AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) stock rose 2.03% (As on Mar 2, 11:24:00 AM UTC-4, Source: Google Finance) after the company posted better than expected results for the second quarter of FY 22. Net income increased 36.4% year over year to $471.8 million. In the second quarter, domestic commercial sales totaled $843.8 million, up from $638.9 million recorded in the year-ago period. The metric also crossed the consensus mark of $719 million. In addition, domestic same-store sales (sales at stores open at least for a year) rose 13.8%, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 7.62%. Gross profit increased to $1,785.2 million from the prior-year quarter’s $1,559.4 million. Operating profit jumped to $626.8 million from $481.8 million. During the fiscal first quarter, AutoZone opened 26 new stores and closed one in the United States, three in Mexico and two in Brazil. It exited the quarter with 6,091 stores in the United States, 669 in Mexico and 55 in Brazil. The total store count was 6,815 as of Feb 12, 2022. AutoZone’s inventory improved 6.2% year over year in the reported quarter on store openings. At quarter-end, inventory per location was $738,000, up from $715,000. AutoZone had cash and cash equivalents of $239.4 million as of Feb 12, 2022, down from $1,026.2 million on Feb 13, 2021. Total debt amounted to $5,840.9 million as of Feb 12, 2022, marking an increase from $5,516.4 million on Feb 13, 2021.

Moreover, for the second quarter, the company generated $362 million of operating cash flow and spent $106 million in capital expenditures, allowing AZO to generate $270 million of free cash flow, up 3.1% versus the prior year.

AZO in the second quarter of FY 22 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $22.3, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of $17.8, according to the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 15.8 percent to $3.37 billion in the second quarter of FY 22, beating the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $3.16 billion. For the quarter, total auto parts sales, which includes the domestic, Mexico and Brazil stores, were $3.3 billion, up 15.6%.

Additionally, under its share repurchase program, AutoZone repurchased 783 thousand shares of its common stock for $1.6 billion during the fiscal second quarter, at an average price of $1,992 per share. At the end of the quarter, it had $958 million remaining under its current share repurchase authorization.