ADVANCE AUTO PARTS INC

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the stockholders and the Board of Directors of Advance Auto Parts, Inc.

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Advance Auto Parts, Inc. and subsidiaries (the "Company") as of December 28, 2024 and December 30, 2023, the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income, changes in stockholders' equity, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 28, 2024, and the related notes and the schedule listed in the Index at Item 15 (collectively referred to as the "financial statements"). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 28, 2024 and December 30, 2023, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 28, 2024, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 28, 2024, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and our report dated February 26, 2025, expressed an unqualified opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matter

The critical audit matters communicated below are matters arising from the current-period audit of the financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matters below, providing separate opinions on the critical audit matters or on the accounts or disclosures to which they relate.

Vendor Incentives — Refer to Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements

Critical Audit Matter Description

The Company receives incentives in the form of reductions in amounts owed to and/or payments due from vendors related to volume rebates and other promotions. Volume rebates and vendor promotional allowances are earned based on inventory purchases and initially recorded as a reduction to inventory, except for allowances provided as reimbursement of specific, incremental, and identifiable costs incurred to promote a vendor’s products that are offset in selling, general and administrative expenses. The deferred amounts are recorded as a reduction in cost of sales as the inventory is sold.

While many of these incentives are under long-term agreements in excess of one year, others are negotiated on an annual basis or shorter. Accordingly, auditing vendor incentives was challenging due to the extent of audit effort required to evaluate whether the vendor incentives were recorded in accordance with the terms of the vendor agreements.

How the Critical Audit Matter Was Addressed in the Audit

Our audit procedures related to whether the vendor incentives were recorded in accordance with the terms of the vendor agreements included the following, among others:

•We tested the effectiveness of controls over the process that ensures that all vendor agreements are communicated to accounting.

•We tested the effectiveness of controls over the recording of vendor incentives as a reduction in inventories, and subsequently as a reduction in cost of sales as the related inventory was sold.

•We selected a sample of vendor incentives from the income recognized as a reduction to cost of sales during the year and from incentive income that was deferred at year-end, and recalculated, using the terms of the vendor agreement, both the amount recorded as deferred vendor incentives as a reduction in inventories and the amount recognized in earnings as a reduction in cost of sales.

•We selected a sample of vendors from the Company’s inventory purchases made during the year and confirmed directly with the vendor that the agreement obtained from the Company and used in the determination of recording vendor incentives as a reduction in cost of sales was the most recent for the applicable period between the parties.

Restructuring — Refer to Note 3 to the Consolidated Financial Statements

Critical Audit Matter Description

The Company recorded restructuring and impairment charges related to its Board of Directors approved restructuring and asset optimization plan (“2024 Restructuring Plan”). This plan anticipates the closure of approximately 500 stores, approximately 200 independent locations and four distribution centers. The Company incurred $740.4 million of restructuring charges, which primarily related to inventory write-down charges for reducing inventory to net realizable value in connection with the store and distribution center closures and asset impairment charges associated with operating lease right-of-use (ROU) assets. The determination of restructuring charges and related reserves requires management to make significant estimates and assumptions regarding the amount of inventory write-down charges and impairment charges of operating lease ROU assets.

The principal considerations for our determination that the evaluation of restructuring charges associated with inventory write-downs for closed store and distribution center locations and impairment charges related to operating lease ROU assets are:

•The significant assumptions required by management in estimating the net realizable value associated with inventory located at the stores and distribution centers to be closed including the anticipated sell through rate and estimated sales proceeds less costs to sell.

•The significant assumptions required by management to estimate the fair value of ROU assets utilizing a discounted cash flow model including market rental rates and discount rates.

How the Critical Audit Matter Was Addressed in the Audit

Our audit procedures related to the anticipated sell through rate and estimated sales proceeds less costs to sell associated with inventory write-down charges included the following, among others:

•Tested the effectiveness of controls over management’s process for developing the inventory write-down charges, including controls over the review of the anticipated sell through rate and estimated sales proceeds less costs to sell, and the completeness and accuracy of underlying data.

•Evaluated the reasonableness of management’s estimates of net realizable value of inventory for locations to be closed based on subsequent sales activity and contractual agreements with wholesalers to purchase the inventory at an agreed upon price.

Our audit procedures related to market rental rates and discount rates associated with the Company’s impairment assessment of ROU assets included the following, among others:

•Tested the effectiveness of controls over management’s impairment assessment process, including key assumptions used in the impairment analysis such as market rental rates and appropriate discount rate.

•Evaluated the reasonableness of management’s impairment assessment of ROU assets by:

◦Testing the completeness and accuracy of underlying data

◦Evaluating key assumptions including involvement of our valuation specialist to assess market rental rates and discount rates

◦Testing the mathematical accuracy of management’s calculations, including the completeness and accuracy of underlying data

/s/Deloitte & Touche LLP

Charlotte, North Carolina

February 26, 2025

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2002.

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the stockholders and the Board of Directors of Advance Auto Parts, Inc.

Opinion on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

We have audited the internal control over financial reporting of Advance Auto Parts and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 28, 2024, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). In our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 28, 2024, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013) issued by COSO.

We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 28, 2024, of the Company and our report dated February 26, 2025, expressed an unqualified opinion on those financial statements.

Basis for Opinion

The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Controls over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control over Financial Reporting

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

/s/Deloitte & Touche LLP

Charlotte, North Carolina

February 26, 2025