 2026 adjusted EPS near $2.67, below the $2.90 to $3.20 range management guided to earlier in the year. The stock closed at $22.48 on October 16, 2026, down about 25% year to date and near the bottom of its $21.17 to $37.13 52-week range. In early October Fitch revised its outlook on LKQ to stable, citing sluggish claims volume and share buybacks. Third-quarter results are due Thursday, October 29, 2026, with consensus near $3.41 billion in revenue and $0.70 in adjusted EPS.

LKQ's revenue is tied to accident frequency, collision-claim volumes and miles driven, all of which have been soft, pressuring organic growth and margins. It carries meaningful debt (about $5.3 billion as of June 30, 2026) against only about $301 million of cash, so higher rates and weak cash generation raise leverage risk. Its closest comp, Genuine Parts, reported disappointing results that dragged LKQ shares, underlining shared industry headwinds. Foreign-exchange swings and European economic weakness affect a large slice of revenue, and the strategic review may not produce a sale or the value investors hope for. Longer term, changing vehicle technology, ADAS-driven fewer accidents and EV parts mix could reshape repair demand. Earnings momentum is also a risk in itself: revenue fell about 3% in the second quarter of 2026, adjusted EPS has missed or matched consensus in three straight quarters, and 2026 consensus EPS of about $2.67 now sits below the company's earlier guidance range, so the October 29 report and any revised outlook carry weight.

8 analysts publish price targets on LKQ, averaging $32.12 against a $22.23 price as of October 2026, or +44.5%. The published targets run from $25.00 to $42.50, a moderate spread, and the ratings split 7 buy, 2 hold, 0 sell. Over the last six months there have been 0 raises and 5 cuts among the published actions. A price target is what an analyst published on a date, not a prediction, and sell-side ratings skew positive across the whole market.

Read the full LKQ forecast and price target for the target table, the recent rating actions by firm, and how the consensus has shifted.

We give no verdict on LKQ Corporation. Both cases are real, which is why the question is contested at all, so here is the strongest version of each.

The case for buying. Structural demand for alternative parts. Insurers and repair shops favor recycled, aftermarket and remanufactured parts to control claim costs, and LKQ's salvage and sourcing scale make it the default supplier in North America. The most optimistic published target, $42.50, assumes this works close to its best case.

The case against. LKQ's revenue is tied to accident frequency, collision-claim volumes and miles driven, all of which have been soft, pressuring organic growth and margins. The most pessimistic target, $25.00, is roughly what LKQ is worth if this bites instead.

Read the full bull and bear case on LKQ, including what would have to change to break either one. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

No. LKQ Corporation (LKQ) has not split its stock in the last 10 years. That is a statement about the window we check rather than about the company’s entire history, so an older split is possible. It also matters less than it once did: fractional shares mean a high price per share no longer keeps smaller investors out, which removed most of the practical reason to split.

A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see LKQ Corporation's investor relations page or your broker.

• Revenue (TTM): ~$13.7B
• Q2 2026 revenue: ~$3.41B (down ~3% YoY)
• Q2 2026 adjusted EPS: $0.67 vs ~$0.71 est.
• Net income (TTM): ~$464M (~3.4% margin)
• P/E (trailing / forward): ~12.6x / ~7.3x
• Dividend yield: ~5.4% ($1.20/yr)
• Market cap: ~$5.7B

At about $22.48 on October 16, 2026, LKQ trades near 12.6x trailing and 7.3x forward earnings, about 0.4x sales and below book value, the multiple of a mature distributor with shrinking revenue rather than a grower. Enterprise value is roughly $10.7 billion once about $5 billion of net debt is added, around 7.6x EBITDA. The low multiple and a dividend yield near 5.4% are central to the value framing, and the October 29 third-quarter report (consensus about $0.70 EPS on $3.41 billion revenue) will show whether estimates have stopped falling.

Other names that sit close to LKQ: same theme, named as a direct competitor, or held beside it in the same funds. Each entry says which. Worth a look if you are thinking about diversification within a thesis rather than concentration on one ticker.

There are three common ways to get LKQ exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic portfolio, so LKQ sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.

Walnut takes the portfolio route. Describe a thesis where LKQ fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.

New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.

LKQ is a scaled, cash-generative auto-parts distributor working through a strategic review and a soft repair market, and after a 25% slide in 2026 it is priced as a deep-value and recovery story (about 7x forward earnings, ~5.4% yield) rather than a growth name.

Whether LKQ is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is LKQ a buy or a sell?, and where the stock could go from here in the LKQ stock forecast.

For income investors, whether LKQ pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does LKQ pay a dividend? And to weigh LKQ against a peer, read the full side-by-side comparisons: LKQ vs GPC and LKQ vs AZO.