O’Reilly Automotive on Thursday announced record revenues and earnings for the first quarter ended March 31.   
 
Sales for the three months ended March 31 totaled $1.16 billion, up 80 percent from $0.65 billion for the same period a year ago, the company said. Gross profit for the first quarter of 2009 increased to $0.54 billion (or 46.6 percent of  sales) from $0.29 billion (or 44.6 percent of sales) for the first quarter of 2008, representing an increase of 88 percent.  

Selling, General and Administrative expenses increased to $0.43 billion (or 36.9 percent of sales) for the first quarter of 2009 from $0.21 billion (or 33.2 percent of sales) for the first quarter of 2008, representing an  increase of 100 percent.
 
Net income for the first quarter ended March 31 totaled $63 million, up 36 percent from $46 million for the same period in 2008.  Diluted earnings per common share for the first quarter of 2009 increased 15 percent to $0.46 on 136.2 million shares compared to $0.40 for the first quarter of 2008 on 116.3 million shares.
 
Greg Henslee, CEO and co-president said, “We are very pleased with our performance in the first quarter, highlighted by consolidated comparable store sales growth of 5.7 percent and a 200 basis point improvement in our gross profit as a percent of sales. Our O’Reilly-branded stores performed exceptionally well throughout the quarter, finishing with comparable store sales of 8.2 percent. We are excited to report our second consecutive quarter of positive comparable store sales growth in the recently acquired CSK branded stores as well. The solid sales performance is a result of our team’s combined effort to provide the best customer service in our business supported by improved product mix in the CSK branded stores.”