{"id":33480,"date":"2016-03-01T13:21:56","date_gmt":"2016-03-01T19:21:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=33480"},"modified":"2016-03-01T13:49:26","modified_gmt":"2016-03-01T19:49:26","slug":"autozone-inc-hits-gas-pedal-on-earnings-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/autozone-inc-hits-gas-pedal-on-earnings-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"AutoZone Inc. hits gas pedal on earnings journey"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Steven Porter<\/strong><\/p>\n

AutoZone Inc., the leading retailer of replacement car parts, posted better-than-expected earnings Tuesday, reaping the benefit for higher profit margins on its merchandise.<\/span><\/p>\n

The company reported net earnings of $228.6 million, or $7.43 per diluted share, for the second quarter ended Feb. 13, an increase of 8 percent over the $211.7 million, or $6.51 per share, earned the same period a year prior.<\/span><\/p>\n

The announcement surpassed even the most optimistic expectations. Analysts surveyed by Yahoo! Finance<\/span><\/a> had forecast earnings of $7.28 per share.<\/span><\/p>\n

Revenue, meanwhile, increased 5 percent to $2.26 billion from $2.14 billion in second-quarter 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n

During mid-day trading Tuesday, AutoZone shares were up $15.15, or about 2 percent, to $789.72, as they continued their upward trajectory the company has managed to sustain for more than five years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Twenty-five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg set an aggregate target price at $825 per share. <\/span><\/p>\n

Past five years<\/h2>\n

[field name=”chart”]<\/p>\n

The price of AutoZone Inc. shares has sustained a steady upward trajectory for more than five years, according to daily closing price data published by Google Finance. (Steven Porter\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n

Tuesday\u2019s announcement marked the 38th consecutive quarter of double-digit earnings-per-share growth, AutoZone CEO Bill Rhodes said in a prepared statement.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur results to date continue to meet or exceed our expectations, further confirming our new inventory deployment strategy,\u201d Rhodes added. \u201cWhile we continue to strategically invest in our business in order to support our growth, we remain committed to our disciplined approach to growing operating earnings and utilizing our capital effectively.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

AutoZone opened 30 new stores in the U.S. during the quarter, bringing its total to 5,193 locations. <\/span><\/p>\n

Adam Fleck, an analyst with Morningstar Inc., said in a report that AutoZone’s success has depended largely on the number of miles consumers are driving, so if people start driving less, the company’s revenues will likely falter.<\/p>\n

“An economic recovery may also cause an influx of new-car sales, which could increase scrappage rages for older vehicles, thereby reducing demand for maintenance and failure auto parts,” Fleck added.<\/p>\n

Since shares are trading above Morningstar’s valuation of the company, Fleck advised investors to wait for the price to drop.<\/p>\n

Counting its retail stores in Mexico and Brazil \u2014 plus 24 branches of parts distribution chain Interamerican Motor Corp., which AutoZone bought in 2014 \u2014 the company operates a total of 5,676 sites worldwide.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"AutoZone
AutoZone Inc., the largest car parts retailer in the U.S., opened 30 new domestic locations in second-quarter 2016. (Steven Porter\/MEDILL)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So far in fiscal year 2016, AutoZone has reported net earnings of $486.7 million, or $15.72 per diluted share, an increase of 8 percent over the same period a year prior.<\/span><\/p>\n

Revenues, meanwhile, rose to $4.64 billion, up 5 percent from $4.40 billion in the first half of fiscal year 2015. <\/span><\/p>\n

Photo at top: A customer enters an AutoZone Inc. store at 2449 W. North Ave. in Chicago. The company reported better-than-expected earnings Tuesday. (Steven Porter\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Steven Porter AutoZone Inc., the leading retailer of replacement car parts, posted better-than-expected earnings Tuesday, reaping the benefit for higher profit margins on its merchandise. The company reported net earnings of $228.6 million, or $7.43 per diluted share, for the second quarter ended Feb. 13, an increase of 8 percent over the $211.7 million, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":183,"featured_media":33483,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,585],"tags":[1818,86],"class_list":["post-33480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-winter-2016","tag-autozone","tag-earnings"],"yoast_head":"\nAutoZone Inc. hits gas pedal on earnings journey - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/autozone-inc-hits-gas-pedal-on-earnings-journey\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AutoZone Inc. hits gas pedal on earnings journey - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Steven Porter AutoZone Inc., the leading retailer of replacement car parts, posted better-than-expected earnings Tuesday, reaping the benefit for higher profit margins on its merchandise. The company reported net earnings of $228.6 million, or $7.43 per diluted share, for the second quarter ended Feb. 13, an increase of 8 percent over the $211.7 million, […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/autozone-inc-hits-gas-pedal-on-earnings-journey\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-01T19:21:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-03-01T19:49:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/03\/FullSizeRender-19.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"3067\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2247\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Steven Porter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Steven Porter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/autozone-inc-hits-gas-pedal-on-earnings-journey\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/autozone-inc-hits-gas-pedal-on-earnings-journey\/\",\"name\":\"AutoZone Inc. hits gas pedal on earnings journey - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/autozone-inc-hits-gas-pedal-on-earnings-journey\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/autozone-inc-hits-gas-pedal-on-earnings-journey\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/03\/FullSizeRender-19.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-01T19:21:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-03-01T19:49:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/9915b58f329a5f35a8690c17ef4b9d29\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/autozone-inc-hits-gas-pedal-on-earnings-journey\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/autozone-inc-hits-gas-pedal-on-earnings-journey\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/autozone-inc-hits-gas-pedal-on-earnings-journey\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/03\/FullSizeRender-19.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/03\/FullSizeRender-19.jpg\",\"width\":3067,\"height\":2247,\"caption\":\"A customer enters an AutoZone Inc. store at 2449 W. North Ave. in Chicago. The company reported better-than-expected earnings Tuesday. (Steven Porter\/MEDILL)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/autozone-inc-hits-gas-pedal-on-earnings-journey\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"AutoZone Inc. hits gas pedal on earnings journey\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\",\"name\":\"Medill Reports Chicago\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/9915b58f329a5f35a8690c17ef4b9d29\",\"name\":\"Steven Porter\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c67461bb95b5bec18bc1d90b5a51431fbab3ea57d6c8b761ad34fc616d17a722?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c67461bb95b5bec18bc1d90b5a51431fbab3ea57d6c8b761ad34fc616d17a722?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Steven Porter\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/stevenjporter\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"AutoZone Inc. hits gas pedal on earnings journey - Medill Reports Chicago","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/autozone-inc-hits-gas-pedal-on-earnings-journey\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"AutoZone Inc. hits gas pedal on earnings journey - Medill Reports Chicago","og_description":"By Steven Porter AutoZone Inc., the leading retailer of replacement car parts, posted better-than-expected earnings Tuesday, reaping the benefit for higher profit margins on its merchandise. The company reported net earnings of $228.6 million, or $7.43 per diluted share, for the second quarter ended Feb. 13, an increase of 8 percent over the $211.7 million, […]","og_url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/autozone-inc-hits-gas-pedal-on-earnings-journey\/","og_site_name":"Medill Reports Chicago","article_published_time":"2016-03-01T19:21:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-03-01T19:49:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":3067,"height":2247,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/03\/FullSizeRender-19.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Steven Porter","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Steven Porter","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/autozone-inc-hits-gas-pedal-on-earnings-journey\/","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/autozone-inc-hits-gas-pedal-on-earnings-journey\/","name":"AutoZone Inc. hits gas pedal on earnings journey - Medill Reports Chicago","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/autozone-inc-hits-gas-pedal-on-earnings-journey\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/autozone-inc-hits-gas-pedal-on-earnings-journey\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/03\/FullSizeRender-19.jpg","datePublished":"2016-03-01T19:21:56+00:00","dateModified":"2016-03-01T19:49:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/9915b58f329a5f35a8690c17ef4b9d29"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/autozone-inc-hits-gas-pedal-on-earnings-journey\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/autozone-inc-hits-gas-pedal-on-earnings-journey\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/autozone-inc-hits-gas-pedal-on-earnings-journey\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/03\/FullSizeRender-19.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2016\/03\/FullSizeRender-19.jpg","width":3067,"height":2247,"caption":"A customer enters an AutoZone Inc. store at 2449 W. North Ave. in Chicago. The company reported better-than-expected earnings Tuesday. (Steven Porter\/MEDILL)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/autozone-inc-hits-gas-pedal-on-earnings-journey\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"AutoZone Inc. hits gas pedal on earnings journey"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/","name":"Medill Reports Chicago","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/9915b58f329a5f35a8690c17ef4b9d29","name":"Steven Porter","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c67461bb95b5bec18bc1d90b5a51431fbab3ea57d6c8b761ad34fc616d17a722?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c67461bb95b5bec18bc1d90b5a51431fbab3ea57d6c8b761ad34fc616d17a722?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Steven Porter"},"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/stevenjporter\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/183"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}