O’Reilly Automotive Inc. announced record revenue and earnings for full-year and fourth-quarter 2021.
Full-year 2021 sales increased 15% to $13.33 billion, while same-store sales for the year jumped 13.3%.
The results represent 29 consecutive years of comparable-stores sales growth and record revenue and operating income for O’Reilly since becoming a public company in April of 1993.
“Team O’Reilly’s dedication to unsurpassed customer service levels and relentless focus on profitable growth translated our strong top-line performance in 2021 into a record 21.9% operating margin, which exceeded our previous record operating margin by over 100 basis points,” O’Reilly CEO Greg Johnson said in a news release. “Our full-year diluted earnings per share increased 32% to $31.10, which represents a compounded annual growth rate of 25% over the last three years. I would like to congratulate Team O’Reilly for exceeding our sales and profitability goals in yet another incredible year and thank each of them for their continued hard work and dedication to our ongoing success.”
Sales for fourth-quarter 2021, which ended Dec. 31, were up 16% to $3.29 billion compared to fourth-quarter 2020. Fourth-quarter comparable-store sales grew 14.5% year-over-year.
“This incredible performance in the fourth quarter caps a tremendous year for our company, a year in which we delivered the best financial results in our company’s history, after setting the same records in 2020,” Johnson said. “Our full-year 2021 comparable-store sales growth of 13.3%, on top of our strong 2020 performance, represents a two-year stack of 24.2% and is a testament to our team’s unrelenting dedication to our customers. These accomplishments are all the more impressive in light of the extremely difficult challenges our team has faced the past two years, and I am extremely grateful for Team O’Reilly’s commitment to meeting the critical needs of our customers during the pandemic.”
O’Reilly’s full-year 2022 guidance is for revenue between $14.2 billion and $14.5 billion, and comparable-store sales growth between 5% and 7%.
“As we look forward to 2022, we remain confident in the strength of our team and our industry, and our 2022 financial guidance reflects our expectations for continued strong customer demand, as well as our planned strategy to further invest in pricing on the professional side of our business,” Johnson said. “We continually monitor the competitive landscape in our industry and have been extremely pleased with our ability to grow both our DIY and professional business at record levels over the last two years. However, we believe we have an opportunity to accelerate our professional share gain through targeted competitive adjustments to our pricing strategy.”
