Oct. 28--Lean times continued in the third quarter for Bellevue-based Paccar, as demand for trucks in North America and Europe remained depressed.

The truck maker reported a paper-thin profit of $13 million, or 4 cents a share, on $2 billion in revenue. That's half the sales and finance revenue Paccar booked in the third quarter of last year.

Paccar's profit would have been even slimmer were it not for a $9 million accounting gain related to the permanent closure of its Peterbilt factory in Madison, Tenn.

For the first nine months of the year, revenues totaled $5.83 billion, less than half of what they were in the same period last year. Total profit was $65.8 billion, or 18 cents a share.

Still, Paccar's results beat Wall Street predictions. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected a profit of 2 cents per share on $1.78 billion in revenue.

The third-quarter results also were up slightly from the second quarter. And Paccar CEO Mark Pigott saw a few rays of light on the horizon.

"The U.S. and Canadian truck markets have been in a recession for three years but now seem to be improving slightly," Pigott said in a conference call with analysts. "Industry new orders of [heavy-duty] trucks have increased in each of the last four months."

The company expects North American truck sales next year to be 110,000 to 140,000 units, versus the 100,000 to 110,000 units expected to be sold this year. European sales, however, are expected to be even with or slightly below this year's level.

Basili Alukos, an analyst with Morningstar, called Paccar's results "respectable ... considering the tumultuous operating environment."

In a research note, Alukos wrote that "over the next few years, we expect that worldwide truck sales could increase substantially from the abysmal levels of today." While he cautioned investors to wait for "a suitable margin of safety" before buying Paccar stock, he added that "we still believe that Paccar's best days are ahead."

Paccar shares sank as low as $36.63 after the earnings announcement before regaining some ground. The stock ended regular Nasdaq trading at $37.63, down $1.62 or 4.1 percent on the day. The stock has traded between $40.26 and $20.38 a share in the past year.

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