O'Reilly Automotive - 10-Q quarterly report FY2014 Q3

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).

The Company uses the fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used to measure the fair value of certain of its financial instruments. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurement) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurement). The Company uses the income and market approaches to determine the fair value of its assets and liabilities. The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are set forth below:

The accompanying Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets include other financial instruments, including cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, amounts receivable from vendors and accounts payable. Due to the short-term nature of these financial instruments, the Company believes that the carrying values of these instruments approximate their fair values.

The following table identifies shares of the Company’s common stock that have been repurchased as part of the Company’s publicly announced share repurchase program (in thousands, except per share data):

The Company recognizes share-based compensation expense based on the fair value of the grants, awards or shares at the time of the grant, award or issuance. Share-based compensation includes stock option awards issued under the Company’s employee incentive plans and director stock plan, restricted stock awarded under the Company’s employee incentive plans, performance incentive plan and director stock plan, stock issued through the Company’s employee stock purchase plan and stock awarded to employees through other benefit programs.

The Company’s stock-based incentive plans provide for the granting of stock options for the purchase of common stock of the Company to directors and certain key employees of the Company. Options are granted at an exercise price that is equal to the closing market price of the Company's common stock on the date of the grant. Director options granted under the plans expire after seven years and are fully vested after six months. Employee options granted under the plans expire after ten years and typically vest 25% per year, over four years. The Company records compensation expense for the grant date fair value of the option awards, adjusted for estimated forfeitures, evenly over the vesting period.

The fair value of each stock option award is estimated on the date of the grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model. The Black-Scholes model requires the use of assumptions, including the risk free rate, expected life, expected volatility and expected dividend yield.

The Company’s forfeiture rate is the estimated percentage of options awarded that are expected to be forfeited or canceled prior to becoming fully vested. The Company’s estimate is evaluated periodically and is based upon historical experience at the time of evaluation and reduces expense ratably over the vesting period or the minimum required service period.

O’Reilly is currently involved in litigation incidental to the ordinary conduct of the Company’s business. The Company records reserves for litigation losses in instances where a material adverse outcome is probable and the Company is able to reasonably estimate the probable loss. The Company reserves for an estimate of material legal costs to be incurred in pending litigation matters. Although the Company cannot ascertain the amount of liability that it may incur from any of these matters, it does not currently believe that, in the aggregate, these matters, taking into account applicable insurance and reserves, will have a material adverse effect on its consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows in a particular quarter or annual period.

The Company received a subpoena from the District Attorney of the County of Alameda, along with other environmental prosecutorial offices in the state of California, seeking documents and information related to the handling, storage and disposal of hazardous waste. Management has an ongoing and open dialogue with these agencies regarding this matter and is cooperating fully with the request; however, at this time a prediction of the ultimate outcome of these efforts cannot be determined.

In addition, O’Reilly was involved in resolving governmental investigations that were being conducted against CSK Auto Corporation ("CSK") and CSK’s former officers and other litigation, prior to its acquisition by O’Reilly in 2008, as described below.

As previously reported, the governmental investigations of CSK regarding its legacy pre-acquisition accounting practices have concluded. All criminal charges against former employees of CSK related to its legacy pre-acquisition accounting practices, as well as the civil litigation filed against CSK’s former Chief Executive Officer by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), have concluded.

In August of 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-15, "Presentation of Financial Statements - Going Concern (Subtopic 205-40)" ("ASU 2014-15"). ASU 2014-15 will require management to assess an entity's ability to continue as a going concern for each annual and interim reporting period and to provide related footnote disclosure in circumstances in which substantial doubt exists. ASU 2014-15 is effective for annual periods ending after December 15, 2016, and for annual periods and interim periods thereafter, with early application permitted. The Company will apply this guidance beginning with its annual period ending December 31, 2016; the application of this guidance affects disclosure only and, therefore, it is not expected to have a material impact on the Company's consolidated financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

Unless otherwise indicated, "we," "us," our" and similar terms, as well as references to the "Company" or "O'Reilly" refer to O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. and its subsidiaries.

In Management’s Discussion and Analysis, we provide a historical and prospective narrative of our general financial condition, results of operations, liquidity and certain other factors that may affect our future results, including:

The review of Management’s Discussion and Analysis should be made in conjunction with our condensed consolidated financial statements, related notes and other financial information, forward-looking statements and other risk factors included elsewhere in this quarterly report.

We are a specialty retailer of automotive aftermarket parts, tools, supplies, equipment and accessories in the United States. We are one of the largest U.S. automotive aftermarket specialty retailers, selling our products to both do-it-yourself (“DIY”) customers and professional service providers – our “dual market strategy.” Our stores carry an extensive product line consisting of new and remanufactured automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, a complete line of auto body paint and related materials, automotive tools and professional service provider service equipment. Our extensive product line includes an assortment of products that are differentiated by quality and price for most of the product lines we offer. For many of our product offerings, this quality differentiation reflects “good,” “better,” and “best” alternatives. Our sales and total gross margin dollars are highest for the “best” quality category of products. Consumers’ willingness to select products at a higher point on the value spectrum is a driver of sales and profitability in our industry. Our stores also offer enhanced services and programs to our customers:  used oil, oil filter and battery recycling; battery, wiper and bulb replacement; battery diagnostic testing; electrical and module testing; check engine light code extraction; loaner tool program; drum and rotor resurfacing; custom hydraulic hoses; professional paint shop mixing and related materials; and machine shops.

Operating within the retail industry, we are influenced by a number of general macroeconomic factors including, but not limited to, fuel costs, unemployment rates, consumer preferences and spending habits, and competition. The difficult conditions that affected the overall macroeconomic environment in recent years continue to impact O’Reilly and the retail sector in general. We believe that the average consumer’s tendency has been to “trade down” to lower quality products during challenging macroeconomic conditions. We have ongoing initiatives aimed at tailoring our product offering to adjust to customers’ changing preferences; however, we also continue to have initiatives focused on marketing and training to educate customers on the advantages of “purchasing up” on the value spectrum.

We believe the key drivers of current and future demand of the products sold within the automotive aftermarket include the number of U.S. miles driven, number of U.S. registered vehicles, new light vehicle registrations, average vehicle age and unemployment.

We remain confident in our ability to gain market share in our existing markets and grow our business in new markets by focusing on our dual market strategy and the core O’Reilly values of hard work and excellent customer service.

sales are calculated based on the change in sales of stores open at least one year and exclude sales of specialty machinery, sales to independent parts stores and sales to Team Members.

 

We believe our increased sales are the result of store growth and the high levels of customer service provided by our well-trained and technically proficient Team Members, superior inventory availability, enhanced services and programs offered in most stores, a broader selection of product offerings in most stores with a dynamic catalog system to identify and source parts, a targeted promotional and advertising effort through a variety of media and localized promotional events, continued improvement in the merchandising and store layouts of our stores, compensation programs for all store Team Members that provide incentives for performance and our continued focus on serving both DIY and professional service provider customers.

Our comparable store sales increases for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014, were driven by increases in average ticket values and customer transaction counts for both DIY and professional service provider customers. The improvements in average ticket values were the result of the continued growth of the more costly, hard part categories as a percentage of our total sales. The overall growth in the hard part categories continues to be driven by the increasing cost of replacement parts necessary to maintain the current population of better engineered and more technically advanced vehicles. The increases in professional service provider customer transaction counts were primarily driven by our acquired markets and the continued growth of less mature stores. The increases in DIY transaction counts were driven by our ongoing focus on staffing our stores with knowledgeable parts professionals to assist our DIY customers during high DIY traffic periods, including nights and weekends. Although both DIY and professional service provider customer transaction counts were positive for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014, both DIY and professional service provider customer transaction counts continue to be negatively impacted by better engineered and more technically advanced vehicles, which have been manufactured in recent years. These vehicles require less frequent repairs and the component parts are more durable and last for longer periods of time; however, when repairs are required, the cost of the replacement parts is, on average, greater.

costs. As previously discussed, during the third quarter of 2013, we depleted our LIFO reserve due to acquisition cost improvements we realized over time. Our policy is to not write up inventory in excess of replacement cost and, accordingly, we are effectively valuing our inventory at replacement cost. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014, our LIFO cost was written down by approximately $6 million and $34 million, respectively, to reflect replacement cost. The increase in capitalized distribution costs is the result of a larger increase in inventory levels during the current period compared to the same period in the prior year. The increase in inventory is primarily attributable to our distribution center expansion projects.

Our long-term business strategy requires capital to open new stores, fund strategic acquisitions, expand distribution infrastructure, operate and maintain existing stores and may include the opportunistic repurchase of shares of our common stock through our Board-approved share repurchase program. The primary sources of our liquidity are funds generated from operations and borrowed under our unsecured revolving credit facility. Decreased demand for our products or changes in customer buying patterns could negatively impact our ability to generate funds from operations. Additionally, decreased demand or changes in buying patterns could impact our ability to meet the debt covenants of our credit agreement and, therefore, negatively impact the funds available under our unsecured revolving credit facility.

We believe that cash expected to be provided by operating activities and availability under our unsecured revolving credit facility will be sufficient to fund both our short-term and long-term capital and liquidity needs for the foreseeable future. However, there can be no assurance that we will continue to generate cash flows at or above recent levels.

The indentures governing our senior notes contain covenants that limit our ability and the ability of certain of our subsidiaries to, among other things: (i) create certain liens on assets to secure certain debt; (ii) enter into certain sale and leaseback transactions; and (iii) merge or consolidate with another company or transfer all or substantially all of our or its property, in each case as set forth in the indentures. These covenants are, however, subject to a number of important limitations and exceptions.

Free cash flow, the consolidated fixed charge coverage ratio and consolidated leverage ratio discussed and presented in the tables above are not derived in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"). We do not, nor do we suggest investors should, consider such non-GAAP financial measures in isolation from, or as a substitute for, GAAP financial information. We believe that the presentation of our free cash flow, consolidated fixed charge coverage ratio and consolidated leverage ratio provides meaningful supplemental information to both management and investors and reflects the required covenants under our credit agreement. We include these items in judging our performance and believe this non-GAAP information is useful to investors as well. Material limitations of these non-GAAP measures are that such measures do not reflect actual GAAP amounts. We compensate for such limitations by presenting, in the tables above, a reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP measures.

The following table identifies shares of our common stock that have been repurchased as part of our publicly announced share repurchase program (in thousands, except per share data):

We have been successful, in many cases, in reducing the effects of merchandise cost increases principally by taking advantage of vendor incentive programs, economies of scale resulting from increased volume of purchases and selective forward buying. To the extent our acquisition cost increased due to base commodity price increases industry-wide, we have typically been able to pass along these increased costs through higher retail prices for the affected products. As a result, we do not believe inflation has had a material adverse effect on our operations.

To some extent, our business is seasonal primarily as a result of the impact of weather conditions on customer buying patterns. While we have historically realized operating profits in each quarter of the year, our store sales and profits have historically been higher in the second and third quarters (April through September) than in the first and fourth quarters (October through March) of the year.

In May of 2014, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standard No. 2014-09, "Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606)" ("ASU 2014-09"). Under ASU 2014-09, an entity is required to follow a five-step process to determine the amount of revenue to recognize when promised goods or services are transferred to customers. ASU 2014-09 offers specific accounting guidance for costs to obtain or fulfill a contract with a customer. In addition, an entity is required to disclose sufficient information to understand the nature, amount, timing, and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows arising from contracts with customers. ASU 2014-09 is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2016, including periods within that reporting period, and can be adopted either retrospectively or as a cumulative effect adjustment at the date of adoption, with early adoption not permitted. We will adopt this guidance beginning with our first quarter ending March d31, 2017; we are in the process of evaluating the potential future impact, if any, of ASU 2014-09 on our consolidated financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

In August of 2014, the FASB issued ASU No. 2014-15, "Presentation of Financial Statements - Going Concern (Subtopic 205-40)" ("ASU 2014-15"). ASU 2014-15 will require management to assess an entity's ability to continue as a going concern for each annual and interim reporting period and to provide related footnote disclosure in circumstances in which substantial doubt exists. ASU 2014-15 is effective for annual periods ending after December 15, 2016, and for annual periods and interim periods thereafter, with early application permitted. We will apply this guidance beginning with our annual period ending December 31, 2016; the application of this guidance affects disclosure only and, therefore, it is not expected to have a material impact on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

As of the end of the period covered by this report, our management, under the supervision and with the participation of our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures pursuant to Rule 13a-15(b) and as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (“the Exchange Act”). Based on that evaluation, the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this report are functioning effectively to provide reasonable assurance that the information required to be disclosed by us (including our consolidated subsidiaries) in reports filed under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules and forms and is accumulated and communicated to management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

O’Reilly is currently involved in litigation incidental to the ordinary conduct of the Company’s business. The Company records reserves for litigation losses in instances where a material adverse outcome is probable and the Company is able to reasonably estimate the probable loss. The Company reserves for an estimate of material legal costs to be incurred in pending litigation matters. Although the Company cannot ascertain the amount of liability that it may incur from any of these matters, it does not currently believe that, in the aggregate, these matters, taking into account applicable insurance and reserves, will have a material adverse effect on its consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows in a particular quarter or annual period.

The Company received a subpoena from the District Attorney of the County of Alameda, along with other environmental prosecutorial offices in the state of California, seeking documents and information related to the handling, storage and disposal of hazardous waste. Management has an ongoing and open dialogue with these agencies regarding this matter and is cooperating fully with the request; however, at this time a prediction of the ultimate outcome of these efforts cannot be determined.

In addition, O’Reilly was involved in resolving governmental investigations that were being conducted against CSK Auto Corporation ("CSK") and CSK’s former officers and other litigation, prior to its acquisition by O’Reilly in 2008, as described below.

As previously reported, the governmental investigations of CSK regarding its legacy pre-acquisition accounting practices have concluded. All criminal charges against former employees of CSK related to its legacy pre-acquisition accounting practices, as well as the civil litigation filed against CSK’s former Chief Executive Officer by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), have concluded.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.