AutoZone stock fell hard in premarket trading Tuesday after the auto parts retailer posted fiscal second-quarter results that beat on profit but missed where it counted most — the top line.
AutoZone, $AZO, Q2-26.
Margins pressured, comps solid.
Adj. EPS: $27.63
Revenue: $4.27B
Net Income: $468.86M
Gross margin -137 bps on LIFO charge, EBIT -1.2%.
Commercial sales +9.8%, share gains intact. pic.twitter.com/s0YYGzzEUU— EarningsTime (@Earnings_Time) March 3, 2026
The stock dropped roughly 8.6%, hitting $3,550 before the open. That’s a sharp reversal for a name that had gained 15% year-to-date through Monday’s close.
Revenue came in at $4.27 billion for the quarter. Analysts had been expecting $4.31 billion. Not a massive miss on paper, but the market noticed.
Adjusted earnings per share landed at $27.63. That beat the consensus estimate of $27.15. Still, it’s down from $28.29 in the same quarter a year ago.
Same-store sales rose 3.3% on a constant-currency basis. The Street had pencilled in 5.6%. That gap is what did the damage.
Net sales were up 8.1% year over year in total, which sounds decent — but comparable sales tell a different story.
Domestic comparable sales grew 3.4% in constant currency. International same-store sales came in at 2.5%.
CEO Phil Daniele addressed the international results directly. “While our international sales, in constant currency, were slightly below our expectations, we believe our market share continues to grow as we outpace our competition in both Mexico and Brazil,” he said.
Daniele also credited staff for the quarter’s results. “I want to thank our AutoZoners across the company for delivering solid financial results this past quarter.”
Operating profit came in at $698.5 million, a decline of 1.2% compared to the same period last year.
That’s a modest drop, but combined with the comp sales miss, it gives investors less to hold onto.
AutoZone had been a Barron’s stock pick last March, and the 15% run-up this year heading into earnings had set a high bar.
The results weren’t a disaster by any stretch. EPS beat, total sales grew, and the company maintained its position in key international markets.
But same-store sales missing by more than two full percentage points is hard to spin.
The stock’s premarket move reflects that. A 8.6% drop on earnings day is a meaningful correction for a stock that had been on a solid run.
AutoZone operates stores across the U.S., Mexico, and Brazil, and same-store sales growth is one of the most closely watched metrics for the retailer.
The 3.3% comp growth marks a slowdown from what analysts had been modeling, raising questions about near-term demand trends.
The company’s fiscal Q2 covers the period ending in late February 2026.
AutoZone stock was trading at $3,550 in premarket Tuesday, down from Monday’s close of approximately $3,886.
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