AutoZone Fourth Quarter Earnings Sneak Peek

S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY) component AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) will unveil its latest earnings on Wednesday, September 19, 2012. AutoZone is a specialty retailer of automotive replacement parts and accessories, offering an extensive line for cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, and light trucks.

AutoZone Earnings Preview Cheat Sheet

Wall St. Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is for profit of $8.41 per share, a rise of 17.1% from the company’s actual earnings for the year-ago quarter. During the past three months, the average estimate has moved down from $8.45. Between one and three months ago, the average estimate moved down. It has been unchanged at $8.41 during the last month. Analysts are projecting profit to rise by 20.1% compared to last year’s $23.38.

Past Earnings Performance: Last quarter, the company saw net income of $6.28 per share versus a mean estimate of profit of $6.28 per share. This comes after two consecutive quarters of exceeding expectations.

Investing Insights: Will New Apple Products Continue to PUMP UP Shares?

A Look Back: In the third quarter, profit rose 9.3% to $248.6 million ($6.28 a share) from $227.4 million ($5.29 a share) the year earlier, meeting analyst expectations. Revenue rose 6.7% to $2.11 billion from $1.98 billion.

Wall St. Revenue Expectations: Analysts predict a rise of 6.1% in revenue from the year-earlier quarter to $2.8 billion.

Stock Price Performance: Between June 19, 2012 and September 13, 2012, the stock price fell $34.74 (-8.98%), from $386.73 to $351.99. The stock price saw one of its best stretches over the last year between January 3, 2012 and January 23, 2012, when shares rose for 14 straight days, increasing 8.5% (+$27.22) over that span. It saw one of its worst periods between May 2, 2012 and May 9, 2012 when shares fell for six straight days, dropping 3.4% (-$13.56) over that span.

Analyst Ratings: With nine analysts rating the stock a buy, none rating it a sell and eight rating the stock a hold, there are indications of a bullish stance by analysts. Over the last three months, the stock’s average rating has increased from hold to moderate buy.

Balance Sheet Analysis: The company’s current ratio of assets to liabilities came in at 0.83 last quarter. The current ratio is an indication of a firm’s liquidity and ability to meet creditor demands and generally, a ratio less than one could indicate a company may have difficulty meeting current obligations.

Stocks with improving earnings metrics are worthy of your extra attention. In fact, “E = Earnings Are Increasing Quarter-Over-Quarter” is a core component of our CHEAT SHEET investing framework for this very reason. Don’t waste another minute — click here and get our CHEAT SHEET stock picks now.

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

Don’t Miss These Additional Hot Stories:

Is This BIG Bank’s Stock a BUY Today?

Apple’s iPad SUCCESS Gets These Companies DOWNGRADED

Are These the Best Stocks for QE3?