Investors Not Worried By AutoZone Q4 Sales Miss

Investors of AutoZone, Inc.

cheered the earnings number for the fourth quarter by sending the stock higher in the pre-market trading on Thursday. Though the company's sales missed estimates, it did not have much impact on the investors' sentiments. One of the reasons could be the announcement of an additional share buyback program of $750 million. The company reported net income of $426.77 million, or $14.30 a share for the fourth quarter, up from $401.14 million, or $12.75 a share, recorded in the year-ago quarter. This is $0.05 a share higher than the Street analysts' estimates of $14.25 a share. AutoZone generated net sales of $3.4 billion compared to $3.29 billion in the previous year quarter representing a growth of 3.3 percent on a year-over-year basis. However, this fell short of the analysts' predictions of $3.43 billion. Its domestic same store sales advanced 1.0 percent. The company's chairman, president, and CEO, Bill Rhodes, commented, "In order to continue to meet our customers' needs across all selling channels, we continue to invest capital in our product availability initiatives across our businesses. While investing to grow, we will remain committed to our disciplined approach to increasing operating earnings and utilizing our capital effectively." Following the news, the stock advanced $1.65, or 0.22 percent, to $753.10 in the pre-market trading on Thursday.