At $3.2B valuation, O’Reilly Auto brand climbs

O’Reilly Automotive Inc. (Nasdaq: ORLY) climbed the list of valuation and strategy consultancy firm Brand Finance’s 500 most valuable brands. Its valuation? Now, $3.2 billion, up from $2.7 billion in 2016, Brand Finance said.

The list, which cites the O’Reilly Auto Parts name and its associated branding, ranked the Springfield firm 222nd — up from 284th in 2016.

The company’s brand rating was AA- on a scale between AAA+ and D, similar to credit ratings. To determine a brand’s value, Brand Finance considers marketing related intangible assets, such as names, terms, signs, symbols, logos and designs, as well as the total economic benefit a business derives from its brand. That includes volume and price premiums over generic products and comparisons with less well-branded competitors.

O’Reilly Auto Parts ranked eighth in Missouri and was the only southwest Missouri business on the list. No. 1 in the Show-Me State was Anheuser-Busch’s Bud Light. The beer brand unseated Purina as the Missouri leader.

The top-ranking brand in the United States was Google with a 2017 value of $109.5 billion. Rounding out the top three is Apple, at $107.1 billion, and Amazon, at $106.4 billion.

In 2016, O’Reilly Automotive posted revenue of $8.6 billion, up 7.8 percent from $8 billion in 2015, according to the company’s latest yearly filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

ORLY shares were trading at $271.80 as of 10:42 a.m., compared with a 52-week range of $248.02 to $292.84.