AutoZone Earnings: Net Income Climbs, But Investors Shrug at This Data

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component AutoZone Inc (NYSE:AZO) reported its results for the fourth quarter. AutoZone is a specialty retailer of automotive replacement parts and accessories, offering an extensive line for cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, and light trucks.

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AutoZone Inc Earnings Cheat Sheet

Results: Net income for AutoZone Inc rose to $323.7 million ($8.46 per share) vs. $301.5 million ($7.12 per share) in the same quarter a year earlier. This marks a rise of 7.4% from the year-earlier quarter.

Revenue: Rose 4.6% to $2.76 billion from the year-earlier quarter.

Actual vs. Wall St. Expectations: AutoZone Inc was about in line with expectations as the mean analyst estimate of $8.42 per share. It beat the average revenue estimate of $2.13 billion.

Quoting Management: “I would like to thank our entire organization for the solid performance delivered this past quarter. We are pleased to report our twenty-fourth consecutive quarter of double digit earnings per share growth. For the year, we reached many new milestones which included opening our 5,000th store in Alaska. We also improved our return on invested capital, achieving 33.0% at year end. While our same store sales performance was below our expectations for the quarter, we are confident we are well positioned to again deliver strong results for our new fiscal year. We remain committed to delivering exceptional customer service while growing our Retail, Commercial, and international store business models. We will maintain our disciplined approach to growing operating earnings and utilizing our capital effectively,” said Bill Rhodes, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.

Key Stats:

The company has now seen its net income increase for three consecutive quarters. In the third quarter, net income rose 9.3% and in the second quarter, the figure rose 12.7%.

Revenue has risen the past four quarters. Revenue increased 6.7% to $2.11 billion in the third quarter. The figure rose 8.6% in the second quarter from the year earlier and climbed 7.4% in the first quarter from the year-ago quarter.

The company beat estimates last quarter after being in line with expectations in the third quarter with net income of $6.28 per share.

Looking Forward: Analysts appear increasingly optimistic about the company’s results for the next quarter. The average estimate for the first quarter of the next fiscal year has moved up from $5.38 a share to $5.45 over the last ninety days. Over the past three months, the average estimate for the fiscal year has climbed from $23.25 per to share to $23.39.

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(Company fundamentals provided by Xignite Financials. Earnings estimates provided by Zacks)

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