SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – O’Reilly Automotive has announced record revenues and earnings for its first quarter ended March 31, 2014.
Sales for the first quarter ended March 31, 2014, increased $143 million, or 9 percent, to $1.73 billion from $1.59 billion for the same period one year ago. Gross profit for the first quarter increased to $878 million (or 50.8 percent of sales) from $799 million (or 50.4 percent of sales) for the same period one year ago, representing an increase of 10 percent.
Net income for the first quarter ended March 31, 2014, increased $20 million, or 13 percent, to $174 million (or 10.1 percent of sales) from $154 million (or 9.7 percent of sales) for the same period one year ago. Diluted earnings per common share for the first quarter increased 18 percent to $1.61 on 108 million shares versus $1.36 for the same period one year ago on 113 million shares.
Commenting on the company’s first quarter results, President and CEO Greg Henslee stated, "We are proud to report a very strong and profitable start to 2014, highlighted by a 6.3 percent increase in comparable store sales and an 18 percent increase in diluted earnings per share to $1.61, which marks our 21st consecutive quarter of 15 percent or greater diluted earnings per share growth. Our comparable store sales results for the first quarter exceeded our expectations, and the top end of our guidance range, driven by Team O’Reilly’s relentless focus on delivering the highest level of customer service in the industry. Once again, our record-breaking performance is the direct result of the hard work and commitment of our dedicated team members, and I would like to thank each of you for the vital role you play in our ongoing success."
Henslee continued, "During the first quarter, we opened 50 net, new stores across 23 states with many of those stores opening in Florida where our newest distribution center in Lakeland began providing daily inventory replenishments to our stores in those markets in early January. Our Naperville, Ill., distribution center is currently under construction and remains on schedule to open and begin servicing stores by early fall, and the planned opening of our new Devens, Mass., distribution center before the end of the year is also progressing as planned. These three new distribution centers augment our already robust distribution network and reflect O’Reilly’s continued commitment to providing our customers industry leading parts availability.
"We have seen the strong sales volumes we experienced in the first quarter continue into the beginning of April; however, we face our most difficult quarterly comparable store sales comparison in the second quarter of 2014 as we anniversary 2013’s strong second quarter comparable stores increase of 6.5 percent and face a headwind from the timing of the Easter holiday, which falls in the second quarter this year versus the first quarter last year. Based on these comparisons, we are guiding to a comparable stores sales increase range of 2 percent to 4 percent for the second quarter and reiterating our full-year 2014 comparable store sales guidance of 3 percent to 5 percent."
