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Summary

  • A premier seller of automotive parts and accessories, AutoZone has received ‘Buy’ rating from analysts after the release of its financial results for Q3 2023.
  • Guggenheim Securities upgraded its rating to ‘Buy’ on AZO, the same day that the company released its financial statements.
  • The consensus mean price target on the stock is US$ 2,764.29 as on May 30, 2023.

AutoZone, a premier seller of automotive parts and accessories, has received a ‘Buy’ rating from analysts post the release of its Q3 financial results. For the three months ended May 6, 2023, AutoZone reported 5.8% sequential increase in net sales to US$ 4.1 billion.

Guggenheim Securities upgraded its rating on AZO to ‘Buy’ rating on the same day that the company released its financial statements. The mean recommendation rating on AZO was 2.1 on a scale of one to five, showing an overall ‘Buy’ rating. Here, one represents a ‘Strong Buy’ rating and five represents a ‘Strong Sell’ rating.

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The consensus mean price target on the stock is US$ 2,764.29 as on May 30, 2023. This marks an upside potential of 12.33% on previous close of the stock on May 29, 2023. AZO closed at US$ 2,460.79 on May 29, 2023. Earlier this month, the stock hit its 52-week high of US$ 2,750 on May 10, 2023.

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Analysts bullish on AZO

Truist Securities revised its price target on AZO post the release of AutoZone’s financial results. The broker’s increased price target on the stock is US$ 2,886, an upside potential of 17.28% on the previous close of US$ 2,460.79.

BNP Paribas maintained its ‘Outperform’ rating on the stock, but increased target price on the stock to US$ 2,842 as on May 30, 2023. Meanwhile, Argus Research also upgraded its recommendation on the stock to ‘Buy’ rating, days after the release of its financial results.

Alternatively, D.A. Davidson and Company revised the price target lower to US$ 2,340 compared to its previous price target on the stock.

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As per data available on EODHD/Others, eight analysts gave a ‘Strong Buy’ rating, ten gave a ‘Buy’ rating, six gave a ‘Hold’ rating and two gave a ‘Sell’ rating on AZO. None of the analysts gave a ‘Strong Sell’ rating on the stock.

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AutoZone’s Financial results

AutoZone reported an operating profit of US$ 858.5 million for Q3 2023. The net income for the quarter was US$ 647.7 million, marking an increase of 9.3% over the same period last year. The diluted earnings per share for the quarter were reported at US$ 34.12, increasing 17.5% from US$ 29.03 in the year-ago period.

For Q3 2023, AutoZone also reported the opening of 22 new stores in the US. The company’s inventory also increased 7.4% compared to last year due to inflation and its growth initiatives. Net inventory stood at negative US$ 215,000 for Q3 2023.