Forensic Analysis · Retail / Consumer Discretionary · as of Nov 8, 2026
AutoZone Inc (AZO)
A forensic read on AutoZone Inc built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
B · Sound & dependable
Forensic grade
Clean
Earnings quality
3
Forensic signals
7.4%
Revenue growth
This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (auditor quality, say on pay, board independence, going concern). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.
AutoZone Inc earns a B (Sound & dependable) forensic quality grade. 3 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by accruals ratio (% of NOA).
What the filings flag
+20.0%
FY2025→FY2026
Accruals ratio (% of NOA).Net operating assets grew +20.0% relative to their own average in FY2026 — scaled by NOA itself, not by total assets, which is what the Forensic Screens card's own accrual row divides by. Accruals are building faster than is comfortable — part of profit is sitting in the balance sheet rather than turning to cash. The build is led by PP&E up +14% against revenue +7% and receivables up +13% against revenue +7%. A cash-flow measure on the same base disagrees: reported earnings ran behind operating cash by 12% of net operating assets, against an accruals ratio of 20.0%. The two are computed differently: the accruals ratio is the change in net operating assets over average net operating assets, while the cash-flow figure is net income less operating cash flow over that same average. Read them as two results, not one.Accruals ratio: the year-over-year change in net operating assets, relative to their own average.NOA (net operating assets): the money tied up in running the business, operating assets minus operating liabilities.
278d
FY2025→FY2026
Inventory days.Days inventory outstanding moved from 268 to 278 FY2025→FY2026 (against cost of goods sold; inventory +10% vs +8% in cost of sales). Inventory is building a little faster than sales — watch for markdowns.
111% of FCF
FY2026
Shareholder returns.Returned $2.0B to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2026 — 111% of free cash flow, but 62% of operating cash flow. Returns run ahead of free cash flow, with the gap funded by debt or cash reserves rather than the cash the business itself throws off; the payout itself is still covered by operating cash. Counting the $137M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 118%.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$20.34B
Revenue Growth YoY+7.4%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)+4.9%
Net Margin12.6%
Free Cash Flow$1.82B
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. Want the AI investment read on top — the 0–100 rating, thesis, bull-vs-bear, red flags and the 12-month scenario, written from AutoZone Inc's actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?