O'Reilly Automotive Q3 2026 earnings: sales and profit beat estimates, guidance raised
O'Reilly topped profit and sales estimates in Q3 2026, grew comparable store sales 7.2%, and raised its full-year outlook, though a tariff refund boosted part of the EPS gain.
| Q3 2026 | Reported | Expected | Surprise |
|---|---|---|---|
| EPS | $0.97 | $0.95 | +2.5% |
| Revenue | $5.12B | $5.11B | +0.2% |
Key takeaways
- Sales rose 9% year over year to $5.12 billion, driven by a 7.2% increase in comparable store sales — with double-digit growth in sales to professional repair shops and mid-single-digit growth in do-it-yourself retail sales, showing that both of O’Reilly’s main customer groups spent more at its stores.
- Diluted earnings per share climbed 14% to $0.97, but management said about $39 million of that gain came from a one-time refund of previously paid tariffs, meaning the underlying improvement in profitability, while still solid, was smaller than the headline number suggests.
- Gross margin stayed near 52% on a trailing-year basis, and O’Reilly raised its full-year gross-margin guidance to a range of 51.6%-52.1%, a sign the company is managing supplier costs and pricing without giving up profitability even as tariffs affect the auto-parts industry.
- Management raised its full-year 2026 outlook, lifting comparable-sales guidance to 5.5%-6.5% from the prior 4%-6% range and nudging up profit targets, signaling executives expect the recent sales momentum, including strong demand from professional repair shops, to continue through year-end.
- The company’s very high trailing return on equity isn’t a sign of an unusually profitable quarter; O’Reilly has for years funneled most of its profit into buying back its own stock, including roughly $3.47 billion in repurchases over the first nine months of 2026, which shrinks the equity on its books and mechanically pushes return ratios higher.
- CEO Brad Beckham credited the team’s execution for the comparable-sales gain, framing the quarter as continued market-share gains in both the professional and do-it-yourself sides of the auto-parts business rather than a one-time event.
- Both revenue and earnings per share came in above the average analyst estimates for the quarter, continuing a pattern of beats that has become typical for the company in recent years.
How the stock took it
O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. closed at $89.82 on Oct 27, 2026, the last session before the report, and at $88.07 on Oct 29, 2026, the first session after it — -1.9% across the report.
Closes from the market's daily record. Each figure spans the report date — from the last session that closed before it to the first that closed after — because a company may report before the open or after the close.
Fundamentals
| Metric | Value | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 51.6% | Trailing 12 months |
| Operating margin | 19.6% | Trailing 12 months |
| Net profit margin | 14.3% | Trailing 12 months |
| Pretax margin | 18.3% | Trailing 12 months |
| EPS | $3.14 | Trailing 12 months |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 8.5% | Trailing 12 months |
| EPS growth (YoY) | -76.6% | Trailing 12 months |
| Return on equity | 423.4% | Trailing 12 months |
Sources: company report · earnings release · earnings call coverage