Overview

* AutoZone ( AZO ) fiscal Q4 (16 weeks) ended August 30 net sales rise 0.6%, adjusted sales up 6.9% yr/yr

* Net income, EPS, and operating profit missed analyst expectations, per LSEG data

* Co repurchased 117,000 shares in Q4, totaling $446.7 mln investment

Outlook

* Company plans to aggressively open new stores in the new year

* Company aims to grow market share over time

* AutoZone ( AZO ) did not provide specific financial guidance for the next qtr in the release

* Company continues to focus on growth initiatives

Result Drivers

* SALES GROWTH - Adjusted sales rose 6.9% excluding the additional week in last year's qtr

* SAME STORE SALES - Domestic same store sales increased 4.8%, international constant currency sales rose 7.2%

* GROSS MARGIN IMPACT - Gross margin fell due to a 128 basis point non-cash LIFO impact, partially offset by higher merchandise margins

Key Details

Metric Beat/Mis Actual Consensu

s s

Estimate

Q4 Sales Meet $6.24 $6.24

bln bln (21

Analysts

)

Q4 EPS Miss $48.71 $50.8

(23

Analysts

)

Q4 Net Miss $836.95 $864.20

Income mln mln (19

Analysts

)

Q4 Miss $1.20 $1.25

Operatin bln bln (21

g profit Analysts

)

Q4 Gross $3.22

Profit bln

Q4 $1.05

Pretax bln

Profit

Analyst Coverage

* The current average analyst rating on the shares is "buy" and the breakdown of recommendations is 24 "strong buy" or "buy", 5 "hold" and no "sell" or "strong sell"

* The average consensus recommendation for the auto vehicles, parts & service retailers peer group is "buy"

* Wall Street's median 12-month price target for Autozone Inc ( AZO ) is $4,507.00, about 8.6% above its September 22 closing price of $4,121.00

* The stock recently traded at 25 times the next 12-month earnings vs. a P/E of 23 three months ago

Press Release:

(This story was created using Reuters automation and AI based on LSEG and company data. It was checked and edited by a Reuters journalist prior to publication.)