CHICAGO -- For the final presentation at this year’s Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium (GAAS), held Tuesday and Wednesday in Chicago, Tony Cristello, senior equity research analyst for BB&T Capital Markets, gave GAAS attendees an update on Wall Street’s outlook on the automotive aftermarket. Cristello manages the company’s automotive aftermarket research team.

Since 1996, the GAAS event has included a Wall Street presentation, and this year’s financial speaker provided the rosiest outlook so far.

“I want to make you feel good about this industry because you should. Last year was a tough year,” Cristello said.

The recent challenges the aftermarket has faced in the past year makes it hard to recall the industry’s successes, Cristello said. However, the aftermarket is highly thought of on Wall Street today, he added.

Even with energy costs today, the returns for aftermarket stocks continue to be impressive.

“I’m here today to tell you that not only is the aftermarket surviving, it’s really thriving,” Cristello said.

During his presentation, Cristello outlined the industry drivers that investors focus on, including performance, valuation, market size, stability and predictability and macro factors.

From a performance standpoint, Cristello said, the industry is going strong. “The aftermarket segment is outperforming the S&P,” said Cristello.

The size of the aftermarket continues to grow. "With a 4.2 percent compound annual growth rate, you [the aftermarket] are outgrowing the economy,” he added. “Investors want to participate in a market with stability and long-term growth.”

Wall Street also looks to things like U.S. consumer expenditure data to help determine a market’s value and recent data shows that the automotive aftermarket is in a good position to thrive. In 2005, U.S. consumers spent about 18 percent spent on transportation, 8 percent of which was spent on maintenance and repair. Wall Street pays attention to miles driven and the average age of vehicles because they know that means growth for the aftermarket. “Investors know this is good for this industry,” Cristello said.

“People will always have to spend on maintenance and repair regardless of how their expenditures go up,” Cristello said.