AutoZone Q1 Earnings & Revenues Fall Short of Expectations

AutoZone Inc. AZO reported earnings of $31.04 per share for the first quarter of fiscal 2026 (ended Nov. 22, 2025), which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $32.24. The company had reported earnings of $32.52 per share in the corresponding quarter of fiscal 2025. Net sales grew 8.2% year over year to $4.63 billion but marginally lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.64 billion.

AZO currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

AutoZone, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

AutoZone, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | AutoZone, Inc. Quote

Key Tidbits

In the reported quarter, domestic commercial sales totaled $1.29 billion, up from $1.12 billion recorded in the year-ago period. Domestic same-store sales (sales at stores open at least for a year) were up 4.8%. Gross profit increased to $2.35 billion from the prior-year quarter’s $2.26 billion. Operating profit decreased 6.8% year over year to $784.2 million.

During the quarter, AutoZone opened 39 new stores in the United States. It opened 12 new stores in Mexico and two in Brazil. It exited the quarter with 6,666 stores in the United States, 895 in Mexico and 149 in Brazil. The total store count was 7,710 as of Nov. 22, 2025.

Its inventory increased 13.9% year over year in the reported quarter amid new store growth and same store sales growth initiatives. At quarter-end, net inventory per store was negative $145,000 compared with negative $166,000 a year ago.

As of Nov. 22, 2025, AutoZone had cash and cash equivalents of $287.6 million, up from $271.8 million as of Aug. 30, 2025. Its total debt amounted to $8.62 billion as of Nov 22, 2025, compared with $8.79 billion as of Aug. 30, 2025.

The company repurchased 108,000 shares of its common stock for $431.1 million during the fiscal first quarter at an average price of $3,999 per share. At quarter-end, it had $1.7 billion remaining under its current share repurchase authorization.

Peer Releases

Advance Auto Parts, Inc. AAP reported adjusted earnings of 92 cents per share for the third quarter of 2025, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 74 cents. The company incurred an adjusted loss of 4 cents per share in the year-ago quarter.

Advance Auto generated net revenues of $2.04 billion, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2 billion. Comparable store sales increased 3% year over year. We expected a rise of 2.4% for the same. The top line, however, decreased from $2.15 billion in the year-ago quarter.

O’Reilly Automotive, Inc. ORLY reported third-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of 85 cents, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 83 cents. The bottom line also increased from 76 cents in the prior-year quarter.

The automotive parts retailer registered quarterly revenues of $4.71 billion, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.70 billion. The top line increased 7.8% year over year.

During the quarter, comparable store sales grew 5.6% and the company opened 55 stores in the United States and Mexico. The total store count was 6,538 as of Sept. 30, 2025.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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