O'Reilly Automotive reports higher Q3 profits, revenue despite 'soft demand'

While profits and revenue were up in the third quarter for O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (Nasdaq: ORLY), the company's CEO says "results were below our expectations."

The Springfield-based auto parts retailer reported net income of $665.5 million, a 2.4% increase from $649.8 million in third-quarter 2023, according to a news release. Diluted share earnings were up to $11.41 from $10.72 per share.

Revenue during the quarter came to $4.4 billion, representing 3.8% growth from $4.2 billion in the same quarter last year.

"Our comparable store sales increased 1.5% in the third quarter, as we faced broad-based consumer pressures and a soft demand environment on both the professional and DIY sides of our business," company CEO Brad Beckham said in the release. "While our third-quarter results were below our expectations, we are pleased with our team’s unwavering dedication to our customers and their ability to still deliver positive comparable store sales results in tough conditions, on top of the robust 8.7% and 7.6% increases we generated in the third quarter the last two years."

Beckham further said in the release that the company is changing its full-year comparable store sales guidance to a range of 2% to 3%, compared with a 2% to 4% range previously.

As of Sept. 30, O'Reilly Automotive had $14.6 billion in assets and 6,291 stores, according to the release.

ORLY shares were trading at $1,205.86 as of 10:36 a.m., compared with a 52-week range of $895.88 to $1,221.18 per share. The latest 52-week high came Oct. 21 and capped off a series of new highs leading up the quarterly report.