O’Reilly Automotive Sees Jump in Sales to Pros As Stretched Consumers Repair Old Cars

Consumers are keeping their cars longer than ever these days amid a sharp decline in the number of new cars available and the higher cost of purchasing them due to rising interest rates and supply chain snags.

Auto parts retailer O’Reilly Automotive is benefitting from this phenomenon with record revenue in the second quarter of 2022, according to the company’s quarterly earnings report Wednesday (July 27).

“Our second quarter comparable store sales increase of 4.3%, and the corresponding three-year comparable store sales stack increase of 30.4%, are clear indicators of our team’s ability to grow our business and take market share,” O’Reilly President and CEO Greg Johnson said in the company press release. After experiencing volatility in our sales results in the first quarter, the trends in our business improved and were steady throughout the second quarter.”

O’Reilly’s professional sector highlighted its quarterly growth, while its DIY offering struggled in the face of high fuel prices and inflation. Second-quarter sales were up 6% to $3.67 billion year over year.

Sales for the first six months of 2022 increased $410 million to $6.97 billion from $6.56 billion for the same period in 2021.

“The pressure on our DIY customers from heightened inflation and fuel prices has impacted our year-to-date performance, and we have factored the current environment into our expectations for the second half of the year,” said Johnson, adding full-year comparable store sales will be up 3% to 5%.

“Despite these pressures, we remain confident in the strength of the core underlying demand drivers of our business,” he said.

Related: Tech Boosts Driver Confidence in Repair Shop Recommendations

These days, automotive service providers are employing technology to provide support for what they’re saying and to reassure their customers. General Motors (GM), for example, is looking at expanding the use of UVeye vehicle inspection systems to the service lanes of more GM dealerships.

In March, Volvo Car USA announced that it was rolling out a program to equip its retailers with UVeye systems to improve both business efficiencies and customer satisfaction.

For all PYMNTS retail coverage, subscribe to the daily Retail Newsletter.