ORLY, §1A diff (2015 → 2016)

Item 1A. Risk Factors Unless otherwise indicated, “we,” “us,” “our” and similar terms, as well as references to the “Company,” refer to O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. and its subsidiaries. Our future performance is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties. Although the risks described below are the risks that we believe are material, there may also be risks of which we are currently unaware, or that we currently regard as immaterial based upon the information available to us that later may prove to be material. Interested parties should be aware that the occurrence of the events described in these risk factors, elsewhere in this Form 10-K and in our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition. Actual results, therefore, may materially differ from anticipated results described in our forward-looking statements. Deteriorating economic conditions may adversely impact demand for our products, reduce access to credit and cause our customers and others, with which we do business, to suffer financial hardship, all of which could adversely impact our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Although demand for many of our products is primarily non-discretionary in nature and tend to be purchased by consumers out of necessity, rather than on an impulse basis, our sales are impacted by constraints on the economic health of our customers. The economic health of our customers is affected by many factors, including, among others, general business conditions, interest rates, inflation, consumer debt levels, the availability of consumer credit, currency exchange rates, taxation, fuel prices, unemployment levels and other matters that influence consumer confidence and spending. Many of these factors are outside of our control. Our customers’ purchases, including purchases of our products, could decline during periods when income is lower, when prices increase in response to rising costs, or in periods of actual or perceived unfavorable economic conditions. In addition, restrictions on access to telematics, diagnostic tools and repair information imposed by the original vehicle manufacturers or by governmental regulations may force vehicle owners to rely on dealers to perform maintenance and repairs. If any of these events occur, or if unfavorable economic conditions challenge the consumer environment, our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be adversely affected. Overall demand for products sold in the automotive aftermarket is dependent upon many factors including the total number of vehicle miles driven in the U.S., the total number of registered vehicles in the U.S., the age and quality of these registered vehicles and the level of unemployment in the U.S. Adverse changes in these factors could lead to a decreased level of demand for our products, which could negatively impact our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. In addition, economic conditions, including decreased access to credit, may result in financial difficulties leading to restructurings, bankruptcies, liquidations and other unfavorable events for our customers, suppliers, logistics and other service providers and financial institutions that are counterparties to our credit facilities. Furthermore, the ability of these third parties to overcome these difficulties may increase. If third parties, on whom we rely for merchandise, are unable to overcome difficulties resulting from the deterioration in economic conditions and provide us with the merchandise we need, or if counterparties to our credit facilities do not perform their obligations, our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be adversely affected. The automotive aftermarket business is highly competitive, and we may have to risk our capital to remain competitive. Both the do-it-yourself (“DIY”) and professional service provider portions of our business are highly competitive, particularly in the more densely populated areas that we serve. Some of our competitors are larger than we are and have greater financial resources. In addition, some of our competitors are smaller than we are, but have a greater presence than we do in a particular market. We may have to expend more resources and risk additional capital to remain competitive. For a list of our principal competitors, see the “Competition” section of Item 1 of this annual report on Form 10-K. We are sensitive to regional economic and weather conditions that could impact our costs and sales. Our business is sensitive to national and regional economic and weather conditions, and natural disasters. Unusually inclement weather, such as significant rain, snow, sleet, freezing rain, flooding, seismic activity and hurricanes, has historically discouraged our customers from visiting our stores during the affected period and reduced our sales, particularly to DIY customers. Extreme weather conditions, such as extreme heat and extreme cold temperatures, may enhance demand for our products due to increased failure rates of our customers’ automotive parts, while temperate weather conditions may have a lesser impact on failure rates of automotive parts. In addition, our stores and distribution centers (“DCs”) located in coastal regions may be subject to increased insurance claims resulting from regional weather conditions and our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows could be adversely affected. We cannot assure future growth will be achieved. We believe that our ability to open additional, profitable stores at a high growth rate will be a significant factor in achieving our growth objectives for the future. Our ability to accomplish our growth objectives is dependent, in part, on matters beyond our control, such as weather conditions, zoning, and other issues related to new store site development, the availability of qualified management personnel and general business and economic conditions. We cannot be sure that our growth plans for 2017 and beyond will be achieved. Failure to achieve our growth objectives may negatively impact the trading price of our common stock. For a discussion of our growth strategies, see the “Growth Strategy” section of Item 1 of this annual report on Form 10-K. In order to be successful, we will need to retain and motivate key employees. Our success has been largely dependent on the efforts of certain key personnel. In order to be successful, we will need to retain and motivate executives and other key employees. Experienced management and technical personnel are in high demand and competition for their talents is intense. We must also continue to motivate employees and keep them focused on our strategies and goals. Our business, results of operations and cash flows could be materially adversely affected by the unexpected loss of the services of one or more of our key employees. We cannot be sure that we will be able to continue to attract qualified personnel, which could cause us to be less efficient and, as a result, may adversely impact our sales and profitability. For a discussion of our management, see the “Business” section of Item 1 of this annual report on Form 10-K. A change in the relationship with any of our key suppliers, the unavailability of our key products at competitive prices or changes in trade policies could affect our financial health. Our business depends on developing and maintaining close relationships with our suppliers and on our suppliers’ ability or willingness to sell quality products to us at favorable prices and terms. Many factors outside of our control may harm these relationships and the ability or willingness of these suppliers to sell us products on favorable terms. For example, financial or operational difficulties that our suppliers may face could increase the cost of the products we purchase from them or our ability to source product from them. In addition, the trend toward consolidation among automotive parts suppliers, as well as the off-shoring of manufacturing capacity to foreign countries, may disrupt or end our relationship with some suppliers and could lead to less competition and result in higher prices. We could also be negatively impacted by suppliers who might experience work stoppages, labor strikes or other interruptions to, or difficulties in the, manufacture or supply of the products we purchase from them. Changes in U.S. trade policies, practices, tariffs or taxes could affect our ability and our suppliers’ ability to source product at current volumes and/or prices. Risks associated with future acquisitions may not lead to expected growth and could result in increased costs and inefficiencies. We expect to continue to make acquisitions as an element of our growth strategy. Acquisitions involve certain risks that could cause our actual growth and profitability to differ from our expectations, examples of such risks include the following: • We may not be able to continue to identify suitable acquisition targets or to acquire additional companies at favorable prices or on other favorable terms. • Our management’s attention may be distracted. • We may fail to retain key personnel from acquired businesses. • We may assume unanticipated legal liabilities and other problems. • We may not be able to successfully integrate the operations (accounting and billing functions, for example) of businesses we acquire to realize economic, operational and other benefits. • We may fail, or be unable to, discover liabilities of businesses that we acquire for which we or the subsequent owner or operator may be liable. Business interruptions in our distribution centers or other facilities may affect our store hours, operability of our computer systems, and/or availability and distribution of merchandise, which may affect our business. Weather, terrorist activities, war or other disasters, or the threat of them, may result in the closure of one or more of our DCs or other facilities, or may adversely affect our ability to deliver inventory to our stores on a nightly basis. This may affect our ability to timely provide products to our customers, resulting in lost sales or a potential loss of customer loyalty. Some of our merchandise is imported from other countries and these goods could become difficult or impossible to bring into the United States, and we may not be able to obtain such merchandise from other sources at similar prices. Such a disruption in revenue could potentially have a negative impact on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. We rely extensively on our computer systems to manage inventory, process transactions and timely provide products to our customers. Our systems are subject to damage or interruption from power outages, telecommunications failures, computer viruses, security breaches or other catastrophic events. If our systems are damaged or fail to function properly, we may experience loss of critical data and interruptions or delays in our ability to manage inventories or process customer transactions. Such a disruption of our systems could negatively impact revenue and potentially have a negative impact on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Failure to achieve and maintain a high level of product and service quality may reduce our brand value and negatively impact our business. We believe our Company has built an excellent reputation as a leading retailer in the automotive aftermarket industry. We believe our continued success depends, in part, on our ability to preserve, grow and leverage the value of our brand. Brand value is based, in large part, on perceptions of subjective qualities and even isolated incidents can erode trust and confidence, particularly if they result in adverse publicity, governmental investigations or litigation, which can negatively impact these perceptions and lead to adverse effects on our business or Team Members. Risks related to us and unanticipated fluctuations in our quarterly operating results could affect our stock price. We believe that quarter-to-quarter comparisons of our financial results are not necessarily meaningful indicators of our future operating results and should not be relied on as an indication of future performance. If our quarterly operating results fail to meet the expectations of analysts, the trading price of our common stock could be negatively affected. We cannot be certain that our growth plans and business strategies will be successful or that they will successfully meet the expectations of these analysts. If we fail to adequately address any of these risks or difficulties, our stock price would likely suffer. The market price of our common stock may be volatile and could expose us to securities class action litigation. The stock market and the price of our common stock may be subject to wide fluctuations based upon general economic and market conditions. The market price of our common stock may also be affected by our ability to meet analysts’ expectations and failure to meet such expectations, even slightly, could have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock. In addition, stock market volatility has had a significant effect on the market prices of securities issued by many companies for reasons unrelated to the operating performance of these companies. Downturns in the stock market may cause the price of our common stock to decline. In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of a company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been instituted against such companies. If similar litigation were instituted against us, it could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our management’s attention and resources, which could have an adverse effect on our business. Our increased debt levels could adversely affect our cash flow and prevent us from fulfilling our obligations. We have an unsecured revolving credit facility and unsecured senior notes, which could have important consequences to our financial health. For example, our level of indebtedness could, among other things, • make it more difficult to satisfy our financial obligations, including those relating to the senior unsecured notes and our credit facility; • increase our vulnerability to adverse economic and industry conditions; • limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes and opportunities in our industry, which may place us at a competitive disadvantage; • require us to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flows to service the principal and interest on the debt, reducing the funds available for other business purposes, such as working capital, capital expenditures or other cash requirements; • limit our ability to incur additional debt with acceptable terms, if at all; and • expose us to fluctuations in interest rates. In addition, the terms of our financing obligations include restrictions, such as affirmative, negative and financial covenants, conditions on borrowing and subsidiary guarantees. A failure to comply with these restrictions could result in a default under our financing obligations or could require us to obtain waivers from our lenders for failure to comply with these restrictions. The occurrence of a default that remains uncured or the inability to secure a necessary consent or waiver could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. A downgrade in our credit rating would impact our cost of capital and could impact the market value of our unsecured senior notes, as well as limit our access to attractive supplier financing programs. Credit ratings are an important component of our cost of capital. These ratings are based upon, among other factors, our financial strength. Our current credit ratings provide us with the ability to borrow funds at favorable rates. A downgrade in our current credit rating from either rating agency could adversely affect our cost of capital by causing us to pay a higher interest rate on borrowed funds under our unsecured revolving credit facility and a higher facility fee on commitments under our unsecured revolving credit facility. A downgrade in our current credit rating could also adversely affect the market price and/or liquidity of our unsecured senior notes, preventing a holder from selling the unsecured senior notes at a favorable price, as well as adversely affect our ability to issue new notes in the future. In addition, a downgrade in our current credit rating could limit the financial institutions willing to commit funds to our supplier financing programs at attractive rates. Decreased participation in our supplier financing programs would lead to an increase in working capital needed to operate the business, adversely affecting our cash flows. A breach of customer, Team Member or Company information could damage our reputation or result in substantial additional costs or possible litigation. Our business involves the storage of personal information about our customers and Team Members. We have taken reasonable and appropriate steps to protect this information; however, if we experience a significant data security breach, we could be exposed to damage to our reputation, additional costs, lost sales or possible regulatory action. The regulatory environment related to information security and privacy is constantly evolving, and compliance with those requirements could result in additional costs. There is no guarantee that the procedures that we have implemented to protect against unauthorized access to secured data are adequate to safeguard against all data security breaches, and such a breach could potentially have a negative impact on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Litigation, governmental proceedings, environmental legislation and regulations, employment legislation and regulations and healthcare reform legislation may affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. We are, and in the future may become, involved in lawsuits, regulatory inquiries, and governmental and other legal proceedings, arising out of the ordinary course of our business. The damages sought against us in some of these litigation proceedings may be material and may adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Environmental legislation and regulations, like the initiatives to limit greenhouse gas emissions and bills related to climate change, could adversely impact all industries. While it is uncertain whether these initiatives will become law, additional climate change related mandates could potentially be forthcoming and these matters, if enacted, could adversely impact our costs, by, among other things, increasing fuel prices. Our business is subject to employment legislation and regulations, including requirements related to minimum wage. Our success depends, in part, on our ability to manage operating costs and identify opportunities to reduce costs. Our ability to meet labor needs, while controlling costs is subject to external factors, such as minimum wage legislation. A violation of, or change in, employment legislation and/or regulations could hinder our ability to control costs, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. The enacted Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as well as other healthcare reform legislation considered by Congress and state legislatures, significantly impacts our healthcare cost structure and increases our healthcare-related expenses. We continue to evaluate potential additional impacts the healthcare reform legislation will have on our business and the steps necessary to mitigate such impacts. If we cannot effectively mitigate the potential additional impacts of the healthcare reform legislation, our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows may be adversely impacted. Item 1B.