# Autozone Inc: Form 10-Q for the period ended Nov 21, 2015

- Company: [Autozone Inc](/companies/azo.md) (CIK 866787)
- Form: 10-Q
- Filed: 2015-12-16
- Accepted by EDGAR: Dec 16, 2015, 21:35 ET
- Period: 2015-11-21
- Accession: 0001193125-15-404907
- Inline XBRL: yes
- Main document: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/866787/000119312515404907/d98798d10q.htm
- All documents and exhibits: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/866787/000119312515404907/

## Figures reported in this filing

Standardized XBRL line items for the period ended 2015-11-21.

| Line item | Period | Value | XBRL concept |
| --- | --- | ---: | --- |
| Revenue | 3 months, 2015-08-30 to 2015-11-21 | $2.39bn | us-gaap:SalesRevenueNet |
| Cost of revenue | 3 months, 2015-08-30 to 2015-11-21 | $1.13bn | us-gaap:CostOfGoodsAndServicesSold |
| Gross profit | 3 months, 2015-08-30 to 2015-11-21 | $1.25bn | us-gaap:GrossProfit |
| Selling, general and administrative | 3 months, 2015-08-30 to 2015-11-21 | $814.9m | us-gaap:SellingGeneralAndAdministrativeExpense |
| Operating income | 3 months, 2015-08-30 to 2015-11-21 | $438.0m | us-gaap:OperatingIncomeLoss |
| Income tax | 3 months, 2015-08-30 to 2015-11-21 | $144.9m | us-gaap:IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit |
| Net income | 3 months, 2015-08-30 to 2015-11-21 | $258.1m | us-gaap:NetIncomeLoss |
| Diluted EPS | 3 months, 2015-08-30 to 2015-11-21 | $8.29 | us-gaap:EarningsPerShareDiluted |
| Basic EPS | 3 months, 2015-08-30 to 2015-11-21 | $8.46 | us-gaap:EarningsPerShareBasic |
| Diluted shares (weighted) | 3 months, 2015-08-30 to 2015-11-21 | 31,138,000 shares | us-gaap:WeightedAverageNumberOfDilutedSharesOutstanding |
| Operating cash flow | 3 months, 2015-08-30 to 2015-11-21 | $323.5m | us-gaap:NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivitiesContinuingOperations |
| Capital expenditure | 3 months, 2015-08-30 to 2015-11-21 | $86.7m | us-gaap:PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment |
| Share repurchases | 3 months, 2015-08-30 to 2015-11-21 | $400.1m | us-gaap:PaymentsForRepurchaseOfCommonStock |
| Cash and equivalents | at 2015-11-21 | $165.5m | us-gaap:CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue |
| Current assets | at 2015-11-21 | $4.05bn | us-gaap:AssetsCurrent |
| Total assets | at 2015-11-21 | $8.22bn | us-gaap:Assets |
| Current liabilities | at 2015-11-21 | $4.78bn | us-gaap:LiabilitiesCurrent |
| Long-term debt | at 2015-11-21 | $4.75bn | us-gaap:LongTermDebtNoncurrent |
| Current portion of debt | at 2015-11-21 | $0 | us-gaap:LongTermDebtCurrent |
| Shareholders' equity | at 2015-11-21 | −$1.78bn | us-gaap:StockholdersEquity |

## Management's discussion and analysis

As filed, 33,473 characters.

### Overview

We are the nation’s leading retailer, and a leading distributor, of automotive replacement parts and accessories in the United States. We began operations in 1979 and at November 21, 2015, operated 5,163 AutoZone stores in the United States, including Puerto Rico; 442 in Mexico; eight in Brazil; and 22 Interamerican Motor Corporation (“IMC”) branches. Each AutoZone store carries an extensive product line for cars, sport utility vehicles, vans and light trucks, including new and remanufactured automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories and non-automotive products. At November 21, 2015, in 4,196 of our domestic AutoZone stores, we also have a commercial sales program that provides commercial credit and prompt delivery of parts and other products to local, regional and national repair garages, dealers, service stations and public sector accounts. We also have commercial programs in select AutoZone stores in Mexico and Brazil. IMC branches carry an extensive line of original equipment quality import replacement parts. We also sell the ALLDATA brand automotive diagnostic and repair software through www.alldata.com and www.alldatadiy.com. Additionally, we sell automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products through www.autozone.com, and accessories and performance parts through www.autoanything.com, and our commercial customers can make purchases through www.autozonepro.com and www.imcparts.net. We do not derive revenue from automotive repair or installation services.

Operating results for the twelve weeks ended November 21, 2015 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the fiscal year ending August 27, 2016. Each of the first three quarters of our fiscal year consists of 12 weeks, and the fourth quarter consists of 16 or 17 weeks. The fourth quarters for fiscal 2015 and fiscal 2016 each have 16 weeks. Our business is somewhat seasonal in nature, with the highest sales generally occurring during the months of February through September and the lowest sales generally occurring in the months of December and January.

### Executive Summary

Net sales were up 5.6% for the quarter driven by domestic same store sales (sales for stores open at least one year) growth of 3.5% and net sales of $39.5 million from new stores. Earnings per share increased 14.0% for the quarter.

Our business is impacted by various factors within the economy that affect both our consumer and our industry, including but not limited to fuel costs, unemployment rates, and other economic conditions. Given the nature of these macroeconomic factors, we cannot predict whether or for how long certain trends will continue, nor can we predict to what degree these trends will impact us in the future.

One macroeconomic factor affecting our customers and our industry during the first quarter of fiscal 2016 was gas prices. The price per gallon of unleaded gasoline in the United States began the quarter at $2.51 per gallon and ended the quarter at $2.09 per gallon, a $0.42 decrease. During the comparable prior year period, gas prices decreased by $0.64 per gallon, beginning at $3.46 per gallon and ending at $2.82 per gallon. We believe reduced gas prices gave our customers additional disposable income. With approximately 11 billion gallons of unleaded gas consumed each month across the U.S., each $1 decrease at the pump contributes approximately $11 billion of additional spending capacity to consumers each month. Given the unpredictability of gas prices, we cannot predict whether gas prices will increase or decrease, nor can we predict how any future changes in gas prices will impact our sales in those periods.

During the first quarter of fiscal 2016, failure and maintenance related categories represented the majority of our sales mix, at approximately 85% of total sales, with failure related categories continuing to be our largest set of categories. While we have not experienced any fundamental shifts in our category sales mix as compared to the previous years, we did experience a slight decrease in the mix of sales of the domestic failure related categories. We believe this decrease was primarily driven by the colder weather experienced over the last two weeks of the comparable prior year period, which increased sales of failure related categories. Our sales mix can be impacted by severe or unusual weather over a short term period. Over the long term, we believe the impact of the weather on our sales mix is not significant.

Our primary response to fluctuations in the demand for the products we sell is to adjust our advertising message, store staffing, and product assortment. In recent years, we initiated a variety of strategic tests focused on increasing inventory availability. As part of those tests, we closely studied our hub distribution model, store inventory levels and product assortment, which led to strategic tests on increased frequency of delivery to our stores and significantly expanding parts and assortment in select stores we call mega hubs. During fiscal 2015, we concluded our tests on these specific new concepts and have plans to continue to roll out these strategic initiatives in fiscal 2016 and beyond. During the first quarter of fiscal 2016, we continued the implementation of more frequent deliveries from our distribution centers to additional stores and the execution of our mega hub strategy. We expect to continue this effort throughout fiscal 2016.

The two statistics we believe have the closest correlation to our market growth over the long-term are miles driven and the number of seven year old or older vehicles on the road. While over the long-term, we have seen a close correlation between our net sales and the number of miles driven, we have also seen time frames of minimal correlation in sales performance and miles driven. During the periods of minimal correlation between net sales and miles driven, we believe net sales have been positively impacted by other factors, including the number of seven year old or older vehicles on the road. The average age of the U.S. light vehicle fleet continues to trend in our industry’s favor. Since the beginning of fiscal 2015 and through September 2015 (latest publicly available information), miles driven increased compared to the same period last year.

### Twelve Weeks Ended November 21, 2015,

### Compared with Twelve Weeks Ended November 22, 2014

Net sales for the twelve weeks ended November 21, 2015 increased $125.8 million to $2.386 billion, or 5.6%, over net sales of $2.260 billion for the comparable prior year period. Total auto parts sales increased by 5.6%, primarily driven by domestic same store sales and net sales of $39.5 million from new stores.

Gross profit for the twelve weeks ended November 21, 2015 was $1.253 billion, or 52.5% of net sales, compared with $1.177 billion, or 52.1% of net sales, during the comparable prior year period. The improvement in gross margin was attributable to higher merchandise margins, partially offset by higher supply chain costs associated with current year inventory initiatives (-37 basis points).

Operating, selling, general and administrative expenses for the twelve weeks ended November 21, 2015 were $814.9 million, or 34.2% of net sales, compared with $768.1 million, or 34.0% of net sales, during the comparable prior year period. The increase in operating expenses, as a percentage of sales, was primarily due to higher domestic store payroll (-21 basis points) and the impact of IMC (-16 basis points), which were partially offset by the favorable comparison to last year’s higher legal costs (+21 basis points).

Net interest expense for the twelve weeks ended November 21, 2015 was $35.0 million compared with $37.1 million during the comparable prior year period. The decrease was primarily due to a decline in borrowing rates, partially offset by higher borrowing levels over the comparable year period. Average borrowings for the twelve weeks ended November 21, 2015 were $4.654 billion, compared with $4.343 billion for the comparable prior year period. Weighted average borrowing rates were 2.9% for the twelve weeks ended November 21, 2015 and 3.4% for the twelve weeks ended November 22, 2014.

Our effective income tax rate was 35.9% of pretax income for the twelve weeks ended November 21, 2015 and 35.9% for the comparable prior year period.

Net income for the twelve week period ended November 21, 2015 increased by $19.8 million to $258.1 million, and diluted earnings per share increased by 14.0% to $8.29 from $7.27 in the comparable prior year period. The impact on current quarter diluted earnings per share from stock repurchases since the end of the comparable prior year period was an increase of $0.40.

### Liquidity and Capital Resources

The primary source of our liquidity is our cash flows realized through the sale of automotive parts, products and accessories. For the twelve weeks ended November 21, 2015, our net cash flows from operating activities provided $323.5 million as compared with $375.2 million provided during the comparable prior year period. The decrease is primarily due to timing of changes in working capital, partially offset by increased net income.

Our net cash flows used in investing activities for the twelve weeks ended November 21, 2015 were $101.1 million as compared with $180.8 million used in the comparable prior year period. Capital expenditures for the twelve weeks ended November 21, 2015 were $86.7 million compared to $92.4 million for the comparable prior year period. The decrease is primarily driven by timing of new location capital expenditures. We opened 26 net new locations both during the twelve week period ended November 21, 2015 and in the comparable prior year period. However, expenditures related to certain of these stores opened during the current quarter occurred during fiscal 2015. There were no acquisitions in the twelve week period ended November 21, 2015. Cash flows used in the acquisition of IMC were $75.7 million in the twelve week period ended November 22, 2014. Cash flows were also used in the purchase of other intangibles relating to our ALLDATA operations for $10 million during the twelve week period ended November 21, 2015 and the comparable prior year period. Investing cash flows were also impacted by our wholly owned captive insurance company, which purchased $29.3 million and sold $24.6 million in marketable securities during the twelve weeks ended November 21, 2015. During the comparable prior year period, the captive purchased $6.5 million in marketable securities and sold $3.9 million in marketable securities.

Our net cash flows used in financing activities for the twelve weeks ended November 21, 2015 were $233.4 million compared to $201.2 million in the comparable prior year period. During the twelve weeks ended November 21, 2015 and the comparable year period, we received no proceeds from the issuance of debt. During the twelve week period ended November 21, 2015, we repaid our $300 million 5.500% Senior Notes due in November 2015 using commercial paper borrowings. During the comparable year period, there were no repayments of debt. For the twelve weeks ended November 21, 2015, there were $428.3 million in proceeds from commercial paper, as compared to $78.3 million in proceeds from commercial paper in the comparable prior year period. Stock repurchases were $400.1 million in the current twelve week period as compared with $299.6 million in the comparable prior year period. For the twelve weeks ended November 21, 2015, proceeds from the sale of common stock and exercises of stock options provided $48.5 million, including $23.5 million in related tax benefits. In the comparable prior year period, proceeds from the sale of common stock and exercises of stock options provided $29.3 million, including $9.7 million in related tax benefits.

During fiscal 2016, we expect to invest in our business at an increased rate as compared to fiscal 2015. Our investments are expected to be directed primarily to new locations, supply chain infrastructure, enhancements to existing locations and investments in technology. The amount of our investments in our new locations is impacted by different factors, including such factors as whether the building and land are purchased (requiring higher investment) or leased (generally lower investment), located in the United States, Mexico or Brazil, or located in urban or rural areas.

In addition to the building and land costs, our new locations require working capital, predominantly for inventories. Historically, we have negotiated extended payment terms from suppliers, reducing the working capital required and resulting in a high accounts payable to inventory ratio. In recent years, we initiated a variety of strategic tests focused on increasing inventory availability, which increased our inventory per location. Many of our vendors have supported our initiative to update our product assortments by providing extended payment terms. These extended payment terms have allowed us to continue our high accounts payable to inventory ratio. Accounts payable, as a percentage of gross inventory, was 110.6% compared to 112.5% last year. The decline in this ratio is due to annualizing the inventory initiatives that added slower-turning hard parts inventory. We plan to continue leveraging our inventory purchases; however, our ability to do so may be limited by our vendors’ capacity to factor their receivables from us. Certain vendors participate in financing arrangements with financial institutions whereby they factor their receivables from us, allowing them to receive payment on our invoices at a discounted rate.

Depending on the timing and magnitude of our future investments (either in the form of leased or purchased properties or acquisitions), we anticipate that we will rely primarily on internally generated funds and available borrowing capacity to support a majority of our capital expenditures, working capital requirements and stock repurchases. The balance may be funded through new borrowings. We anticipate that we will be able to obtain such financing in view of our current credit ratings and favorable experiences in the debt markets in the past.

For the trailing four quarters ended November 21, 2015, our after-tax return on invested capital (“ROIC”) was 31.2% as compared to 31.9% for the comparable prior year period. ROIC is calculated as after-tax operating profit (excluding rent charges) divided by average invested capital (which includes a factor to capitalize operating leases). ROIC decreased primarily due to the increase in average debt, along with the impact of recent investments in the business. Currently, these investments are diluting our return metrics. We use ROIC to evaluate whether we are effectively using our capital resources and believe it is an important indicator of our overall operating performance.

#### Debt Facilities

On December 19, 2014, we amended and restated our existing revolving credit facility (the “Multi-Year Credit Agreement”) by increasing the amount of capital leases allowable to $225 million, extending the expiration date by two years, and renegotiations of other terms and conditions. This credit facility is available to primarily support commercial paper borrowings, letters of credit and other short-term unsecured bank loans. The capacity of the credit facility is $1.25 billion and may be increased to $1.5 billion prior to the maturity date at our election and subject to bank credit capacity and approval, may include up to $200 million in letters of credit and may include up to $225 million in capital leases each fiscal year. Under the revolving credit facility, we may borrow funds consisting of Eurodollar loans or base rate loans. Interest accrues on Eurodollar loans at a defined Eurodollar rate, defined as LIBOR plus the applicable percentage, as defined in the revolving credit facility, depending upon our senior, unsecured, (non-credit enhanced) long-term debt rating. Interest accrues on base rate loans as defined in the credit facility. We also have the option to borrow funds under the terms of a swingline loan subfacility. The revolving credit facility expires in December 2019.

On December 19, 2014, we entered into a new revolving credit facility (the “364-Day Credit Agreement”). The credit facility is available to primarily support commercial paper borrowings and other short-term unsecured bank loans. The 364-Day Credit Agreement provides for loans in the principal amount of up to $500 million. Under the credit facility, we may borrow funds consisting of Eurodollar loans, base rate loans, or a combination of both. Interest accrues on Eurodollar loans at a defined Eurodollar rate, defined as LIBOR plus the applicable margin, as defined in the revolving credit facility, depending upon our senior, unsecured, (non-credit enhanced) long-term debt rating. Interest accrues on base rate loans as defined in the credit facility. The original expiration date of the credit facility was December 19, 2015, but in accordance with the credit agreement, in November 2015, we requested, and the bank approved, the extension of the termination date to December 16, 2016. In addition, we have the right to convert to a term-loan, at least 15 days prior to December 16, 2016, up to one year from the termination date, subject to a 1% penalty.

As of November 21, 2015 we had no outstanding borrowings under each of the revolving credit facilities and $3.5 million of outstanding letters of credit under the Multi-Year Credit Agreement.

We also maintain a letter of credit facility that allows us to request the participating bank to issue letters of credit on our behalf up to an aggregate amount of $100 million. The letter of credit facility is in addition to the letters of credit that may be issued under the revolving credit facility. As of November 21, 2015, we have $100.0 million in letters of credit outstanding under the letter of credit facility, which expires in June 2016.

In addition to the outstanding letters of credit issued under the committed facilities discussed above, we had $3.0 million in letters of credit outstanding as of November 21, 2015. These letters of credit have various maturity dates and were issued on an uncommitted basis.

As of November 21, 2015, $1.476 billion of commercial paper borrowings and the $200 million 6.950% Senior Notes due June 2016 are classified as long-term in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets as we have the ability and intent to refinance on a long-term basis through available capacity in our revolving credit facilities. As of November 21, 2015, we had $1.708 billion of availability under our $1.750 billion revolving credit facilities, which would allow us to replace these short-term obligations with long-term financing.

On April 29, 2015, we issued $400 million in 3.250% Notes due April 2025 and $250 million in 2.500% Notes due April 2021 under our shelf registration statement filed with the SEC on April 15, 2015 (the “New Shelf Registration”). The New Shelf Registration allows us to sell an indeterminate amount in debt securities to fund general corporate purposes, including repaying, redeeming or repurchasing outstanding debt and for working capital, capital expenditures, new location openings, stock repurchases and acquisitions. Proceeds from the debt issuances were used to repay a portion of the outstanding commercial paper borrowings, which were used to repay the $500 million in 5.750% Senior Notes due in January 2015, and for general corporate purposes.

The 5.750% Senior Notes issued in July 2009 and the 7.125% Senior Notes issued during August 2008, (collectively, the “Notes”), are subject to an interest rate adjustment if the debt ratings assigned to the Notes are downgraded. Further, all Senior Notes issued since August 2008 contain a provision that repayment of the notes may be accelerated if we experience a change in control (as defined in the agreements). Our borrowings under our other senior notes contain minimal covenants, primarily restrictions on liens. Under our other borrowing arrangements, covenants include limitations on total indebtedness, restrictions on liens, a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio and a change of control provision that may require acceleration of the repayment obligations under certain circumstances. All of the repayment obligations under our borrowing arrangements may be accelerated and come due prior to the scheduled payment date if covenants are breached or an event of default occurs. As of November 21, 2015, we were in compliance with all covenants and expect to remain in compliance with all covenants.

Our adjusted debt to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, rent and share-based expense (“EBITDAR”) ratio was 2.5:1 as of November 21, 2015, and was 2.5:1 as of November 22, 2014. We calculate adjusted debt as the sum of total debt, capital lease obligations and rent times six; and we calculate EBITDAR by adding interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, rent and share-based expenses to net income. Adjusted debt to EBITDAR is calculated on a trailing four quarter basis. We target our debt levels to a ratio of adjusted debt to EBITDAR in order to maintain our investment grade credit ratings. We believe this is important information for the management of our debt levels.

#### Stock Repurchases

From January 1, 1998 to November 21, 2015, we repurchased a total of 139.4 million shares at an aggregate cost of $15.702 billion, including 536,654 shares of our common stock at an aggregate cost of $400.1 million during the twelve week period ended November 21, 2015. On October 7, 2015 the Board voted to increase the authorization by $750 million to raise the cumulative share repurchase authorization from $15.65 billion to $16.4 billion. Considering the cumulative repurchases as of November 21, 2015, we have $697.7 million remaining under the Board’s authorization to repurchase our common stock. Subsequent to November 21, 2015, we have repurchased 102,658 shares of common stock at an aggregate cost of $80.0 million.

### Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

Since our fiscal year end, we have cancelled, issued and modified stand-by letters of credit that are primarily renewed on an annual basis to cover deductible payments to our casualty insurance carriers. Our total stand-by letters of credit commitment at November 21, 2015 were $106.5 million compared with $106.7 million at August 29, 2015, and our total surety bonds commitment at November 21, 2015 was $32.0 million compared with $31.1 million at August 29, 2015.

### Financial Commitments

As of November 21, 2015, there were no significant changes to our contractual obligations as described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended August 29, 2015.

### Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations include certain financial measures not derived in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). These non-GAAP financial measures provide additional information for determining our optimum capital structure and are used to assist management in evaluating performance and in making appropriate business decisions to maximize stockholders’ value.

Non-GAAP financial measures should not be used as a substitute for GAAP financial measures, or considered in isolation, for the purpose of analyzing our operating performance, financial position or cash flows. However, we have presented the non-GAAP financial measures, as we believe they provide additional information that is useful to investors. Furthermore, our management and the Compensation Committee of the Board use the abovementioned non-GAAP financial measures to analyze and compare our underlying operating results and to determine payments of performance-based compensation. We have included a reconciliation of this information to the most comparable GAAP measures in the following reconciliation tables.

#### Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measure: After-Tax Return on Invested Capital “ROIC”

The following tables calculate the percentages of ROIC for the trailing four quarters ended November 21, 2015 and November 22, 2014.

*(in thousands, except percentage)*

|  | A Fiscal Year Ended August 29, 2015 | B Twelve Weeks Ended November 22, 2014 | A-B=C Forty Weeks Ended August 29, 2015 | D Twelve Weeks Ended November 21, 2015 | C+D Trailing Four Quarters Ended November 21, 2015 |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Net income | $1,160,241 | $238,310 | $921,931 | $258,112 | $1,180,043 |
| Adjustments: |  |  |  |  |  |
| Interest expense | 150,439 | 37,060 | 113,379 | 35,010 | 148,389 |
| Rent expense | 269,458 | 61,893 | 207,565 | 63,997 | 271,562 |
| Tax effect (1) | (149,903) | (35,326) | (114,577) | (35,345) | (149,922) |
| After-tax return | $1,430,235 | $301,937 | $1,128,298 | $321,774 | $1,450,072 |
| Average debt (2) (6) |  |  |  |  | $4,544,313 |
| Average deficit (3) |  |  |  |  | (1,650,849) |
| Rent x 6 (4) |  |  |  |  | 1,629,372 |
| Average capital lease obligations (5) |  |  |  |  | 126,825 |
| Pre-tax invested capital |  |  |  |  | $4,649,661 |
| ROIC |  |  |  |  | 31.2% |

*(in thousands, except percentage)*

|  | A Fiscal Year Ended August 30, 2014 | B Twelve Weeks Ended November 23, 2013 | A-B=C Forty Weeks Ended August 30, 2014 | D Twelve Weeks Ended November 22, 2014 | C+D Trailing Four Quarters Ended November 22, 2014 |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Net income | $1,069,744 | $218,087 | $851,657 | $238,310 | $1,089,967 |
| Adjustments: |  |  |  |  |  |
| Interest expense | 167,509 | 42,431 | 125,078 | 37,060 | 162,138 |
| Rent expense | 253,813 | 57,176 | 196,637 | 61,893 | 258,530 |
| Tax effect (1) | (149,991) | (35,460) | (114,531) | (35,227) | (149,758) |
| After-tax return | $1,341,075 | $282,234 | $1,058,841 | $302,036 | $1,360,877 |
| Average debt (2) (6) |  |  |  |  | $4,306,478 |
| Average deficit (3) |  |  |  |  | (1,704,876) |
| Rent x 6 (4) |  |  |  |  | 1,551,180 |
| Average capital lease obligations (5) |  |  |  |  | 112,220 |
| Pre-tax invested capital |  |  |  |  | $4,265,002 |
| ROIC |  |  |  |  | 31.9% |

*(1) The effective tax rate was 35.7% and 35.6% over the trailing four quarters ended November 21, 2015 and November 22, 2014 respectively.*

*(2) Average debt is equal to the average debt measured as of the previous five quarters.*

*(3) Average equity is equal to the average stockholders’ deficit measured as of the previous five quarters.*

*(4) Rent is multiplied by a factor of six to capitalize operating leases in the determination of pre-tax invested capital.*

*(5) Average capital lease obligations are equal to the average capital lease obligations measured as of the previous five quarters.*

*(6) Certain balance sheet reclassifications have been made to the prior periods’ financial information in order to conform to the current period’s presentation due to the adoption of a new accounting standard. See Note A of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statement in our Annual Report Form 10-K for the year ended August 29, 2015 for further discussion.*

#### Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measure: Adjusted Debt to Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, Rent and Share-Based Expense “EBITDAR.”

The following tables calculate the ratio of adjusted debt to EBITDAR for the trailing four quarters ended November 21, 2015 and November 22, 2014.

*(in thousands, except ratio)*

|  | A Fiscal Year Ended August 29, 2015 | B Twelve Weeks Ended November 22, 2014 | A-B=C Forty Weeks Ended August 29, 2015 | D Twelve Weeks Ended November 21, 2015 | C+D Trailing Four Quarters Ended November 21, 2015 |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Net income | $1,160,241 | $238,310 | $921,931 | $258,112 | $1,180,043 |
| Add: Interest expense | 150,439 | 37,060 | 113,379 | 35,010 | 148,389 |
| Income tax expense | 642,371 | 133,192 | 509,179 | 144,873 | 654,052 |
| EBIT | 1,953,051 | 408,562 | 1,544,489 | 437,995 | 1,982,484 |
| Add: Depreciation expense | 269,919 | 61,045 | 208,874 | 66,283 | 275,157 |
| Rent expense | 269,458 | 61,893 | 207,565 | 63,997 | 271,562 |
| Share-based expense | 40,995 | 8,804 | 32,191 | 8,656 | 40,847 |
| EBITDAR | $2,533,423 | $540,304 | $1,993,119 | $576,931 | $2,570,050 |
| Debt (2) |  |  |  |  | $4,754,101 |
| Capital lease obligations |  |  |  |  | 123,250 |
| Add: Rent x 6 (1) |  |  |  |  | 1,629,372 |
| Adjusted debt |  |  |  |  | $6,506,723 |
| Adjusted debt / EBITDAR |  |  |  |  | 2.5 |

*(in thousands, except ratio)*

|  | A Fiscal Year Ended August 30, 2014 | B Twelve Weeks Ended November 23, 2013 | A-B=C Forty Weeks Ended August 30, 2014 | D Twelve Weeks Ended November 22, 2014 | C+D Trailing Four Quarters Ended November 22, 2014 |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Net income | $1,069,744 | $218,087 | $851,657 | $238,310 | $1,089,967 |
| Add: Interest expense | 167,509 | 42,431 | 125,078 | 37,060 | 162,138 |
| Income tax expense | 592,970 | 123,208 | 469,762 | 133,192 | 602,954 |
| EBIT | 1,830,223 | 383,726 | 1,446,497 | 408,562 | 1,855,059 |
| Add: Depreciation expense | 251,267 | 55,772 | 195,495 | 61,045 | 256,540 |
| Rent expense | 253,813 | 57,176 | 196,637 | 61,893 | 258,530 |
| Share-based expense | 39,390 | 9,252 | 30,138 | 8,804 | 38,942 |
| EBITDAR | $2,374,693 | $505,926 | $1,868,767 | $540,304 | $2,409,071 |
| Debt (2) |  |  |  |  | $4,402,488 |
| Capital lease obligations |  |  |  |  | 124,898 |
| Add: Rent x 6 (1) |  |  |  |  | 1,551,180 |
| Adjusted debt |  |  |  |  | $6,078,566 |
| Adjusted debt / EBITDAR |  |  |  |  | 2.5 |

*(1) Rent is multiplied by a factor of six to capitalize operating leases in the determination of adjusted debt.*

*(2) Certain balance sheet reclassifications have been made to the prior periods’ financial information in order to conform to the current period’s presentation due to the adoption of a new accounting standard. See Note A of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statement in our Annual Report Form 10-K for the year ended August 29, 2015 for further discussion.*

### Recent Accounting Pronouncements:

Refer to Note A for the discussion of recent accounting pronouncements.

### Critical Accounting Policies

Preparation of our consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and assumptions affecting the reported amounts of assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements, reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period and related disclosures of contingent liabilities. Our policies are evaluated on an ongoing basis, and our significant judgments and estimates are drawn from historical experience and other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results could differ under different assumptions or conditions.

Our critical accounting policies are described in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended August 29, 2015. Our critical accounting policies have not changed since the filing of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended August 29, 2015.

### Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements typically use words such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “should,” “intend,” “plan,” “will,” “expect,” “estimate,” “project,” “positioned,” “strategy” and similar expressions. These are based on assumptions and assessments made by our management in light of experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors that we believe to be appropriate. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including without limitation: credit market conditions; the impact of recessionary conditions; competition; product demand; the ability to hire and retain qualified employees; consumer debt levels; inflation; weather; raw material costs of our suppliers; energy prices; war and the prospect of war, including terrorist activity; construction delays; access to available and feasible financing; the compromising of the confidentiality, availability or integrity of information, including cyber security attacks; and changes in laws or regulations. Certain of these risks are discussed in more detail in the “Risk Factors” section contained in Item 1A under Part 1 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended August 29, 2015, and these Risk Factors should be read carefully. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results; developments and business decisions may differ from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements, and events described above and in the “Risk Factors” could materially and adversely affect our business. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made. Except as required by applicable law, we undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Actual results may materially differ from anticipated results.

## Market risk

As filed, 1,550 characters.

At November 21, 2015, the only material changes to our instruments and positions that are sensitive to market risk since the disclosures in our 2015 Annual Report to Stockholders were the $428.3 million net increase in commercial paper.

The fair value of our debt was estimated at $4.835 billion as of November 21, 2015 and $4.696 billion as of August 29, 2015, based on the quoted market prices for the same or similar debt issues or on the current rates available to AutoZone for debt of the same terms. Such fair value is greater than the carrying value of debt by $80.9 million at November 21, 2015 and $70.7 million at August 29, 2015, which reflect their face amount, adjusted for any unamortized debt issuance costs and discounts. We had $1.476 billion of variable rate debt outstanding at November 21, 2015 and $1.048 billion of variable rate debt outstanding at August 29, 2015. At these borrowing levels for variable rate debt, a one percentage point increase in interest rates would have had an unfavorable annual impact on our pre-tax earnings and cash flows of $14.8 million in fiscal 2016. The primary interest rate exposure on variable rate debt is based on LIBOR. We had outstanding fixed rate debt of $3.278 billion, net of unamortized debt issuance costs of $21.8 million, at November 21, 2015, and $3.577 billion, net of unamortized debt issuance costs of $22.7 million at August 29, 2015. A one percentage point increase in interest rates would reduce the fair value of our fixed rate debt by $156.3 million at November 21, 2015.

## Controls and procedures

As filed, 791 characters.

As of November 21, 2015, an evaluation was performed under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures, as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act, as amended. Based on that evaluation, our management, including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of November 21, 2015. During or subsequent to the quarter ended November 21, 2015, there were no changes in our internal controls that have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect, internal controls over financial reporting.

## Risk factors

As filed, 204 characters.

As of the date of this filing, there have been no material changes in our risk factors from those disclosed in Part I, Item 1A, of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 29, 2015.

Filed Dec 16, 2015.
Source: SEC EDGAR, the filing index for accession 0001193125-15-404907. Last ingested by Listed: Nov 6, 2026, 17:47 ET. No prices; not investment advice.