Stock Buyback

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 03/08/10 -- www.rothmanresearch.com "Cost-awareness amongst automobile consumers have lead many to invest in servicing and repairs of their already owned car rather than purchasing a new one, due to the effect of a weakened global economy," says financial analyst Bradley McCoy of Rothman Research. This means bigger gains to services sector stocks. O'Reilly Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY) and AutoZone Inc. (NYSE: AZO) are two examples of stocks doing better despite the weak economy since last year. *These reports are a must read for every investors trading ...

MEMPHIS, Tenn., March 2, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE: AZO) today reported net sales of $1.5 billion for its second quarter (12 weeks) ended February 13, 2010, an increase of 4.0% from the second quarter of fiscal 2009 (12 weeks). Domestic same store sales, or sales for stores open at least one year, increased 1.0% for the quarter. Net income for the quarter increased $7.5 million, or 6.4%, over the same period last year to $123.3 million, while diluted earnings per share increased 21.2% to $2.46 per share from $2.03 per share in the year-ago quarter. For the quarter, gross profit, as a percentage of sales, was 50.0% (versus 49.7% for last year's quarter). The improvement in gross margin of 36 basis points was positively impacted by a favorable shrink expense comparison of 17 basis points, a shift in mix of sales to higher margin product, and lower product ...

AutoZone, Inc. (NYSE: AZO), today announced its Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of an additional $500 million of the Company's common stock ...

Autozone (NYSE: AZO) reports Q1 EPS of $2.82, 16 cents better than the analyst estimate of $2.66. Revenue for the quarter was $1.6 billion, which compares to the estimate of $1.59 billion. Shares are up about 3% today.

Highlights From AZO's Q1 Conference Call:
(CEO) For the quarter, same-store sales increase of 5.6% and an EPS increase of 26.4%.
The macro challenges remain a head win for our customers. There is no doubt the financial challenges facing our customers have driven a general sales improvement for our industry.
We are pleased with the gradual acceleration that we're seeing as our commercial business grew 7.7% this quarter, a nice acceleration from just the last quarter.
While sales increased sequentially from our 5.7% increase in Q4 excluding the 17th week and outsize percentage of our growth was driven by our up and down the street customers.
As ...

Wedbush Morgan initiates coverage on Autozone (NYSE: AZO) with a Neutral, $170 price target.

Wedbush analyst says, "While we are positive on the auto parts retailing sector and believe the favorable macro and secular trends are supportive of continued top ...