O'Reilly's Industry-Leading Distribution and Execution Deliver Growth as Peers Struggle

As the most fully realized exemplar of the dual-market (commercial and do-it-yourself) approach to auto-part retail, narrow-moat O’Reilly has capitalized on favorable industry dynamics to achieve strong returns. The firm has profited from increases in miles driven and average vehicle age as well as the benefits of its expansive distribution network in ensuring part availability, leading to adjusted returns on invested capital that have grown more than 900 basis points since 2010, to 22% in 2019 (before a pandemic-related surge led to a 36% 2020-22 average).