The Greensheet

BB&T Capital Markets has raised its fourth-quarter 2011 estimates on O’Reilly Automotive (Springfield, Mo.) from 3.9 percent same-store sales growth to 5.2 percent same-store sales growth based on the belief that quarterly trends were solid.

BB&T also has raised its earnings-per-share estimate from $0.83 to $0.87, which is above management’s $0.80 to $0.84 range and above analysts’ consensus of $0.85.

Analysts Tony Cristello and Allen Hatzimanolis contend in a report dated Jan. 19 that 2012 is off to a solid start. “Recall last year that snow storms across much of the country negatively impacted results, particularly in the Northeast. Perhaps February [same-store sales] results will provide greater perspective on how 2012 would play out on more normalized conditions,” they wrote.

“While we were concerned about warmer weather negatively impacting trends, we have not seen/heard of any real headwind to date. All in, we expect auto aftermarket equities to generate another solid year of performance in 2012, with [same-store sales] gains, [gross margin percentage] improvement and share repurchases all contributing to sizable earnings growth.”

BB&T is maintaining its “buy” rating on O’Reilly, saying that CSK will provide solid growth for multiple years and that secular developments within the broader aftermarket continue to support favorable organic growth prospects for O’Reilly’s core business.