AutoZone Q4 Earnings Preview: Data Shows Strong Visit Growth, Analyst Says Company To 'Continue To Take Share Over Time'

Automotive parts retailer AutoZone Inc AZO looks to keep its streak of earnings beats alive when the company reports fourth-quarter financial results before the market opens Tuesday, Sept. 24.

Earnings Estimates: Analysts expect AutoZone will report fourth-quarter earnings per share of $53.53, up from $46.46 in last year's fourth quarter, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

The company has beaten earnings estimates from analysts in 19 straight quarters according to Benzinga Pro data.

Analysts expect the company to report fourth-quarter revenue of $6.22 billion, up from $5.69 billion in last year's fourth quarter.

The company has beaten revenue estimates from analysts in eight of the past 10 quarters, but missed estimates in two of the last three quarters.

What Analysts Are Saying: Fourth-quarter sales are likely to be in-line with analyst estimates for AutoZone, Truist analyst Scot Ciccarelli said in a recent investor note.

The analyst said concerns over currency exchange rates could limit the international comparable sales. The auto parts sector also remains "challenging," Ciccarelli added.

"Our data suggests that the beginning and end of the quarter were a bit softer, with relative strength in late June and July, but a reasonably steady cadence throughout," Ciccarelli said.

Ciccarelli also expects gross margins to improve 60 basis points year-over-year in the fourth quarter thanks to holding retail prices steady and being able to lower procurement costs.

"We remain aggressive buyers of AZO, think fundamentals are poised to reaccelerate and believe they will continue to take share over time in a highly favorable vertical.

Here are other recent analyst ratings on AutoZone and their price targets:

Evercore ISI: Maintained Outperform rating, lowered price target from $3,900 to $3,350

Wedbush: Reiterated Outperform rating with $3,200 price target

Read Also: Spotlight on AutoZone: Analyzing the Surge in Options Activity

Key Items to Watch: Data from Placer.ai showed AutoZone had visits increase 4.4% year-over-year during the second quarter of the calendar year. Visits were up 7.3%, 2.7% and 5.5% year-over-year for June, July and August, respectively.

The report said auto parts retailers such as AutoZone are "sustaining their pandemic-era success and benefitting from the increase in older cars on the road."

For AutoZone, the trend of repairing vehicles versus replacing them with new ones could continue to benefit the company, according to the report.

The company placed partial blame on the timing of tax refunds and the weather in the third quarter. While tax refunds won't be an item to watch in the fourth-quarter results, the weather could be.

"As we begin our all-important summer selling season, we are very excited about the initiatives we have in place to enhance our inventory availability, continue to accelerate our domestic commercial business and provide great customer service," CEO Phil Daniele said in the third-quarter results.

AZO Price Action: AutoZone stock closed Monday up 0.93%% to $3,048.82 on Monday versus a 52-week trading range of $2,375.35 to $3,256.37.

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Photo: Ken Wolter via Shutterstock