Autozone Same Store Sales Rise 6.2%

Scott Peters
19 Sep, 2022
New York City

Autozone Inc declined 2.4% to 2,114.2 after the specialty retailer said same store sales in the fiscal fourth quarter increased 6.2%. 

Revenues, in the quarter ending on August 27, increased 8.9% to $5.4 billion from $4.9 billion a year ago.  

Net income in the quarter jumped 3.1% to $810.0 million from $785.8 million a year ago and diluted earnings per share rose to $40.51 from $35.72. 

Inventories in the quarter increased 21.5% to $5.6 billion from $4.6 billion a year ago on rising costs and product levels in support of larger store base. 

Inventory per store rose 18.4% to $812,000 from $686,000 a year ago.  

Net inventory, defined as merchandise inventories less accounts payable, on a per store basis, was negative $240,000 compared to negative $203,000 a year ago and negative $216,000 in the previous quarter.

For the fiscal year 2022, revenues rose 11.1% to $16.2 billion from $14.6 billion a year ago. 

Net income jumped 11.9% to $2.43 billion from $2.2 billion and diluted earnings per share increased to $117.19 from $95.19 a year ago. 

 Stock holder's deficit soared 97% to $3.53 billion from $1.8 billion a year ago. 

 

Stock Buybacks 

In the quarter, the retailer repurchased $1 billion of its own stock at an average price of $2,111 a share and for the fiscal year repurchased 2.2 million shares for $4.4 billion, at an average price of $1,964 a share.

At year end, the company had $1.1 billion remaining under its current share repurchase authorization.

 

Store Network 

During the fiscal year, AutoZone opened 118 new stores and closed one in the U.S., opened 39 stores in Mexico and 20 stores in Brazil. 

As of August 27, 2022, the company had 6,168 stores in the U.S., 703 in Mexico and 72 in Brazil for a total store count of 6,943.