The automobile sector has been riding on a host of favorable elements this year such as plunging oil prices, a recovering U.S. economy, rising consumer confidence and spending, increasing aging vehicles on the road, high incentives and discounts and easy availability of credit. While these factors led to better-than-expected earnings during the third quarter, it is only the stronger dollar that stood in the way of the sector to realize its full potential, leading to revenue weaknesses across the board.

As per Earnings Trend report, earnings of all the automobile companies that have reported so far are up 30.7% year over year for the third quarter of the year, with 60% of the companies beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate. Meanwhile, revenues of all the companies are down nearly 1% for the quarter, with only 20% of them surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate (read: ETF & Stocks Riding on Auto Sector Boom).