Paccar Inc. — maker of Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks as well as Braden hoists and winches — recently posted the second best quarter in its 110-year history.
The company earned $431.2 million in the third quarter of 2015, said a recent news release. That worked out to $1.21 per diluted share, an increase of 16 percent from the $371.4 million, or $1.04 per diluted share, earned in the same quarter in 2014.
For the first nine months of 2015, the company reported a 31 percent increase in net income to $1.26 billion, or $3.53 per diluted share, the release said. That compared with $964.5 million, or $2.71 per diluted share, for the first three quarters of 2014.
Retail sales of class 8 trucks in the U.S. and Canada are up 18 percent year over year, the release quoted Dan Sobic, Paccar executive vice-president.
“Kenworth and Peterbilt customers are benefiting from good economic growth, strong freight tonnage and lower fuel prices,” Sobic said. “Next year should be another strong year for truck sales.”
Company CEO Ron Armstrong also noted strong sales in Europe of Paccar’s DAF Euro range of trucks.
Based in the Seattle suburb of Bellevue, Wash., Paccar trades on the Nasdaq exchange.
