AutoZone (AZO) Risk Factors

We believe much of our brand value lies in the quality of the approximately 126,000 AutoZoners employed in our stores, distribution centers, store support centers and ALLDATA. Our workforce costs represent our largest operating expense, and our ability to meet our labor needs while controlling labor costs is subject to numerous external factors, including market pressures with respect to prevailing wage rates and unemployment levels. Our business is also subject to employment laws and regulations, including those related to minimum wage, benefits and scheduling requirements, and these laws are subject to change over time. In addition, the implementation of potential regulatory changes relating to overtime exemptions and benefits for certain employees under federal and state laws could result in increased labor costs to our business and negatively impact our operating results. ? We compete with other retail businesses for many of our associates in hourly positions, and these positions have historically had high turnover rates, which can lead to increased training and retention costs, particularly in a competitive labor market. We cannot be assured that we can continue to hire, train and retain qualified employees at current wage rates since we operate in a competitive labor market, and there are currently significant inflationary and other pressures on wages. In the U.S., over the last few years there has been an increase in workers exercising their right to form or join a union, both generally and in the retail industry. Further, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has issued decisions making it easier for employees to organize. Although none of our domestic employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements, there can be no assurance that our domestic employees will not elect to be represented by labor unions in the future. If a significant portion of our work force were to become unionized, our culture and operating model could be challenged by inserting a third party into our current relationships between our leaders and hourly AutoZoners. Further, our labor costs could increase, and our business could be negatively affected by other requirements and expectations that could change our company culture, decrease our flexibility and disrupt our business. Further, our responses to any union organizing efforts could negatively impact how our brand is perceived by customers and AutoZoners and have material adverse effects on our business and financial results. If we are unable to hire, properly train and retain qualified AutoZoners, we could experience higher employment costs, reduced sales, losses of customers and diminution of our brand or company culture, which could adversely affect our earnings. If we do not maintain competitive wages or benefit packages, our customer service could suffer from any resultant declining quality of our workforce, or, alternatively, our earnings could decrease if we increase our wage rates and resultant labor costs. A violation or change in employment and labor laws (including changes in existing employment benefit programs such as health insurance) could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Our future success depends on the skills and experience of our management and other key personnel. The unexpected loss of the services of any such persons could materially adversely affect our operations. There can be no assurance that our succession planning, retention or hiring efforts will be successful. Failure to attract and retain qualified personnel in key roles could materially adversely affect our operations.

The sale of automotive parts, accessories and maintenance items is highly competitive. See "Item 1. Business" above for additional information regarding our competitive environment. Although we believe we compete effectively, our competitors may have greater financial resources allowing them to invest more in their business, greater sourcing capabilities allowing them to sell merchandise at lower prices, larger stores with more merchandise, longer operating histories with deeper customer relationships, more frequent customer visits, more effective advertising and more successful utilization of data analytics, artificial intelligence and other new and emerging technologies. Online and multi-channel retailers often have lower operating costs and focus on delivery services, thereby offering customers faster, guaranteed delivery times and low-price or free shipping. In addition, because our business strategy is based on offering superior levels of customer service to complement the products we offer, our cost structure is higher than some of our competitors, which also puts pressure on our margins. With the increasing use of digital tools, our customers often begin their shopping experience online and are quickly able to compare prices, product assortment, product availability and feedback from other customers before purchasing products. We may be unable to differentiate ourselves or unable to anticipate and adapt to new or enhanced digital experiences offered by other retailers. If we are unable to continue to manage in-stock inventory and costs, provide competitive delivery options, develop successful competitive strategies, including the maintenance of effective promotions, advertising and loyalty programs, develop and execute effective digital and omni-channel strategies or otherwise compete effectively, or if our competitors develop more effective strategies, we could lose customers and our sales and profits may decline.

Demand for the products we sell may be affected by a number of factors we cannot control, including: - the number of older vehicles in service. Vehicles seven years old or older are generally no longer under the original vehicle manufacturers' warranties and tend to need more maintenance and repair than newer vehicles. - the number of miles vehicles are driven. Higher vehicle mileage increases the need for maintenance and repair. Mileage levels may be affected by gas prices, ride sharing, weather conditions, and other factors. - rising fuel and energy prices. Increases in fuel and energy prices may cause our customers to defer purchases of certain of our products as they use a higher percentage of their income to pay for fuel and other energy costs and may drive their vehicles less, resulting in less wear and tear and lower demand for repairs and maintenance. - the economy. In periods of declining economic conditions, including as a result of inflation, high levels of consumer debt, and/or high interest rates, consumers may reduce their discretionary spending by deferring vehicle maintenance or repair. Additionally, such conditions may affect our customers' ability to obtain credit. During periods of expansionary economic conditions, more of our DIY customers may pay others to repair and maintain their vehicles instead of working on their own vehicles, or they may purchase new vehicles. - the weather. Milder weather conditions may lower the failure rates of automotive parts, while extremely hot or cold conditions may enhance demand for our products due to increased failure rates of our customers' automotive parts. However, extended periods of rain and winter precipitation may adversely impact store traffic, decreasing sales, or may cause our customers to defer maintenance and repair on their vehicles. Additionally, climate changes can create more variability in the short-term or lead to other weather conditions that could impact our business. - technological advances. Advances in automotive technology, such as improved parts design, can result in cars needing maintenance less frequently and parts lasting longer. - prevalence of electric vehicles. Increased prevalence of electric vehicles, whether due to changes in consumer preferences or regulatory actions incentivizing the purchase of electric vehicles, can result in less frequent parts failures and reduced need for parts. - the quality of the vehicles manufactured by the original vehicle manufacturers and the length of the warranties or maintenance offered on new vehicles. - restrictions on access to telematics and diagnostic tools and repair information imposed by the original vehicle manufacturers or by governmental regulation. These restrictions may cause vehicle owners to rely on dealers to perform maintenance and repairs. These factors could result in a decline in the demand for our products, which could materially adversely affect our business and overall financial condition.

Although we are a leading distributor of automotive parts and other products in the commercial market, we must effectively compete against national, regional and local auto parts chains, independently owned parts stores, wholesalers, jobbers, repair shops, auto dealers, online retailers and others in order to increase our commercial market share. Although we believe we compete effectively in the commercial market on the basis of customer service, merchandise quality, selection and availability, price, delivery times, product warranty, distribution locations and the strength of our AutoZone brand, trademarks and service marks, some automotive aftermarket participants have been in business for substantially longer periods of time than we have, and as a result have developed long-term customer relationships, an experienced sales organization, considerable market presence and have large available inventories. If we are unable to profitably grow our sales with existing commercial customers, our sales growth may be limited.

We believe our continued sales growth is driven in significant part by our AutoZone and private label brand names and our positive reputation with customers, AutoZoners, suppliers, vendors and other stakeholders. The value in our brand names and reputation, and their continued effectiveness in driving our sales growth is dependent to a significant degree on our ability to maintain our reputation for safety, high product quality, friendliness, WOW! Customer service, trustworthy advice, integrity and business ethics. Negative incidents can erode trust and confidence quickly, and adverse publicity about us, whether or not based in fact, could damage our brand and reputation, undermine our customers' confidence in us, reduce demand for our products and services, affect our ability to recruit and retain employees, attract regulatory scrutiny, and impact our relationships with suppliers and vendors. Further, our actual or perceived strategies, initiatives, responses or lack of response relating to social, political, environmental or other issues, whether or not based in fact, could damage our reputation, negatively impact our stock price or result in reduced demand for our merchandise. Customers are also increasingly using social media to provide feedback, criticism and other information about our Company, our products and our services in a manner that is rapidly and broadly disseminated. Our brand and reputation could be negatively impacted if negative sentiment about the Company, whether or not based on fact, is shared and distributed in such a manner. Failure to comply with ethical, social, product, labor, environmental and anti-corruption standards could also jeopardize our reputation and potentially lead to various adverse actions by consumer or environmental groups, employees or regulatory bodies. Damage to our reputation or loss of consumer confidence for any of these or other reasons could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition, as well as require additional resources to rebuild our reputation.

Our business, like that of most retailers, involves the collection, processing, storage and transmission of large amounts of personal information relating to our customers, suppliers and AutoZoners and confidential business information relating to AutoZone or other parties with which we do business. This information is handled by us as well as third-party service providers and vendors that provide us with various technology, systems, services and other resources that we use in connection with the handling of this information and in furtherance of our business objectives. Furthermore, we accept payments using a variety of methods, including credit, debit, electronic payments and gift cards, which present information security risks, and we may offer new payment options in the future presenting new risks of which we are currently unaware. While addressing vulnerabilities is a priority for us, the methods used to obtain unauthorized access are constantly evolving and increasing in frequency and sophistication, including through the use of evolving artificial intelligence tools to identify and exploit vulnerabilities. Attempts to gain unauthorized access can be difficult to anticipate or promptly detect. We cannot assure you that the security measures we or our third-party service providers and vendors have in place today will be successful in their efforts to prevent or mitigate the impact of a cyber incident or provide us with sufficient visibility to determine if a cyber incident has occurred, and there can be no assurance that such measures we introduce in the future will be sufficiently effective either. Failure to maintain the security of the personal and other confidential information to which we have access could lead to private litigation, regulatory enforcement actions and reputational harm, all of which would require extensive time and financial resources to resolve and could have a material adverse impact on our business and financial condition. While we have not experienced a material breach of our information systems or data to date, unauthorized parties have in the past gained access and exfiltrated data, and will continue to attempt to do so as the result of a cyber-attack, employee misconduct, employee error, system vulnerabilities or compromises, fraud, hacking, phishing attempts, malware, ransomware, other malicious codes or other intentional or unintentional acts. Furthermore, hardware, software or other IT applications that we or a third party develop for our use have contained and may contain exploitable vulnerabilities, bugs or design defects or may involve other problems that could unexpectedly compromise information security. The cost to remediate and respond to a cyber incident involving unauthorized use, access, damage or loss of systems, data or other information could be significant. To the extent any cyber incident involving our or one of our third-party service provider's information systems results in the unauthorized access, loss, damage or misappropriation of information, we may be required by law to notify impacted individuals and face substantial liability due to claims arising from customers, financial institutions, AutoZoners, regulatory authorities, payment card issuers and others. We maintain insurance coverage that may protect us from losses or claims in connection with certain incidents; however, our insurance coverage may not be sufficient to cover significant losses in any particular situation.

Our short-term and long-term debt is rated investment grade by the major rating agencies. These investment-grade credit ratings have historically allowed us to take advantage of lower interest rates and other favorable terms on our short-term credit lines, in our senior debt offerings and in the commercial paper markets. To maintain our investment-grade ratings, we are required to meet certain financial performance ratios. A change by the rating agencies in these ratios, an increase in our debt, and/or a decline in our earnings could result in downgrades in our credit ratings. A downgrade in our credit ratings could limit our access to public debt markets, limit the institutions willing to provide credit facilities to us, result in more restrictive financial and other covenants in our public and private debt and would likely significantly increase our overall borrowing costs and adversely affect our earnings. Additionally, a downgrade in our credit or changes in the financial markets may limit financial institutions' willingness to participate in our supplier financing arrangements, which may result in vendors seeking to renegotiate their payment terms. Moreover, significant deterioration in the financial condition of large financial institutions could result in a severe loss of liquidity and availability of credit in global credit markets and in more stringent borrowing terms. Conditions and events in the global credit markets could have a material adverse effect on our access to short-term and long-term debt and the terms and cost of that debt.

We have increased annual revenues in the past five fiscal years from $11.9 billion in fiscal 2019 to $18.5 billion in fiscal 2024, with a compounded annual growth rate of approximately nine percent. Annual revenue growth is driven by increases in same store sales, the opening of new stores and the development of new commercial programs. Same store sales are impacted both by customer demand levels and by the prices we are able to charge for our products, which can also be negatively impacted by economic pressures. See "Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" for further discussion of same store sales. Our ability to grow depends in part on new store openings, existing store remodels and expansions and effective utilization of our existing supply chain and hub network. We have increased our store count in the past five fiscal years, growing from 6,411 stores at August 31, 2019 to 7,353 stores at August 31, 2024, a compounded annual growth rate of approximately three percent. Achieving our store development and expansion goals will depend upon our ability to identify and obtain suitable sites for new and expanded stores in a timely manner and at acceptable costs, the hiring and training of qualified personnel and the integration of new stores into existing operations, among other factors. Furthermore, we open new stores only after evaluating customer buying trends and market demand/needs, all of which could be adversely affected by persistent unemployment, wage cuts, small business failures, microeconomic conditions unique to the automotive industry and our ability to expand into international markets. There can be no assurance we will be able to achieve our store expansion goals, manage our growth effectively, successfully integrate the planned new stores into our operations or operate our new, remodeled and expanded stores profitably. ?

Macroeconomic conditions impact both our customers and our suppliers. Moreover, the U.S. government continues to operate under historically large deficits and debt burden. Continued distress in global credit markets, business failures, civil unrest, inflation, rising interest rates, foreign exchange rate fluctuations, significant geo-political conflicts, proposed or additional tariffs, continued volatility in energy prices, the impact of a public health crisis or pandemic (such as the COVID-19 pandemic), constraints on the global supply chain and other factors continue to affect the global economy. Moreover, rising energy prices could impact our merchandise distribution, commercial delivery, utility and product costs. It is unclear how such factors could impact our business in the short term. Over a longer period of time, these macroeconomic and geo-political conditions could adversely affect our sales growth, margins and overhead. These could materially adversely affect our financial condition and operations.

The various risks we face in our U.S. operations generally also exist when conducting operations in and sourcing products and materials from outside of the U.S., in addition to the unique costs, risks and difficulties of managing international operations. Our expansion into international markets may be adversely affected by local laws and customs, U.S. laws applicable to foreign operations, and political and socio-economic conditions as well as our general ability to compete effectively and provide superior customer service regardless of distance, language and cultural differences. Risks inherent in international operations also include potential adverse tax consequences, potential changes to trade policies and trade agreements, compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and local anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws, greater difficulty in obtaining and enforcing intellectual property rights, challenges to identify and gain access to local suppliers, and possibly misjudging the response of consumers in foreign countries to our product assortment and marketing strategy. In addition, our operations in international markets are conducted primarily in the local currency of those countries. Since our Consolidated Financial Statements are denominated in U.S. dollars, amounts of assets, liabilities, net sales, and other revenues and expenses denominated in local currencies must be translated into U.S. dollars using exchange rates for the current period. As a result, foreign currency exchange rates and fluctuations in those rates may adversely impact our financial performance.