O’Reilly Auto opens 5,000th store, posts record earnings

O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (Nasdaq: ORLY) ended the third quarter with record revenue and earnings and started the fourth quarter with a store benchmark.

The Springfield-based auto parts retailer launched its 5,000th store on Oct. 20 in Norwich, Connecticut, according to a news release.

“This is a landmark achievement for O’Reilly and we are especially proud that we have more than doubled our store count over the last 10 years through profitable, organic growth and accretive, strategic acquisitions,” said CEO Greg Henslee, who attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for store No. 5,000, in the release. “Year to date, we opened 171 net, new stores across 34 states, with Texas, Florida and the Northeast still leading as our strongest growth markets.

“We will reach our target of 190 net, new stores by the end of the year.”

O’Reilly Automotive’s third-quarter earnings increased 2 percent to $283.7 million, or $3.22 per diluted share, from $278.5 million, or $2.90 per share a year earlier. Revenue was up 5.4 percent to $2.3 billion from $2.2 billion in third-quarter 2016.

Third-quarter financial notes:
    •    Comparable store sales rose 1.8 percent, within the company’s guidance range.
    •    The company invested $551 million to repurchase 2.7 million of its shares.
    •    Gross profit rose 5.2 percent to $1.2 billion.

O’Reilly Automotive’s assets were $7.5 billion as of Sept. 30, according to the release.

ORLY shares were trading at $209.92 as of 9:36 a.m., compared with a 52-week range of $169.43 to $286.57.