Overview
- AutoZone reported diluted EPS of $38.07 for fiscal Q3, beating Street estimates, while net sales rose 8.4% to $4.84 billion but narrowly missed analyst revenue consensus on Tuesday.
- Investors focused on the top-line shortfall and margin details, sending the stock down about 9–11% in heavy trading after the results.
- Domestic performance drove the quarter with U.S. same-store sales up about 4.1% and commercial sales rising roughly 10.4%, and the company opened 82 net new stores to reach a 7,856-store global footprint.
- Gross margin fell to 52.2% due in large part to a roughly 77 basis point non-cash LIFO inventory accounting hit that reduced EPS, management flagged modest additional LIFO impacts into Q4, and inventory was up about 10.8% year over year.
- AutoZone reaffirmed an aggressive growth plan that includes roughly $1.6 billion of capex for stores, hubs and megahubs, continued buybacks of which $586.3 million occurred this quarter and about $800 million of repurchase authorization remains, setting the stage for availability and market-share gains but keeping investors focused on near-term revenue and margin swings.