Advance Auto Parts said revenue grew during the company's recently completed third quarter, but only because the company opened new 124 stores.

At established stores, customers spent about the same amount on spark plugs, carburetors and the like during the latest quarter as during the same quarter of 2007. That's according to a limited financial news release put out Tuesday covering the three-month period that ended Oct. 4.

Profit during this year's third quarter will likely be about the same as during the third quarter of 2007, when it was 57 cents a share, the release said. Complete financials are due out Oct. 29.

Advance's new guidance conflicts with analysts' estimates of 66 cents per share in quarterly profit. After the announcement, analysts began adjusting their estimates in line with the company's latest outlook.

Shares of Advance Auto, trading on the NYSE under the symbol AAP, closed at $28.60, down $5.77 or nearly 17 percent.

A handful of external pressures hobbled stores open at least a year: the economy, the credit crisis, gasoline shortages in the Southeast and recent hurricanes, the company said.

Such same-store sales are a critical measure of retail success.

Analyst Cid Wilson wrote in response to the announcement: "While this is not positive news, we believe it is a function of declining consumer confidence and not poor marketing by the company." He is with Kevin Dann & Partners LLC in New York.