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AutoZone’s Q1 Profit Rises 11% (AZO)

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AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO), the Memphis, Tennessee-based retailer and distributor of automotive replacement parts and accessories, today released its first-quarter fiscal 2012 financial results.  The company reported an 11% increase in its first-quarter profit on higher sales and lower expenses.

AutoZone reported first-quarter net income of $191.1 million, or $4.68 per share, compared with $172.1 million, or $3.77 per share reported for the same period in the previous year.


AutoZone’s revenue for the first quarter ended November 19 rose 7.4% on a year-over-year basis to $1.92 billion. The company’s same-store sales in the U.S. rose 4.6% in the first quarter.

Analysts were expecting AutoZone to report earnings of $4.44 per share and revenue of $1.9 billion for the first quarter.

AutoZone’s gross margin for the quarter was 51.1%, an improvement of 40 basis points from the same period in the previous year. The improvement in gross margin was mainly due to lower distribution costs on higher sales, lower shrink expense and slightly higher merchandise margins. The company’s operating expenses as a percentage of sales were 33.4%, down from 33.6% reported for the same period in the previous year.

Bill Rhodes, Chairman, President and CEO of AutoZone, said that after there years of impressive financial performance, the company is pleased to begin fiscal 2012 with strong quarterly results. Rhodes said that the first quarter marked the company’s twelfth consecutive quarter of 20% growth in earnings per share and its twenty-first consecutive quarter of double digit growth.

During the first quarter, the company opened 17 new stores in the U.S. and 2 new stores in Mexico. At the end of the quarter, the company had 4,551 stores in the U.S. and 281 stores in Mexico.

AutoZone shares ended the day 0.34% lower at $337.81. The stock is up 23.93% this year.

 

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edliston
Post Written By: Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.


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Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing.

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