Wedbush Issues Pessimistic Estimate for AutoZone Earnings

AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) – Stock analysts at Wedbush dropped their FY2025 EPS estimates for shares of AutoZone in a research note issued on Wednesday, March 5th. Wedbush analyst S. Basham now forecasts that the company will post earnings per share of $148.90 for the year, down from their prior estimate of $152.10. Wedbush has a “Outperform” rating and a $3,700.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for AutoZone’s current full-year earnings is $152.94 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for AutoZone’s FY2026 earnings at $165.79 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $189.89 EPS.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $28.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $29.11 by ($0.82). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. The business had revenue of $3.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.98 billion.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,740.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,775.00 to $3,830.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,850.00 to $4,000.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of AutoZone from $3,750.00 to $3,850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,600.00 to $3,700.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, AutoZone presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,646.62.

AutoZone Price Performance

AZO opened at $3,607.20 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $3,358.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3,226.46. AutoZone has a 1-year low of $2,728.97 and a 1-year high of $3,615.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.71.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its position in AutoZone by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 61 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its position in shares of AutoZone by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc grew its position in shares of AutoZone by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 42.9% during the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 10 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of AutoZone by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 371 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,188,000 after buying an additional 3 shares during the period. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AutoZone Company Profile

AutoZone, Inc retails and distributes automotive replacement parts and accessories in the United States, Mexico, and Brazil. The company provides various products for cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, and light trucks, including new and remanufactured automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products.