Comparable-store sales rose just 1.7 percent, notably short of the company's own guidance of 3–5 percent, the company said in a press release. This is a surprise to investors as the company exited the first quarter on a positive note and April saw improved sales trends — only to face a "more challenging sales environment than we expected for the remainder of the quarter."
The company's comparable-store sales miss will now impact its operating profitability moving forward, the company added. Nevertheless, management remains "confident in the long-term health of our industry and our team's ability to provide exceptional customer service and take market share in this challenging demand environment."
But investors aren't nearly as confident as shares of O'Reilly sank more than 20 percent and hit a new multi-year low of $175.44 Wednesday morning. Shares haven't traded below the $200 per share mark since early 2015.
O'Reilly's poor performance and cautionary outlook had a ripple-effect across the entire auto parts sector:
- Shares of Advance Auto Parts, Inc. AAP lost more than 13 percent and hit a new 52-week low of $101.57.
- Shares of AutoZone, Inc. AZO lost nearly 10 percent and hit a new 52-week low of $515.84.
- Shares of Genuine Parts Company GPC lost nearly 5 percent.
At time of publication, shares of O'Reilly were down 20.59 percent at $174.98.
Related Links:Jim Cramer On Genuine Parts: The Amazon-Resistant Company 'Doesn't Get Enough Credit'
AutoZone Is One Of The Steadiest Performers In Auto-Parts Retail Space
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Image Credit: Michael Barera [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
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