UPDATE 3AutoZone quarterly earnings rise 3.6 percent
(Adds analysts’ remarks, byline, details)
By David Bailey
CHICAGO, Feb 26 (Reuters) - AutoZone Inc (AZO.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the
largest U.S. auto parts retail chain, posted
better-than-expected quarterly earnings on Tuesday, helped by
improved profit margins and sales to the commercial sector.
AutoZone, which does not release formal earnings forecasts,
said it remains optimistic in its outlook despite a
deceleration in sales from the prior quarter.
“We view this (earnings-per-share) beat as distinctive in a
retail tape characterized by earnings shortfalls,” Goldman
Sachs analysts Matthew Fassler said in a note to clients.
Net income rose to $106.7 million, or $1.67 per share, in
the fiscal second quarter ended Feb. 9, from $103 million, or
$1.45 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 3 percent to
$1.34 billion.
Analysts on average expected Memphis, Tennessee-based
AutoZone to report earnings of $1.62 per share and revenue of
$1.35 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.
Shares rose 2.7 percent to $120.50 in thin premarket
trading.
U.S. sales to retail customers rose 1.9 percent to $1.1
billion, while U.S. commercial sales to repair shops rose 3.4
percent to $156.1 million. Continued…
