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Auto Parts Manufacturer Bankruptcy: Impact on the parts retailers?

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Sep 29, 2025 · 12:03

First Brands filed for bankruptcy this morning and has major customer concentration in retailers like Autozone, O'Reilly, NAPA and similar. The company would continue supplying parts, but what happens in the medium to long term with retailers when a major supplier falls down? I assume that costs can go up as they seek wider sources of supply for their privately branded parts. Any hiccup in metrics for these high valuation companies could at least be a set-back to their stock prices.

O'Reilly, for example trades at a steep PE multiple (38x last year's earnings) and achieved a $90 billion market cap last week (more than Target and Best Buy combined, and much more than either Ford or GM).

Over time, these retailers have been borrowing ever larger amounts of money to buy back their shares, boosting their earnings per share figures. Yet, their operating income (up 18%) is only growing at the rate of CPI inflation (15% since 2021), despite adding many new store outlets. On average, O'Reilly has grown operating income per store only about 3% over four years which is way below inflation.

I am betting those PE multiples will come down. Even going from 38 down to 30 would be near-term hit to stock price.