AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE: AZO) stock fell over 0.2% on 10th December, 2020 (as of 1:51 pm GMT-5; Source: Google finance) leading to a total of over 1.4% fall in the last four weeks after the company posted mixed results for the first quarter of FY 21.
Net income rose 26.3% year over year to $442.4 million. For the first quarter, domestic commercial sales grew to $695.3 million, up from the $621.5 million recorded in the year-ago quarter. The domestic same-store sales grew 12.3% year over year, outpacing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 11.37%. During the fiscal first quarter, the company opened 39 stores in the United States and two in Brazil. It exited the first quarter with 5,924 stores in the United States, 621 in Mexico and 45 in Brazil. Total store count was 6,590 as of Nov 21, 2020. The company’s inventory improved 3.7% year over year in the first quarter on store openings and increased product placement. At the end of the quarter, inventory per location was $702,000, up from the year-ago figure of $694,000. The company had cash and cash equivalents of $1,664 million as of Nov 21, 2020, which is up from $158.1 million as of Nov 23, 2019. Total debt were of $5,514.9 million as of Nov 21, 2020, which represents an increase from the $5,287.3 million on Nov 23, 2019. For the first quarter, the company generated $683 million of operating cash flow. This was up approximately $236 million over last year’s Q1.
Moreover, the company continues to expand the inventory availability initiatives by adding MegaHub locations. The company had opened three new MegaHubs this quarter, bringing the total to 47. With over 80,000 SKUs or more, the company delivers same day and often multiple times per day to stores in MegaHub markets.
AZO in the first quarter of FY 21 has reported the adjusted earnings per share of $18.61, beating the analysts’ estimates for the adjusted earnings per share of $17.72, according to Zacks Investment Research. The company had reported the adjusted revenue growth of 12.9 percent to $3154.3 million in the first quarter of FY 21, missing the analysts’ estimates for revenue of $3164 million. For the first quarter, total auto parts sales, which includes the domestic, Mexico and Brazil stores, increased 13.1%.
Additionally, during the fiscal first quarter, AZO had repurchased 584,379 shares for $678.3 million at an average price of $1,161 per share. The company has shares worth $117.6 million remaining in the current repurchase authorization.