O’Reilly Automotive reported record fourth-quarter revenue and earnings.
The record Q4 results cap off O’Reilly’s 28th consecutive year of record full-year revenue and operating income and comparable-store sales growth since becoming a public company in April 1993.
Sales for the fourth quarter, which ended Dec. 31, were $2.83 billion, up 14% compared to the fourth quarter of 2019. Net income for the quarter increased 21% to $393 million.
Full-year 2020 revenue was $11.6 billion, up $1.45 billion (14%) from full-year 2019. Full-year net income increased 26% to $1.75 billion.
“We are extremely pleased to report another record-breaking quarter to finish out 2020, with the incredible performance by Team O’Reilly in the fourth quarter capping the best full- year financial results in our company’s history,” said Greg Johnson, O’Reilly CEO and co-president. “I would like to thank Team O’Reilly for the tremendous dedication and hard work they demonstrated time and again over the past year in one of the most difficult environments we have ever faced as a company.
“Our top priority continues to be the protection of the health and safety of our team members and customers, and we are extremely proud of our team’s continued outstanding service that has been so critical to our customers during the pandemic. This commitment drove our fourth-quarter comparable-store sales increase of 11.2% and full-year comparable- store sales growth of 10.9%, which represents our highest full-year same-store sales increase in the last 25 years.”
In a news release, Johnson struck a cautiously optimistic tone about the year ahead.
“We have seen a strong start to the year, with the continuation of robust sales volumes through the month of January, but we remain cautious as we plan for the coming year in light of the continued significant uncertainty related to the ongoing impact of the pandemic and the difficult comparisons we will face beginning in April, as we lap the surge of volume we experienced in 2020,” Johnson said. “As a result, our expectation is that comparable-store sales will be in the range of down 2% to flat, versus 2020, but well-above our historical trends on a two-year stack basis.”
