O'Reilly Automotive 2Q results spark 52-week high

On the back of a 13.5 percent boost in second-quarter earnings, O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (Nasdaq: ORLY) shares reached a new 52-week high as the market opened this morning.

ORLY shares shot up to $247, a new all-time high for the company and above yesterday’s closing price of $241.71 per share. The 52-week low is $146.22 a share.

For the quarter ended June 30, the Springfield-based auto parts retailer generated profits of $233.5 million, or $2.29 per diluted share, up from $205.6 million, or $1.91 per share, a year earlier. Sales rose 10.2 percent to $2 billion from $1.8 billion last year, according to a news release.

“Our strong results are highlighted by an industry-leading 7.2 percent increase in comparable store sales, which mirrors the strong 7.2 percent increase we generated in the first quarter of the year,” O’Reilly President and CEO Greg Henslee said in the release. “Our team's focus on providing consistently high levels of service to our customers continues to drive our strong top-line performance.”

Second-quarter financial notes:
    •    O’Reilly repurchased 2 million shares of its common stock at an average price of $221.50 per share, representing an investment of $440 million.
    •    The company opened 34 stores and closed two, ending the quarter with a store count of 4,465.
    •    The auto parts retailer’s workforce total was 71,763 at quarter’s end, up from 67,185 a year ago.

As of June 30, O’Reilly’s assets were $6.7 billion. The company operates stores in 43 states, according to the release.