Aptiv said its net income grew 15 percent to $283 million in the third quarter, signaling an uptick in business amid a year of blows to the global supply chain.
Despite the harrowing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on suppliers in the first and second quarters this year, the autonomous driving technologies and driver-assist systems supplier also reported that revenue in the third quarter grew 3 percent to $3.67 billion.
Aptiv on Thursday joined several suppliers this week that reported third-quarter earnings as the coronavirus crisis lingers — with some experiencing slight rebounds and higher-than-anticipated results compared with earlier in the year.
More companies are set to report results in over the next few weeks.
By region, Aptiv's revenue grew 3 percent in Europe and 11 percent in Asia, which includes 14 percent growth in China. Revenue declined 3 percent in North America.
By segment, advanced safety and user experience revenue increased 3 percent to $1.02 billion. Signal and power solutions segment revenue grew 2 percent to $2.66 billion.
The company said its third-quarter adjusted operating income dropped 5 percent to $389 million from the same period last year. Aptiv also said it saw a 72 percent surge in cash flow to $559 million in cash from operations during the quarter.
"Our third quarter results reflect the efforts we have taken to build a more sustainable business, with a portfolio of advanced technologies driving sustained above market growth despite the ongoing challenging environment," CEO Kevin Clark said in a statement.
"The actions we have taken to improve our through-cycle resiliency, optimize our industry-leading cost structure and enhance our operational execution resulted in stronger revenue growth and earnings in the quarter."
Shares of Aptiv opened 2.8 percent higher to $96.15 on Thursday morning.
Aptiv withdrew its full-year guidance earlier this year but updated it Thursday, with net sales now expected to be $12.54 billion to $12.69 billion. Aptiv initially forecast full-year sales of $14.5 billion to $14.9 billion.
Full-year operating cash flow is expected to be $1.05 billion.
Previous quarters this year
Aptiv reported a 10 percent revenue drop in the first quarter as a result of volume declines due to the impact of the pandemic.
The supplier experienced a 46 percent plunge in revenue in the second quarter, as pandemic-related production declines continued.
Aptiv ranks No. 18 on the Automotive News list of the top 100 global suppliers, with estimated worldwide parts sales to automakers of $12.81 billion in 2019.
