Forensic Analysis · Retail / Consumer Discretionary · as of Nov 9, 2026
O Reilly Automotive Inc (ORLY)
A forensic read on O Reilly Automotive Inc built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
C · Mixed — selective
Forensic grade
Clean
Earnings quality
3
Forensic signals
6.4%
Revenue growth
This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (auditor quality, say on pay, board independence, going concern). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.
O Reilly Automotive Inc earns a C (Mixed — selective) forensic quality grade. 3 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by accruals ratio (% of NOA).
What the filings flag
+22.5%
FY2024→FY2025
Accruals ratio (% of NOA).Net operating assets grew +22.5% relative to their own average in FY2025 — scaled by NOA itself, not by total assets, which is what the Forensic Screens card's own accrual row divides by. Accruals are building sharply — a large slice of profit sits in operating assets, not cash. An accrual is a claim that still has to be collected or written down, so the gap resolves in a later period whichever way it goes. Net operating assets also rose $16.5M through acquisitions (increase in goodwill and intangibles); that purchase is investing and is excluded from this ratio. The build is led by inventory up +12% against +6% in cost of sales and PP&E up +12% against revenue +6%. A cash-flow measure on the same base disagrees: reported earnings ran in line with operating cash by 5% of net operating assets, against an accruals ratio of 22.5%. The two are computed differently: the accruals ratio is the change in net operating assets over average net operating assets, while the cash-flow figure is net income less operating cash flow over that same average. Read them as two results, not one.Accruals ratio: the year-over-year change in net operating assets, relative to their own average.NOA (net operating assets): the money tied up in running the business, operating assets minus operating liabilities.
230d
FY2024→FY2025
Inventory days.Days inventory outstanding moved from 218 to 230 FY2024→FY2025 (against cost of goods sold; inventory +12% vs +6% in cost of sales). Inventory is building a little faster than sales — watch for markdowns.
132% of FCF
FY2025
Shareholder returns.Returned $2.1B to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 132% of free cash flow, but 76% of operating cash flow. Returns run ahead of free cash flow because the business is also funding heavy growth capex (usually debt-financed); the payout itself is covered by operating cash — sustainable as long as that spending is genuine expansion, not upkeep. Counting the $35M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 134%.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$17.78B
Revenue Growth YoY+6.4%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)+6.0%
Net Margin14.3%
Free Cash Flow$1.59B
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