Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ: GNTX) stocks surged over 7% on 19^th October 2018 (Source: Google Finance)  on decent third quarter of 2018 performance. The company reported net sales of $460.3 million, which was an increase of 5% compared to net sales of $438.6 million in the third quarter of 2017. Other net sales in the third quarter of 2018, which includes dimmable aircraft windows and fire protection products, were $11.1 million, an increase of 6%, compared to other net sales of $10.5 million in the third quarter of 2017. During the third quarter of 2018, the Company repurchased approximately 7.5 million shares of its common stock at an average price of $22.98 per share, for a total of $172.5 millions of share repurchases. During the third quarter of 2018, the Company paid down the remaining principal on its credit facility of $23.1 million..

The gross margin was 37.6%, which was down when compared to a gross margin of 39.0% in the third quarter of 2017. Operating expenses during the third quarter of 2018 were up 8% to $45.6 million when compared to operating expenses of $42.2 million in the third quarter of 2017, primarily due to increased staffing levels.

Income from operations decreased 1% to $127.4 million when compared to income from operations of $129.1 million for the last year.  The decrease in income from operations was primarily due to increased operating expenses and lower gross margin percentage, which was partially offset by quarter over quarter sales growth. Other income increased to $3.1 million compared to $1.8 million in the previous year quarter, primarily due to decreased interest expense and higher investment income.

During the third quarter of 2018, the Company’s effective tax rate was 14.7%, down from 31.0% during the third quarter of 2017. Net income for the third quarter of 2018 increased 23% to $111.3 million compared with net income of $90.2 million in the third quarter of 2017. Earnings per diluted share in the third quarter of 2018 increased 35% to $0.42, compared with earnings per diluted share of $0.31 in the third quarter of 2017. Automotive net sales in the third quarter of 2018 were $449.2 million, an increase of 5% compared with automotive net sales of $428.2 million in the third quarter of 2017.