O'Reilly Auto sales jump 80% in 1Q

Springfield-based O'Reilly Automotive Inc. showed no signs of slowing down in the first quarter, as sales surged 80 percent on a growing number of drivers looking to keep vehicles longer.

The auto-parts retailer reported quarterly results after market close on Wednesday.

Sales for the quarter were $1.16 billion, up 80 percent from $646.2 million a year ago. Comparable store sales were up 5.7 percent for O'Reilly-branded and CSK-branded stores combined.

Net income was $62.8 million, up 36 percent from $46.3 million a year ago.

Gross profit was $542.7 million, up from $288.5 million a year ago.

Selling, general and administrative expenses, meanwhile, doubled to $429.3 million. Part of the increase was due to a charge related to the amortization of the value assigned to CSK Auto Corp.'s trade names and trademarks; O'Reilly acquired Phoenix-based CSK last summer.

First-quarter earnings per share were 46 cents, compared to 40 cents a year ago.

"I feel, as many of our commercial customers have expressed, that many customers are very simply back to taking very good care of their cars, with the mindset that they will be driving them longer than they might have expected a year or two ago," CEO and Co-President Greg Henslee said this morning during the company's investor conference call. "For that reason, we're not seeing as much deferred maintenance as we have in previous periods."

Since the beginning of the year, 93 more CSK stores have been rebranded, and CSK's Detroit distribution center has been converted to the O'Reilly system. O'Reilly also is on schedule to open a distribution center in Greensboro, N.C., in May.

The company's earnings projections call for between 50 cents and 54 cents per share for the second quarter and between $1.89 and $1.93 per share for the year.

Shares (Nasdaq: ORLY) closed Wednesday at $37.24 and were trading up at $40.42 as of 10:30 this morning.[[In-content Ad]]