Wedbush Has Pessimistic Outlook of AutoZone Q2 Earnings

AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE:AZO) – Investment analysts at Wedbush lowered their Q2 2025 earnings estimates for AutoZone in a research note issued on Wednesday, December 11th. Wedbush analyst S. Basham now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $29.83 for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $31.14. Wedbush has a “Outperform” rating and a $3,200.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for AutoZone’s current full-year earnings is $154.29 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for AutoZone’s Q4 2025 earnings at $49.82 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $151.42 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $170.79 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $196.98 EPS.

AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, December 10th. The company reported $32.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $33.69 by ($1.17). AutoZone had a negative return on equity of 53.89% and a net margin of 14.18%. The company had revenue of $4.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $32.55 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on AZO. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com cut AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 21st. BNP Paribas raised AutoZone to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $3,205.00 to $2,917.00 in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of AutoZone from $3,350.00 to $3,750.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $3,360.47.

AutoZone Price Performance

AutoZone stock opened at $3,369.01 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.95 billion, a PE ratio of 22.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.71. The company’s 50-day moving average is $3,148.28 and its 200-day moving average is $3,061.08. AutoZone has a fifty-two week low of $2,510.00 and a fifty-two week high of $3,416.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AutoZone news, Chairman William C. Rhodes III sold 300 shares of AutoZone stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,075.20, for a total value of $922,560.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 13,857 shares in the company, valued at $42,613,046.40. The trade was a 2.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP John Scott Murphy sold 1,580 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,107.69, for a total transaction of $4,910,150.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,166.42. This trade represents a 56.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,880 shares of company stock worth $46,225,660 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AZO. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in AutoZone by 186.8% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 92,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,544,000 after purchasing an additional 60,483 shares during the last quarter. Verde Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of AutoZone during the third quarter worth about $1,137,000. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in shares of AutoZone by 592.0% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 9,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,012,000 after purchasing an additional 7,879 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its stake in AutoZone by 5.6% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 16,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,979,000 after purchasing an additional 869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in AutoZone by 0.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 104,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $329,699,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. 92.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About AutoZone

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.