MEMPHIS, Tenn., Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE: AZO) today reported net sales of $6.2 billion for its fourth quarter (17 weeks) ended August 31, 2024, an increase of 9.0% from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023 (16 weeks). Excluding sales from the additional week included in this year’s quarter, adjusted sales were up 2.6%. Same store sales, or sales for our domestic and international stores open at least one year, are computed on a 16-week and 52-week basis and are as follows:

For the quarter, gross profit, as a percentage of sales, was 52.5%, a decrease of 21 basis points versus the prior year. The decrease in gross margin was primarily driven by a 53 basis point non-cash LIFO impact (no LIFO benefit in the current year compared to last year benefiting $30 million), partially offset by higher merchandise margins. Operating expenses, as a percentage of sales, were 31.6% versus last year at 31.2%. Deleverage was driven primarily by higher store payroll as a percentage of sales versus the previous year.

Operating profit increased 6.1% to $1.3 billion. Net income for the quarter was $902.2 million compared to $864.8 million in the same period last year, while diluted earnings per share increased 11.0% to $51.58.

For the fiscal year ended August 31, 2024, sales were $18.5 billion, an increase of 5.9% from the prior year. Gross profit, as a percentage of sales, was 53.1% versus last year at 52.0%. The increase in gross margin was impacted by a 47 basis point ($84 million net) non-cash net LIFO favorability. Operating expenses, as a percentage of sales, were 32.6% versus last year at 32.1%. Operating profit increased 9.1% to $3.8 billion, net income increased 5.3% to $2.7 billion and diluted earnings per share increased 13.0% to $149.55 from $132.36.

Under its share repurchase program, AutoZone repurchased 244 thousand shares of its common stock during the fourth quarter, at an average price per share of $2,915, for a total investment of $710.6 million. For the fiscal year, the Company repurchased 1.1 million shares of its common stock, at an average price of $2,759, for a total investment of $3.2 billion. Since the inception of the share repurchase program, the Company has repurchased a total of 155 million shares of its common stock, at an average price of $238, for a total investment of $37.0 billion. At year end, the Company had $2.2 billion remaining under its current share repurchase authorization.

The Company’s inventory increased 6.8% over the same period last year driven by new store growth. Net inventory, defined as merchandise inventories less accounts payable, on a per store basis, was negative $163 thousand versus negative $201 thousand last year and negative $168 thousand last quarter.

“I want to thank our AutoZoners for their contributions during fiscal 2024 that resulted in our solid performance. We delivered total sales growth of 5.9% for the fiscal year while earnings per share increased 13.0%. Our AutoZoners’ commitment to providing Wow! Customer Service continues to allow us to deliver these impressive results. Domestically, our business continues to be challenged by deferrals across our discretionary merchandise categories, but we were pleased to see accelerating Commercial sales performance. We are also happy to report our international businesses continued to perform well, up roughly 10% on a constant currency basis. While currency rate moves slowed sales and earnings growth, our performance remains strong. We are excited about the initiatives we have in place to improve inventory availability, continue to accelerate our domestic commercial business, grow our international businesses and remain focused on delivering great customer service. As we continue to invest in our business, we will remain committed to our disciplined approach of increasing earnings and cash flow, all while delivering strong shareholder value,” said Phil Daniele, President and Chief Executive Officer.

During the quarter ended August 31, 2024, AutoZone opened 68 new stores in the U.S., 31 in Mexico and 18 in Brazil for a total of 117 new stores. For the fiscal year, the Company opened 213 net new stores. As of August 31, 2024, the Company had 6,432 stores in the U.S., 794 in Mexico and 127 in Brazil for a total store count of 7,353.

AutoZone is the leading retailer and distributor of automotive replacement parts and accessories in the Americas. Each store carries an extensive product line for cars, sport utility vehicles, vans and light duty trucks, including new and remanufactured automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products. The majority of stores have a commercial sales program that provides prompt delivery of parts and other products and commercial credit to local, regional and national repair garages, dealers, service stations, fleet owners and other accounts. AutoZone also sells automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories and non-automotive products through www.autozone.com, and our commercial customers can make purchases through www.autozonepro.com. Additionally, we sell the ALLDATA brand of automotive diagnostic, repair, collision and shop management software through www.alldata.com. We also provide product information on our Duralast branded products through www.duralastparts.com. AutoZone does not derive revenue from automotive repair or installation services.

AutoZone will host a conference call this morning, Tuesday, September 24, 2024, beginning at 10:00 a.m. (ET) to discuss its fourth quarter results. This call is being web cast and can be accessed, along with supporting slides, at AutoZone’s website at www.autozone.com by clicking on Investor Relations. Investors may also listen to the call by dialing (888) 506-0062, passcode AUTOZONE. In addition, a telephone replay will be available by dialing (877) 481-4010, replay passcode 51047 through October 8, 2024.

This release includes certain financial information not derived in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). These non-GAAP measures include adjustments to exclude the additional week in the current year’s fourth quarter and fiscal year, return on invested capital, adjusted debt and adjusted debt to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, rent and share-based expense (“EBITDAR”). The Company believes that the presentation of these non-GAAP measures provides information that is useful to investors as it indicates more clearly the Company’s comparative year-to-year operating results, but this information should not be considered a substitute for any measures derived in accordance with GAAP. Management targets the Company’s capital structure in order to maintain its investment grade credit ratings. The Company believes this is important information for the management of its debt levels and share repurchases. We have included a reconciliation of this additional information to the most comparable GAAP measures in the accompanying reconciliation tables.

Certain statements herein constitute forward-looking statements that are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and typically use words such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “should,” “intend,” “plan,” “will,” “expect,” “estimate,” “project,” “positioned,” “strategy,” “seek,” “may,” “could” and similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. These statements are based on assumptions and assessments made by our management in light of experience, historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors that we believe appropriate. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including without limitation: product demand, due to changes in fuel prices, miles driven or otherwise; energy prices; weather, including extreme temperatures and natural disasters; competition; credit market conditions; cash flows; access to financing on favorable terms; future stock repurchases; the impact of recessionary conditions; consumer debt levels; changes in laws or regulations; risks associated with self-insurance; war and the prospect of war, including terrorist activity; public health issues; inflation, including wage inflation; exchange rates; the ability to hire, train and retain qualified employees, including members of management; construction delays; failure or interruption of our information technology systems; issues relating to the confidentiality, integrity or availability of information, including due to cyber-attacks; historic growth rate sustainability; downgrade of our credit ratings; damage to our reputation; challenges associated with doing business in and expanding into international markets; origin and raw material costs of suppliers; inventory availability; disruption in our supply chain; tariffs; new accounting standards; our ability to execute our growth initiatives; and other business interruptions. These and other risks and uncertainties could materially and adversely affect our business and are discussed in more detail in the “Risk Factors” section in Item 1A under Part 1 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended August 26, 2023. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. However, it is not possible to identify or predict all such risks and other factors that could affect these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made. Except as required by applicable law, we undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Contact Information:
Financial: Brian Campbell at (901) 495-7005, brian.campbell@autozone.com
Media: Jennifer Hughes at (901) 495-6022, jennifer.hughes@autozone.com