AutoZone (AZO) ended the recent trading session at $3,675.90, demonstrating a +2.79% change from the preceding day's closing price. The stock outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 1.17%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.53%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 2.04%.
The auto parts retailer's shares have seen a decrease of 14.33% over the last month, not keeping up with the Retail-Wholesale sector's gain of 2.39% and the S&P 500's gain of 2.12%.
The upcoming earnings release of AutoZone will be of great interest to investors. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $32.27, indicating a 0.77% decline compared to the equivalent quarter last year. At the same time, our most recent consensus estimate is projecting a revenue of $4.62 billion, reflecting a 7.98% rise from the equivalent quarter last year.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $153.38 per share and a revenue of $20.36 billion, demonstrating changes of +5.87% and +7.5%, respectively, from the preceding year.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for AutoZone. These latest adjustments often mirror the shifting dynamics of short-term business patterns. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the business health and profitability.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-term stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.06% lower. AutoZone presently features a Zacks Rank of #4 (Sell).
Investors should also note AutoZone's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 23.32. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 16.8, which means AutoZone is trading at a premium to the group.
It is also worth noting that AZO currently has a PEG ratio of 1.69. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. AZO's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.24 as of yesterday's close.
The Automotive - Retail and Wholesale - Parts industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 198, placing it within the bottom 20% of over 250 industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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AutoZone, Inc. (AZO): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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