O’Reilly Automotive Inc – Best Retail Stocks Today
The auto industry has been in the news lately because of the semiconductor chip shortage issue. It has been affecting the production schedules of auto majors worldwide. This has led to fewer cars coming out of the production line and a rise in the price of vehicles. Additionally, commodities have been on the uptrend, and oil prices have been rising. Freight costs have also increased significantly since the March 2020 market crash. All of these have been headwinds for the auto sector as a whole. But, dealerships across the US have been doing robust business as they have been closing sales on cars that are yet to arrive. Additionally, the market for used vehicles is also hot. People who already own cars need them to get serviced. So, companies like O’Reilly Automotive aren’t doing too bad in the current environment. If you are looking to buy retail stocks now, then it may make sense to look at auto retail businesses.
Why Certain Retail Stocks Make Sense
Retail has been hit quite badly by the pandemic. Consumer footfall-driven businesses have taken a hit. While a lot of the business has gone online, retail businesses had built their business models around physical stores and a physical presence. It is true that the lockdowns are now gone, and things are slowly getting back to normalcy. However, there is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding retail. In such a case, it may be better to focus on retail businesses that are defensives or that people absolutely need, even with a pandemic lurking. Such businesses could be grocery chains like Wholefoods and Costco. Or they could be auto servicing and auto parts companies like O’Reilly Automotive. They could be among the best retail stocks today.
Buy Retail Stocks Now
If people are going to be driving cars, then they will need servicing solutions and replacement parts. It is almost a necessity in most parts of the US. Even in regions with an excellent public transport system, people may still be apprehensive of traveling in large crowds and may, therefore, prefer to travel in their own vehicles.