AZO - Why Shares in AutoZone Fell Today
2023-05-31 14:47:00 ET
Shares in auto parts retailer AutoZone (NYSE: AZO) were down 3.3% at noontime today. The move comes in conjunction with a similar decline at its peer, O'Reilly Automotive (NASDAQ: ORLY) , with both stocks driven down by a shocking set of first-quarter earnings from another peer, Advance Auto Parts (NYSE: AAP) .
Naturally, when a peer in a highly competitive industry misses its quarterly guidance and slashes its full-year outlook, the read-across is a cause for concern.
Advance's Q1 earnings report wasn't pretty. Its comparable-store sales declined by 0.4% year over year, and its 2.6% operating margin was "well below expectations due to higher than planned investments to narrow competitive price gaps in the professional sales channel as well as unfavorable product mix," according to Advance's CEO Tom Greco. Moreover, Greco now expects full-year comparable-store sales to be in the range of a decline of 1% to flat in 2022 compared to previous guidance for a 1% to 3% increase.
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Why Shares in AutoZone Fell Today