AutoZone Q4 FY2026: EPS up 15.1%, but tariff and LIFO did the heavy lifting
AutoZone's fiscal fourth quarter delivered $6.59 billion of sales, up 5.6%, and earnings per share of $56.05, up 15.1% — a strong headline carried by tariff refunds and a LIFO swing worth 250 basis points of gross margin. Strip those out and same-store sales were thin at 1.5% in constant currency, so the quarter is better than the store traffic behind it.
1 · Expected vs. Actual
Free preview belowDiluted earnings per share were $56.05 versus $48.71, a 15.1% increase, while net income rose 11.3% to $931.6 million — the gap comes from a smaller share count, 16,620 thousand versus 17,181 thousand. Gross margin of 53.3% was up 182 basis points, but 145 points came from tariff refunds and 105 points from a non-cash LIFO swing, neither of which is a repeatable pricing gain. For the full year, EPS was $152.55, up 5.3%.
Fourth-quarter net sales were $6.59 billion, up 5.6% from $6.24 billion a year earlier, on a 16-week quarter in both years. The growth came mostly from new stores and international: total same-store sales rose 2.7%, but only 1.5% after stripping out currency moves, and domestic same-store sales were 1.6%. Full-year sales were $20.3 billion, up 7.4%.
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Figures on this page come from the company's original SEC filings. The analysis is generated automatically and checked against validation rules, but may still contain errors or omissions. Not investment advice. · Generated 2026-09-22
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