AutoZone Inc. (AZO), the nation's largest aftermarket auto parts chain, is scheduled to discuss its financial results for the fiscal first quarter in a conference call Tuesday, December 8, at 10:00 AM (ET). You can catch the live webcast of the call on the company's website.
The three months that ended in November saw the Cash for Clunkers program, and the Memphis-based company became the parts supplier for the state of Arkansas. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expect Autozone to report that its earnings rose 16.2% from a year ago to $2.66 per share. Revenue for the quarter is expected to total $1.6 billion, 7.4% higher than a year ago.
Looking ahead, analysts so far expect to see year-over-year growth in EPS and revenue in the second quarter as well. AutoZone has topped earnings estimates in the past four quarters, by as much as 23 cents per share.
AutoZone's long-term EPS growth forecast is 12.9%, which is a little better than that of competitor Advance Auto Parts (AAP). AutoZone's earnings multiple of 11x is less than the industry average. The Motley Fool expects AutoZone to outperform despite any dip from Cash for Clunkers.
Shares are about 3.5% higher than three months ago, and recently headed north of the 100-day moving average for the first time since July.
Comfort Zone Investing: Unconventional Thinking Needed
BP to Begin Scaling Back Oil Cleanup
Oil's Uncertain Economic Outlook
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-07-2009 @ 6:51PM
mike said...
I've always had a problem with Cash4Clunkers. To me it seems to go against simple supply and demand economics. How can we push all of these new cars into a market already saturated with used and repossessed vehicles (see www.repofinder.com)? Now new cars are worth even less, we have more Americans in debt, and eventually more repossessions.