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Stock Analysis on Net

AutoZone Inc. (NYSE:AZO)

This company has been moved to the archive! The financial data has not been updated since December 18, 2023.

Cash Flow Statement
Quarterly Data

The cash flow statement provides information about a company cash receipts and cash payments during an accounting period, showing how these cash flows link the ending cash balance to the beginning balance shown on the company balance sheet.

The cash flow statement consists of three parts: cash flows provided by (used in) operating activities, cash flows provided by (used in) investing activities, and cash flows provided by (used in) financing activities.

AutoZone Inc., consolidated cash flow statement (quarterly data)

US$ in thousands

Microsoft Excel
3 months ended: Nov 18, 2023 Aug 26, 2023 May 6, 2023 Feb 11, 2023 Nov 19, 2022 Aug 27, 2022 May 7, 2022 Feb 12, 2022 Nov 20, 2021 Aug 28, 2021 May 8, 2021 Feb 13, 2021 Nov 21, 2020 Aug 29, 2020 May 9, 2020 Feb 15, 2020 Nov 23, 2019 Aug 31, 2019 May 4, 2019 Feb 9, 2019 Nov 17, 2018 Aug 25, 2018 May 5, 2018 Feb 10, 2018 Nov 18, 2017
Net income 593,463 864,841 647,723 476,544 539,318 810,043 592,571 471,755 555,235 785,771 596,164 345,946 442,433 740,457 342,895 299,282 350,338 565,229 405,948 294,638 351,406 400,282 366,721 289,530 281,003
Depreciation and amortization of property and equipment 120,224 158,490 116,123 113,711 109,253 140,858 102,083 99,692 99,590 129,639 94,017 94,476 89,551 125,351 91,695 90,670 89,750 118,839 84,888 83,778 82,452 107,993 79,754 79,351 77,986
Other non-cash (income) charges (2,000) (30,000) (17,000) 10,000 81,000 15,000 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Amortization of debt origination fees 2,810 3,199 2,143 2,017 1,905 3,450 2,453 2,734 2,639 3,532 2,957 3,219 3,150 4,158 2,356 2,021 2,195 2,656 1,838 1,804 1,864 2,535 1,931 1,928 1,999
Deferred income taxes 882 (22,283) 1,273 (18,513) 13,816 104,816 39,795 22,887 18,096 (40,479) 7,819 (12,067) 10,295 26,796 13,127 9,214 1,940 17,940 9,900 (209) 7,420 11,711 14,641 (159,169) 8,556
Share-based compensation expense 22,913 30,698 20,010 23,374 19,005 21,554 18,320 16,443 14,295 18,051 13,883 13,670 10,508 12,584 10,144 12,111 9,996 11,726 9,971 11,031 10,527 14,115 5,795 12,678 11,086
Pension plan contributions — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — (11,596) — — —
Pension termination charges (refund) — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — (6,796) — — — 130,263 — — —
Asset impairment — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — 193,162 —
Accounts receivable 6,856 (44,991) 16,044 18,173 4,100 (64,371) (33,976) (25,809) (1,576) (19,374) (7,656) (1,500) 17,491 (95,407) 65,740 (5,651) (23,246) (26,896) 16,722 (22,000) (16,338) 3,280 7,393 (9,810) 6,671
Merchandise inventories (21,899) 3,983 68,383 (122,238) (39,308) (334,599) (277,628) (256,471) (136,988) 23,754 67,271 (104,796) (124,746) (8,890) 86,950 (129,028) (133,206) (9,264) (20,491) (196,938) (167,454) 66,330 14,098 (117,814) (151,396)
Accounts payable and accrued expenses 33,762 56,221 (128,589) (117,885) 6,574 569,465 376,394 189,565 89,268 394,854 418,518 160,267 56,273 510,224 14,336 (41,699) 48,270 204,547 2,660 189,207 67,762 146,254 (38,547) 26,893 185,009
Income taxes 96,793 28,791 (23,359) 13,446 73,954 (24,400) 1,109 (94,637) 107,411 6,478 11,809 (68,378) 79,558 77,838 1,210 (58,266) 69,390 (21,074) (21,116) (32,073) 63,774 (24,938) 25,467 (130,259) 123,292
Other, net (23,545) 19,063 21,964 (44,155) (16,030) (13,795) 22,247 (64,343) 29,960 (14,030) (14,282) (74,481) 98,978 23,889 23,011 25,888 31,675 (15,029) (20,754) 38,649 47,769 (22,293) 26,760 836 20,811
Changes in operating assets and liabilities 91,967 63,067 (45,557) (252,659) 29,290 132,300 88,146 (251,695) 88,075 391,682 475,660 (88,888) 127,554 507,654 191,247 (208,756) (7,117) 132,284 (42,979) (23,155) (4,487) 168,633 35,171 (230,154) 184,387
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities 236,796 203,171 76,992 (122,070) 254,269 417,978 250,797 (109,939) 222,695 502,425 594,336 10,410 241,058 676,543 308,569 (94,740) 96,764 276,649 63,618 73,249 97,776 423,654 137,292 (102,204) 284,014
Net cash provided by operating activities 830,259 1,068,012 724,715 354,474 793,587 1,228,021 843,368 361,816 777,930 1,288,196 1,190,500 356,356 683,491 1,417,000 651,464 204,542 447,102 841,878 469,566 367,887 449,182 823,936 504,013 187,326 565,017
Capital expenditures (235,428) (366,216) (171,207) (144,837) (114,397) (303,041) (161,207) (105,874) (102,269) (246,114) (137,009) (125,608) (113,036) (183,848) (83,325) (89,156) (101,407) (182,203) (118,015) (97,664) (98,168) (194,640) (112,401) (104,469) (110,278)
Purchase of marketable debt securities (4,115) (18,472) (34,445) (2,011) (11,989) (9,500) (23,908) (15,606) (7,026) (11,123) (4,169) (2,399) (45,985) (8,424) (26,178) (20,899) (35,448) (16,683) (17,801) (13,574) (7,480) (14,344) (9,364) (19,323) (61,505)
Proceeds from sale of marketable debt securities 1,944 20,813 34,094 (1,443) 4,893 15,964 24,010 10,199 3,709 23,125 11,693 9,365 51,210 (22,453) 35,878 25,047 45,765 (7,912) 26,521 21,415 13,116 (9,870) 16,412 26,326 36,776
Investment in tax credit equity investments (41,150) (47,318) (38,615) (9,596) (2,474) (10,139) (742) (20,656) — (37,804) (3,908) — — (45,190) — — — — — — — — — — —
Proceeds (payments) from disposal of capital assets and other, net 8,235 13,991 1,205 1,766 10,080 19,336 12,441 11,585 14,625 28,801 3,134 417 (2,368) 9,963 615 806 379 244 206 5,519 633 (346) 33,300 1,512 354
Net cash used in investing activities (270,514) (397,202) (208,968) (156,121) (113,887) (287,380) (149,406) (120,352) (90,961) (243,115) (130,259) (118,225) (110,179) (249,952) (73,010) (84,202) (90,711) (206,554) (109,089) (84,304) (91,899) (219,200) (72,053) (95,954) (134,653)
Net proceeds from (payments of) commercial paper (76,900) 82,200 296,400 22,700 204,900 (679,910) 215,210 1,068,100 — — — — — — (1,272,700) 163,000 79,700 53,200 (452,000) (45,878) 149,378 299,800 (90,000) 59,400 (99,000)
Proceeds from issuance of debt 1,000,000 750,000 — 1,000,000 — 750,000 — — — — — — — 600,000 1,250,000 — — — 750,000 — — — — — —
Repayment of debt — (500,000) — (300,000) — — — (500,000) — — (250,000) — — (500,000) — — — — (250,000) — — (250,000) — — —
Net proceeds from sale of common stock 41,448 27,631 82,105 31,930 40,828 15,844 31,633 45,357 21,100 65,833 55,414 37,844 28,666 12,086 7,601 39,883 8,822 23,892 57,349 62,907 44,671 20,021 4,450 58,211 7,033
Purchase of treasury stock (1,486,876) (999,556) (899,999) (899,999) (899,998) (999,997) (899,999) (1,559,998) (899,997) (899,999) (899,999) (899,999) (678,324) — (166,057) (314,847) (449,999) (691,780) (466,019) (350,037) (497,060) (664,858) (399,701) (174,882) (352,572)
Repayment of principal portion of finance lease liabilities (20,202) (20,128) (20,355) (19,974) (20,598) (18,315) (17,767) (17,413) (13,687) (15,009) (15,768) (15,290) (13,786) (8,382) (14,452) (14,993) (14,331) (14,879) (12,899) (12,932) (12,597) (12,138) (15,619) (3,247) (18,000)
Other, net (9,696) (11,922) (1,737) (3,727) (783) (7,296) — — (3,362) — — — — (35,188) (13,779) — — (1,044) (8,360) — — 195 3 (85) (1,165)
Net cash used in financing activities (552,226) (671,775) (543,586) (169,070) (675,651) (939,674) (670,923) (963,954) (895,946) (849,175) (1,110,353) (877,445) (663,444) 68,516 (209,387) (126,957) (375,808) (630,611) (381,929) (345,940) (315,608) (606,980) (500,867) (60,603) (463,704)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash (1,592) 3,103 1,469 2,213 1,361 369 582 788 (1,233) (217) (406) 1,473 3,322 6,133 (12,919) 1,498 1,206 (2,471) (155) 5,936 (7,413) 1,682 (1,229) 76 (2,253)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 5,927 2,138 (26,370) 31,496 5,410 1,336 23,621 (721,702) (210,210) 195,689 (50,518) (637,841) (86,810) 1,241,697 356,148 (5,119) (18,211) 2,242 (21,607) (56,421) 34,262 (562) (70,136) 30,845 (35,593)

Based on: 10-Q (reporting date: 2023-11-18), 10-K (reporting date: 2023-08-26), 10-Q (reporting date: 2023-05-06), 10-Q (reporting date: 2023-02-11), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-11-19), 10-K (reporting date: 2022-08-27), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-05-07), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-02-12), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-11-20), 10-K (reporting date: 2021-08-28), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-05-08), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-02-13), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-11-21), 10-K (reporting date: 2020-08-29), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-05-09), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-02-15), 10-Q (reporting date: 2019-11-23), 10-K (reporting date: 2019-08-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2019-05-04), 10-Q (reporting date: 2019-02-09), 10-Q (reporting date: 2018-11-17), 10-K (reporting date: 2018-08-25), 10-Q (reporting date: 2018-05-05), 10-Q (reporting date: 2018-02-10), 10-Q (reporting date: 2017-11-18).


The financial data reveals a consistent pattern of strong operating cash flow generation, which is systematically utilized to fund aggressive shareholder returns and strategic capital investments. Over the analyzed period, net income demonstrates a general upward trajectory with noticeable quarterly seasonality, typically peaking in the August periods. Net cash provided by operating activities consistently exceeds net income, indicating high-quality earnings driven by significant non-cash adjustments and efficient working capital management.

Operating Cash Flow Trends
Operating cash flows exhibit substantial growth and volatility, with significant peaks observed in August 2020 (1.42 billion USD) and August 2021 (1.29 billion USD). The variance between net income and operating cash flow is largely attributed to depreciation and amortization, as well as fluctuations in accounts payable and merchandise inventories. A recurring pattern of inventory build-up and subsequent liquidation is evident, reflecting seasonal business cycles.
Investing Activity Patterns
Investing activities are characterized by a persistent net outflow, primarily driven by increasing capital expenditures. CapEx spending grew from approximately 110 million USD per quarter in 2017 to a peak of 366 million USD in August 2023. Additionally, since August 2020, there has been a consistent deployment of capital into tax credit equity investments, indicating a strategic shift toward diversified tax-advantaged assets.
Financing Strategy and Capital Allocation
Financing activities are dominated by a massive and consistent program of share repurchases. Treasury stock purchases frequently reach or exceed 899 million USD per quarter, with a peak of 1.49 billion USD in November 2023. This aggressive buyback strategy is supported by both operating cash flows and the strategic issuance of debt. Periodic debt issuances, often in increments of 750 million to 1 billion USD, are balanced by intermittent repayments and the active use of commercial paper to manage short-term liquidity requirements.
Liquidity and Cash Position
The net change in cash and cash equivalents fluctuates significantly due to the timing of large-scale share repurchases and debt issuances. Despite the heavy outflows for financing, the company maintains a sustainable cycle where operating cash generation and strategic borrowing provide the necessary liquidity to fund both growth-oriented capital expenditures and substantial returns to shareholders.

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