Auto Parts Retailers Have an Amazon Problem

After years of consistent double-digit growth in earnings per share, the top three auto parts stores posted very weak results in store traffic and a dramatic slowdown in earnings growth in the last quarter. AutoZone (NYSE: AZO), Advance Auto Parts (NYSE: AAP), and O'Reilly Automotive (NASDAQ: ORLY) posted roughly flat same store sales growth. This impacted earnings performance -- O'Reilly and AutoZone were able to squeeze out 9% and 6% earnings-per-share growth, respectively, while Advance Auto Parts earnings collapsed 36% year over year.

Not surprisingly, shares of these companies have tanked since the beginning of the year after years of delivering market beating returns for shareholders. AutoZone, Advance Auto Parts, and O'Reilly are down 21%, 19%, and 12%, respectively, year to date. These stocks are even underperforming the SPDR S&P Retail ETF, which is down 6% year to date.

Auto parts stocks are running out of oil as quickly as this container. Image source: Getty Images.

Source: Fool.com