O'Reilly Automotive (NASDAQ: ORLY) reported Q2 EPS of $7.10, $2.80 better than the analyst estimate of $4.30. Revenue for the quarter came in at $3.09 billion versus the consensus estimate of $2.62 billion. Second quarter comparable store sales increase of 16.2%, total sales growth of 19.4%.

Greg Johnson, O’Reilly’s CEO and Co-President, commented, “During the second quarter and through the date of this release, the communities we serve faced significant, ongoing challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, and our top priority continues to be the protection of the health and safety of our Team Members and customers. After experiencing significant COVID-related sales headwinds in the first two weeks of the quarter, we saw an immediate and dramatic improvement in our business and sustained robust, record-setting sales volumes throughout the remainder of our second quarter. Our DIY business was extremely strong and the bigger contributor to our 16.2% increase in comparable store sales for the quarter; however, our professional business also improved significantly as we progressed through the quarter, generating robust comparable store sales above our expectations in May and June. It is clear there were several positive macroeconomic factors that supported the strong demand in our industry in the second quarter, including, among others, the government stimulus and unemployment benefits and the re-opening of consumer activity as stay-at-home orders began lifting. As beneficial as the market conditions were in the second quarter, we know our record-setting financial performance would not have been possible without outstanding execution by our dedicated, hard-working Team. We are extremely proud of the outstanding job our Team has done to implement safety measures while still providing the outstanding service that has been so critical to our customers during this pandemic.”

Mr. Johnson further commented, “Our Team’s performance in the second quarter is even more impressive in light of the cost control steps we executed to conserve cash and align our business with the severe headwinds we were experiencing at the beginning of the second quarter. We were very pleased to see our business rebound, as our customers began to benefit under the CARES Act in the middle of April, but we maintained a prudent, cautious approach as we progressed through the second quarter, taking into consideration the high level of uncertainty regarding how our business would perform week to week. The combination of strong sales and strong expense control resulted in an incredible operating profit margin of 23.8% during the second quarter, which exceeds our previous best single quarter performance by well over 300 basis points. While we recognize this remarkably strong leverage of SG&A expense is not sustainable over the long term and expect our per-store dollar spend to increase as we continually match service levels to the business environment, our Team’s ability to deliver such an outstanding quarter is an incredible accomplishment, and we want to offer our sincere thanks to Team O’Reilly for their selfless dedication to our customers.”

Continued Suspension of 2020 Guidance

As previously announced, the Company withdrew all previously issued 2020 guidance, and given the ongoing uncertainty related to COVID-19, the Company is not resuming 2020 guidance at this time.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on O'Reilly Automotive (ORLY) click here.