UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

x
þAnnual Report pursuant to section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

For the fiscal year ended August 28, 2010, 25, 2012,

or

¨
oTransition report pursuant to section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

For the transition period fromto.

Commission file number 1-10714

AUTOZONE, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Nevada 62-1482048
Nevada62-1482048

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

 

(I.R.S. Employer

Identification No.)

123 South Front Street, Memphis, Tennessee 38103
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

(901) 495-6500

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code

code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:


Title of each class

 

Name of each exchange
on which registered

Common Stock
($ ($.01 par value)
 New York Stock Exchange

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

None

Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yesþx    Noo¨

Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.    Yeso¨    Noþx

Indicate by check mark whether the registrantRegistrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yesþx    Noo¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrantRegistrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrantRegistrant was required to submit and post such files).    Yesþx    Noo¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§ 229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’sRegistrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.ox

Indicate by check mark whether the registrantRegistrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filerþx  Accelerated filero ¨
Non-accelerated filero¨  Smaller reporting companyo
 (Do not check if a smaller reporting company)¨

Indicate by check mark whether the registrantRegistrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).    Yeso¨    Noþx

The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates computed by reference to the price at which the common equity was last sold, or the average bid and asked price of such common equity, as of the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter was $7,831,536,378.

$12,668,552,608.

The number of shares of Common Stock outstanding as of October 18, 2010,15, 2012, was 44,625,787.

36,931,946.

Documents Incorporated By Reference

Portions of the definitive Proxy Statement to be filed within 120 days of August 28, 2010,25, 2012, pursuant to Regulation 14A under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held December 15, 2010,12, 2012, are incorporated by reference into Part III.

 

 


TABLE OF CONTENTS

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8
8

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Employees

   9  
9

Executive Officers of the Registrant

9

Item 1A. Risk Factors

   1011  

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14

   15  

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Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

   15  

PART II

   16  

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   30  

   3233  

   6264  

   6264  

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PART III

   65  
63

   6365  

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PART IV

   66  
64

   6466  
Exhibit 12.1
Exhibit 21.1
Exhibit 23.1
Exhibit 31.1
Exhibit 31.2
Exhibit 32.1
Exhibit 32.2
EX-101 INSTANCE DOCUMENT
EX-101 SCHEMA DOCUMENT
EX-101 CALCULATION LINKBASE DOCUMENT
EX-101 LABELS LINKBASE DOCUMENT
EX-101 PRESENTATION LINKBASE DOCUMENT
EX-101 DEFINITION LINKBASE DOCUMENT

2


Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this Annual Reportannual report on Form 10-K are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements typically use words such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “should,” “intend,” “plan,” “will,” “expect,” “estimate,” “project,” “positioned,” “strategy,”“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; and changes in laws or regulations. Certain of these risks are discussed in more detail in the “Risk Factors” section contained in Item IA1A under Part I1 of thisour Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended August 28, 2010,25, 2012, 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.

3


PART I

Item 1. Business

Introduction

AutoZone, Inc. (“AutoZone”,AutoZone,” the “Company”“Company,” “we,” “our” or “we”“us”) is the nation’s leading retailer, and a leading distributor, of automotive replacement parts and accessories.accessories in the United States. We began operations in 1979 and at August 28, 201025, 2012, operated 4,3894,685 stores in the United States, andincluding Puerto Rico, and 238321 in Mexico. Each of our stores 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 August 28, 2010,25, 2012, in 2,4243,053 of our domestic stores and 173 of our Mexico 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 have commercial programs in select stores in Mexico as well. We also sell the ALLDATA brand automotive diagnostic and repair software through www.alldata.com.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 as part of our commercial sales program,customers can make purchases through www.autozonepro.com. We do not derive revenue from automotive repair or installation services.

At August 28, 2010,25, 2012, our stores were in the following locations:

   Store Count 

Alabama

   99100  
Arizona

Alaska

   1201  
Arkansas

Arizona

   59121  
California

Arkansas

   46360  
Colorado

California

   66502  

Colorado

68

Connecticut

38

Delaware

13

Florida

244

Georgia

181

Idaho

22

Illinois

223

Indiana

146

Iowa

23

Kansas

38

Kentucky

87

Louisiana

113

Maine

6

Maryland

48

Massachusetts

76

Michigan

161

Minnesota

   35  
Delaware

Mississippi

   1285  
Florida

Missouri

   217104  
Georgia

Montana

   1759  
Idaho

Nebraska

   1914  
Illinois

Nevada

   21458  
Indiana

New Hampshire

   14120  
Iowa

New Jersey

   2374  
Kansas

New Mexico

   3862  
Kentucky

New York

   80140  
Louisiana

North Carolina

   109186  
Maine

North Dakota

1

Ohio

236

Oklahoma

67

Oregon

36

Pennsylvania

129

Puerto Rico

29

Rhode Island

15

South Carolina

82

South Dakota

3

Tennessee

157

Texas

551

Utah

43

Vermont

2

Virginia

103

Washington

73

Washington, DC

   6  
Maryland

West Virginia

   4431  
Massachusetts

Wisconsin

   7057  
Michigan149
Minnesota27
Mississippi85
Missouri100
Montana1
Nebraska14
Nevada50
New Hampshire17
New Jersey68
New Mexico61
New York123
North Carolina172
North Dakota1
Ohio229
Oklahoma67
Oregon28
Pennsylvania114
Puerto Rico25
Rhode Island15
South Carolina77

Wyoming

4


Store Count
South Dakota2
Tennessee153
Texas540
Utah39
Vermont1
Virginia95
Washington62
Washington, DC   6  
West Virginia

Total Domestic

   234,685  
Wisconsin

Mexico

   50321  
Wyoming

Total

   55,006  
  

Domestic Total4,389
Mexico238
Total4,627

 

Marketing and Merchandising Strategy

We are dedicated to providing customers with superior service and trustworthy advice as well as quality automotive parts and products at a great value in conveniently located, well-designed stores. Key elements of this strategy are:

Customer Service

Customer service is the most important element in our marketing and merchandising strategy, which is based upon consumer marketing research. We emphasize that our AutoZoners (employees) should always put customers first by providing prompt, courteous service and trustworthy advice. Our electronic parts catalog assists in the selection of parts andas well as warranties that are offered by us or our vendors on many of the parts that we sell. The wide area network in our stores helps us expedite credit or debit card and check approval processes, locate parts at neighboring AutoZone stores, including our hub stores, and in some cases, place special orders directly with our vendors.

Additionally, we sell automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories and non-automotive parts throughwww.autozone.com and offer smartphone apps that provide customers with store locations, driving directions, operating hours, and product availability.

Our stores generally open at 7:30 or 8 a.m. and close between 8 and 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and typically open at 9 a.m. and close between 6 and 9 p.m. on Sunday. However, some stores are open 24 hours, and some have extended hours of 6 or 7 a.m. until midnight seven days a week.

We also provide specialty tools through our Loan-A-Tool® program. Customers can borrow a specialty tool, such as a steering wheel puller, for which a do-it-yourself (“DIY”) customer or a repair shop would have little or no use other than for a single job. AutoZoners also provide other free services, including check engine light readings where allowed by law, battery charging, the collection of DIY used oil for recycling, and the testing of starters, alternators, batteries, sensors and actuators.

Merchandising

The following tables show some of the types of products that we sell by major category of items:

Failure

  

Maintenance

  

Discretionary

Failure

A/C Compressors

Batteries & Accessories

Belts & Hoses

Carburetors

Chassis

Clutches

CV Axles

Engines

Fuel Pumps

Fuses

Ignition

Lighting

Mufflers

Starters & Alternators

Water Pumps

Radiators

Thermostats

  MaintenanceDiscretionary
A/C Compressors

Antifreeze & Windshield Washer Fluid

Air Fresheners
Batteries & Accessories

Brake Drums, Rotors, Shoes & Pads

Cell Phone Accessories
Belts & Hoses

Chemicals, including Brake & Power

Drinks & Snacks
Carburetors

Steering Fluid, Oil & Fuel Additives

Floor Mats & Seat Covers
Chassis

Oil & Transmission Fluid

Mirrors
Clutches

Oil, Air, Fuel & Transmission Filters

Performance Products
CV Axles

Oxygen Sensors

Protectants & Cleaners
Engines

Paint & Accessories

Seat Covers
Fuel Pumps

Refrigerant & Accessories

Sealants & Adhesives
Fuses

Shock Absorbers & Struts

Steering Wheel Covers
Ignition

Spark Plugs & Wires

Windshield Wipers

  

Air Fresheners

Cell Phone Accessories

Drinks & Snacks

Floor Mats & Seat Covers

Mirrors

Performance Products

Protectants & Cleaners

Sealants & Adhesives

Steering Wheel Covers

Stereos & Radios

LightingWindshield Wipers

Tools

Mufflers

Wash & Wax

Starters & Alternators
Water Pumps
Radiators
Thermostats

5


We believe that the satisfaction of DIYour customers and professional technicians is often impacted by our ability to provide specific automotive products as requested. Each store carries the same basic product lines,products, but we tailor our parts inventory to the makes and models of the vehicles in each store’s trade area.area, and our sales floor products are tailored to the local store’s demographics. Our hub stores carry a larger assortment of products that can beare delivered to commercial customers or to local satellite stores.
We are constantly updating the products we offer to ensure that our inventory matches the products our customers demand.
need or desire.

Pricing

We want to be perceived by our customers as the value leader in our industry, by consistently providing quality merchandise at the right price, backed by a satisfactory warranty and outstanding customer service. OnFor many of our products, we offer multiple value choices in a good/better/best assortment, with appropriate price and quality differences from the “good” products to the “better” and “best” products. A key differentiating component versus our competitors is our exclusive line of in-house brands, which includes the Econocraft, Valucraft, AutoZone, Duralast, Duralast Gold, and Duralast GoldPlatinum brands. We believe that our overall value compares favorably to that of our competitors.

Brand:Brand Marketing: Advertising and Promotions

We believe that targeted advertising and promotions play important roles in succeeding in today’s environment. We are constantly working to understand our customers’ wants and needs so that we can build long-lasting, loyal relationships. We utilize promotions, advertising and loyalty card programs primarily to advise customers about the overall importance of vehicle maintenance, our great value and the availability of high quality parts. Broadcast and internet media are our primary advertising methods of driving traffic to our stores. We utilize in-store signage, in store circulars, and creative product placement and promotions to help educate customers about products that they need.

Store Design and Visual Merchandising

We design and build stores for high visual impact. The typical AutoZone store utilizes colorful exterior and interior signage, exposed beams and ductwork and brightly lightedlit interiors. Maintenance products, accessories and non-automotive items are attractively displayed for easy browsing by customers. In-store signage and special displays promote products on floor displays, end caps and shelves.

Commercial

Our commercial sales program operates in a highly fragmented market, and we are one of the leading distributors of automotive parts and other products to local, regional and national repair garages, dealers, service stations and public sector accounts in the United States, Puerto Rico and Mexico. As a part of the program, we offer credit and delivery to our commercial customers, as well as direct commercial sales through www.autozonepro.com. The program operated out of 2,424 domestic stores and 173 of our Mexico stores as of August 28, 2010. Through our hub stores, we offer a greater range of parts and products desired by professional technicians; this additional inventory is available for our DIY customers as well.technicians. We have dedicated sales teams focused on national, regional and public sector commercial accounts.

Store Operations

Store Formats

Substantially all AutoZone stores are based on standard store formats, resulting in generally consistent appearance, merchandising and product mix. Approximately 85% to 90% of each store’s square footage is selling space, of which approximately 40% to 45% is dedicated to hard parts inventory. The hard parts inventory area is generally fronted by counters or pods that run the depth or length of the store, dividing the hard parts area from the remainder of the store. The remaining selling space contains displays of maintenance, accessories and non-automotive items.

We believe that our stores are “destination stores,” generating their own traffic rather than relying on traffic created by adjacent stores. Therefore, we situate most stores on major thoroughfares with easy access and good parking.

6


Store Personnel and Training

Each store typically employs from 10 to 16 AutoZoners, including a manager and, in some cases, an assistant manager. AutoZoners typically have prior automotive experience. All AutoZoners are encouraged to complete tests resulting in certifications by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (“ASE”), which is broadly recognized for training certification in the automotive industry. Although we doWe provide on-the-job training we also provideas well as formal training programs, including an annual national sales meeting, regular store meetings on specific sales and product issues, standardized training manuals and a specialist program that provides training to AutoZoners in several areas of technical expertise from the Company, our vendors and independent certification agencies. All AutoZoners are encouraged to complete tests resulting in certifications by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (“ASE”), which is broadly recognized for training certification in the automotive industry. Training is supplemented with frequent store visits by management.

Store managers, sales representatives and commercial specialists receive financial incentives through performance-based bonuses. In addition, our growth has provided opportunities for the promotion of qualified AutoZoners. We believe these opportunities are important to attract, motivate and retain high quality AutoZoners.

All store support functions are centralized in our store support centers located in Memphis, Tennessee,Tennessee; Monterrey, Mexico and Chihuahua, Mexico. We believe that this centralization enhances consistent execution of our merchandising and marketing strategies at the store level, while reducing expenses and cost of sales.

Store Automation

All of our stores have Z-net, our proprietary electronic catalog that enables our AutoZoners to efficiently look up the parts that our customers need and to provide complete job solutions, advice and information for customer vehicles. Z-net provides parts information based on the year, make, model and engine type of a vehicle and also tracks inventory availability at the store, at other nearby stores and through special order. The Z-net display screens are placed on the hard parts counter or pods, where both the AutoZoner and customer can view the screen. In addition, our wide area network enables the stores to expedite credit or debit card and check approval processes, to access national warranty data, to implement real-time inventory controls and to locate and hold parts at neighboring AutoZone stores.

Our stores utilize our computerized proprietary Store Management System, which includes bar code scanning and point-of-sale data collection terminals. The Store Management System provides administrative assistance and improved personnel scheduling at the store level, as well as enhanced merchandising information and improved inventory control. We believe the Store Management System also enhances customer service through faster processing of transactions and simplified warranty and product return procedures.

In addition, our wide area network enables the stores to expedite credit or debit card and check approval processes, to access national warranty data, to implement real-time inventory controls and to locate and hold parts at neighboring AutoZone stores.

Store Development

The following table reflects our store development during the past five fiscal years:

                     
  Fiscal Year 
  2010  2009  2008  2007  2006 
Beginning stores  4,417   4,240   4,056   3,871   3,673 
New stores  213   180   185   186   204 
Closed stores  3   3   1   1   6 
                
Net new stores  210   177   184   185   198 
                
Relocated stores  3   9   14   18   18 
                
Ending stores  4,627   4,417   4,240   4,056   3,871 
                

   Fiscal Year 
   2012   2011   2010   2009   2008 

Beginning stores

   4,813     4,627     4,417     4,240     4,056  

New stores

   193     188     213     180     185  

Closed stores

   —       2     3     3     1  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net new stores

   193     186     210     177     184  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Relocated stores

   10     10     3     9     14  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Ending stores

   5,006     4,813     4,627     4,417     4,240  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

We believe that expansion opportunities exist both in markets that we do not currently serve, as well as in markets where we can achieve a larger presence. We attempt to obtain high visibility sites in high traffic locations and undertake substantial research prior to entering new markets. The most important criteria for opening a new store are itsthe projected future profitability and itsthe ability to achieve our required investment hurdle rate. Key factors in selecting new site and market locations include population, demographics, vehicle profile, customer buying trends, commercial businesses, number and strength of competitors’ stores and the cost of real estate. In reviewing the vehicle profile, we also consider the number of vehicles that are seven years old and older, or “our kind of vehicles”; as these vehicles are generally no longer under the original manufacturers’ warranties and require more maintenance and repair than youngernewer vehicles. We generally seek to open new stores within or contiguous to existing market areas and attempt to cluster development in markets in a relatively short period of time. In addition to continuing to lease or develop our own stores, we evaluate and may make strategic acquisitions.

7


Purchasing and Supply Chain

Merchandise is selected and purchased for all stores through our store support centers located in Memphis, Tennessee and Monterrey, Mexico. In fiscal 2010, no2012, one class of similar products accounted for 10 percent of our total sales, and one vendor supplied more than 10 percent of our purchases. No other class of similar products accounted for 10 percent or more of our total sales. Also, during fiscal 2010, one vendor supplied 10 percent of our purchases;sales, and no other individual vendor provided more than 10 percent of our total purchases. We generally have few long-term contracts for the purchase of merchandise. We believe that we have good relationships with our suppliers. We also believe that alternative sources of supply exist, at similar cost, for most types of product sold. Most of our merchandise flows through our distribution centers to our stores by our fleet of tractors and trailers or by third-party trucking firms.

Our hub stores have increased our ability to distribute products on a timely basis to many of our stores and to expand our product assortment. A hub store generally has a larger assortment of products as well as regular replenishment items that can be delivered to a store in its coverage areanetwork within 24 hours. Additionally, hub stores can provide replenishment of products sold to stores within its network. Hub stores are generally replenished from distribution centers multiple times per week.

Competition

The sale of automotive parts, accessories and maintenance items is highly competitive in many areas, including name recognition, product availability, customer service, store location and price. AutoZone competes in the after-market auto parts industry, which includes both the retail DIY and commercial do-it-for-me (“DIFM”) auto parts and products.

products markets.

Competitors include national, regional and local auto parts chains, independently owned parts stores, on-line parts stores, jobbers, repair shops, car washes and auto dealers, in addition to discount and mass merchandise stores, department stores, hardware stores, supermarkets, drugstores, convenience stores and home stores that sell aftermarket vehicle parts and supplies, chemicals, accessories, tools and maintenance parts. AutoZone competes on the basis of customer service, including the trustworthy advice of our AutoZoners; merchandise quality, selection and availability; price; product warranty; store layouts, location and convenience; and the strength of our AutoZone brand name, trademarks and service marks.

Trademarks and Patents

We have registered several service marks and trademarks in the United States Patent and Trademark office as well as in certain other countries, including our service marks, “AutoZone” and “Get in the Zone,” and trademarks, “AutoZone,” “Duralast,” “Duralast Gold,” “Duralast Platinum,” “Valucraft,” “Econocraft,” “ALLDATA,” “Loan-A-Tool” and “Z-net.” We believe that these service marks and trademarks are important components of our marketing and merchandising strategies.

Employees

As of August 28, 2010,25, 2012, we employed over 63,00070,000 persons, approximately 5659 percent of whom were employed full-time. About 9192 percent of our AutoZoners were employed in stores or in direct field supervision, approximately 5 percent in distribution centers and approximately 43 percent in store support and other functions. Included in the above numbers are approximately 3,0004,100 persons employed in our Mexico operations.

We have never experienced any material labor disruption and believe that relations with our AutoZoners are generally good.

AutoZone WebsiteWebsites

AutoZone’s primary website is at http://www.autozone.com. We make available, free of charge, at our investor relations website, http://www.autozoneinc.com, our annual reportAnnual Reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reportsQuarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, current reportsCurrent Reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements, registration statements and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, as soon as reasonably feasible after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the Securities and Exchange Commission.

8


Executive Officers of the Registrant

The following list describes our executive officers. The title of each executive officer includes the words “Customer Satisfaction” which reflects our commitment to customer service. Officers are elected by and serve at the discretion of the Board of Directors.

William C. Rhodes, III, 4547Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Customer Satisfaction

William C. Rhodes, III, was named Chairman of AutoZone during fiscal 2007 and has been President, Chief Executive Officer and a director since March 2005. Prior to his appointment as President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Rhodes was Executive Vice President Store Operations and Commercial. Previously, he served in various capacities withinheld several key management positions with the Company, including Senior Vice President — Supply Chain and Information Technology, Senior Vice President — Supply Chain, Vice President — Stores, Senior Vice President — Finance and Vice President — Finance and Vice President — Operations Analysis and Support.Company. Prior to 1994, Mr. Rhodes was a manager with Ernst & Young LLP. Mr. Rhodes is currently a member of the Board of Directors for Dollar General Corporation.

William T. Giles, 5153Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President Finance, Information Technology and Store Development,ALLDATA, Customer Satisfaction

William T. Giles was electednamed Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President – Finance, Information Technology and ALLDATA during October 2012. Prior to that, he was Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President – Finance, Information Technology and Store Development duringfrom fiscal 2007. Prior2007 to that, he wasOctober 2012, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer from June 2006 to December 2006, and Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer since May 2006. From 1991 to May 2006, he held several positions with Linens N’ Things, Inc., most recently as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Prior to 1991, he was with Melville, Inc. and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Harry L. Goldsmith, 59—61—Executive Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel and Secretary, Customer Satisfaction

Harry L. Goldsmith was elected Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary during fiscal 2006. Previously, he was Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary since 1996 and was Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary from 1993 to 1996.

JamesMark A. Shea, 65—Executive Vice President — Merchandising, Marketing and Supply Chain, Customer Satisfaction

James A. Shea was elected Executive Vice President — Merchandising, Marketing and Supply Chain during fiscal 2007 and has served as Executive Vice President — Merchandising and Marketing since fiscal 2005. He was President and Co-founder of Portero during 2004. Prior to 2004, he was Chief Executive Officer of Party City from 1999 to 2003. From 1995 to 1999, he was with Lechters Housewares where he was Senior Vice President, Marketing and Merchandising before being named President in 1997. From 1990 to 1995, he was Senior Vice President of Home for Kaufmanns Department Store, a division of May Company. Mr. Shea announced his plans to retire, effective at the end of October 2010.
Jon A. BascomFinestone,5351Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Customer Satisfaction
Jon A. Bascom was elected Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer during fiscal 2008. Previously, he was Vice President — Information Technology since 1996. Since 1989, Mr. Bascom has worked in a variety of leadership roles in applications development, infrastructure, and technology support. Prior to joining AutoZone, Mr. Bascom worked for Malone & Hyde, AutoZone’s predecessor company, for 9 years.
Timothy W. Briggs, 49Senior Vice President — Human Resources, Customer Satisfaction
Timothy W. Briggs was elected Senior Vice President — Human Resources during fiscal 2006. Prior to that, he was Vice President — Field Human Resources since March 2005. From 2002 to 2005, Mr. Briggs was Vice President — Organization Development. From 1996 to 2002, Mr. Briggs served in various management capacities at the Limited Inc., including Vice President, Human Resources.
Mark A. Finestone,49Senior Vice President — Merchandising, Customer Satisfaction

Mark A. Finestone was elected Senior Vice President Merchandising during fiscal 2008. Previously, he was Vice President Merchandising since 2002. Prior to joining AutoZone in 2002, Mr. Finestone worked for May Department Stores for 19 years where he held a variety of leadership roles which included Divisional Vice President, Merchandising.

9


William W. Graves,5052Senior Vice President Supply Chain and International, Customer Satisfaction

William W. Graves was electednamed Senior Vice President Supply Chain and International during fiscal 2006.October 2012. Prior thereto, he was Senior Vice President Supply Chain since 2000.from fiscal 2006 to October 2012 and Vice President – Supply Chain from fiscal 2000 to fiscal 2006. From 1992 to 2000, Mr. Graves served in various capacities with the Company.

Ronald B. Griffin, 58Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Customer Satisfaction

Ronald B. Griffin was elected Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer in June 2012. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President, Global Information Technology at Hewlett-Packard Company. During his tenure at Hewlett-Packard Company, he also served as the Chief Information Officer for the Enterprise Business Division. Prior to that, Mr. Griffin was Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Fleming Companies, Inc. He also spent over 12 years with The Home Depot, Inc., with the last eight years in the role of Chief Information Officer. Mr. Griffin also served at Deloitte & Touche LLP and Delta Air Lines, Inc.

Lisa R. Kranc, 57—59—Senior Vice President Marketing, Customer Satisfaction

Lisa R. Kranc was elected Senior Vice PresidentMarketing during fiscal 2001. Previously, she was Vice PresidentMarketing for Hannaford Bros. Co., a Maine-based grocery chain, since 1997, and was Senior Vice PresidentMarketing for Bruno’s, Inc., from 1996 to 1997. Prior to 1996, she was Vice President-MarketingPresident Marketing for Giant Eagle, Inc. since 1992.

Thomas B. Newbern, 48—50—Senior Vice President Store Operations and Store Development, Customer Satisfaction

Thomas B. Newbern was elected Senior Vice PresidentStore OperationsOperation and Store Development during fiscal 2007.October 2012. Previously, Mr. Newbern held the titletitles Senior Vice President Store Operations for AutoZone since 1998. A 25-year AutoZoner,from fiscal 2007 to October 2012 and Vice President – Store Operations from fiscal 1998 to fiscal 2007. Previously, he has held several key management positions with the Company.

Charlie Pleas, III, 45—Senior Vice President and Controller, Customer Satisfaction
Charlie Pleas, III, was elected Senior Vice President and Controller during fiscal 2007. Prior to that, he was Vice President and Controller since 2003. Previously, he was Vice President - Accounting since 2000, and Director of General Accounting since 1996. Prior to joining AutoZone, Mr. Pleas was a Division Controller with Fleming Companies, Inc. where he served in various capacities from 1988.
Larry M. Roesel, 53—Senior Vice President — Commercial, Customer Satisfaction
Larry M. Roesel joined AutoZone as Senior Vice President — Commercial during fiscal 2007. Mr. Roesel came to AutoZone with more than thirty years of experience with OfficeMax, Inc. and its predecessor, where he served in operations, sales and general management.

Robert D. Olsen, 57—59—Corporate Development Officer, Customer Satisfaction

Robert D. Olsen was elected Corporate Development Officer as of November 1,during fiscal 2009, with primary responsibility for Mexico, ALLDATA, and other strategic initiatives. Previously, he was Executive Vice President Store Operations, Commercial, ALLDATA, and Mexico since fiscal 2007. Prior to that time, he was Executive Vice President Supply Chain, Information Technology, Mexico and Store Development since fiscal 2006 and before that, Senior Vice President since fiscal 2000 with primary responsibility for store development and Mexico operations. From 1993 to 2000, Mr. Olsen was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Leslie’s Poolmart. From 1985 to 1989, Mr. Olsen held several positions with AutoZone, including Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and Vice PresidentFinance and Controller.

In October 2012, Mr. Olsen announced his plans to retire, effective late December 2012. In conjunction with the announcement, his responsibilities were transitioned to other executive officers.

Charlie Pleas, III, 47—Senior Vice President and Controller, Customer Satisfaction

Charlie Pleas, III, was elected Senior Vice President and Controller during fiscal 2007. Prior to that, he was Vice President and Controller since 2003. Previously, he was Vice President – Accounting since 2000, and Director of General Accounting since 1996. Prior to joining AutoZone, Mr. Pleas was a Division Controller with Fleming Companies, Inc. where he served in various capacities since 1988.

Larry M. Roesel, 55—Senior Vice President – Commercial, Customer Satisfaction

Larry M. Roesel was elected AutoZone as Senior Vice PresidentCommercial during fiscal 2007. Mr. Roesel came to AutoZone with more than thirty years of experience with OfficeMax, Inc. and its predecessor, where he served in operations, sales and general management.

Michael A. Womack, 45Senior Vice President – Human Resources, Customer Satisfaction

Michael A. Womack was elected Senior Vice President – Human Resources in June 2012. He was previously Vice President of Human Resources with Cintas Corp. and had been with Cintas since 2003. Before joining Cintas, he was a law partner with the Littler Mendelson law firm.

Item 1A. Risk Factors

Our business is subject to a variety of risks. Set forth below are certain of the important risks that we face, and thatthe occurrence of which could cause actual results to differ materially from historical results.have a material, adverse effect on our business. These risks are not the only ones we face. Our business could also be affected by additional factors that are presently unknown to us or that we currently believe to be immaterial to our business.

If demand for our products slows, then our business may be materially affected.

Demand for products sold by our stores depends on many factors, including:

the number of miles vehicles are driven annually. Higher vehicle mileage increases the need for maintenance and repair. Mileage levels may be affected by gas prices and other factors.

the number of vehicles in current service, including those that are seven years old and older. These vehicles are generally no longer under the original vehicle manufacturers’ warranties and tend to need more maintenance and repair than youngernewer vehicles.

technological advances. Advances in automotive technology and parts design could result in cars needing maintenance less frequently and parts lasting longer.
the weather. Inclement weather may cause vehicle maintenance to be deferred.

 

10


the economy. In periods of rapidly declining economic conditions, both retail DIY and commercial DIFM customers may defer vehicle maintenance or repair. Additionally, such conditions may affect our customers’ credit availability. During periods of expansionary economic conditions, more of our DIY customers may pay others to repair and maintain their cars instead of working on their own vehicles or they may purchase new vehicles.
rising energy prices. Increases in 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 gasoline and other energy costs.

the economy. In periods of rapidly declining economic conditions, both retail and commercial customers may defer 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 cars instead of working on their own vehicles or they may purchase new vehicles.

the weather. Mild weather conditions may lower the failure rates of automotive parts, while wet conditions may cause our customers to defer maintenance and repair on their vehicles. Extremely hot or cold conditions may enhance demand for our products due to increased failure rates of our customers’ automotive parts.

technological advances. Advances in automotive technology and parts design could result in cars needing maintenance less frequently and parts lasting longer.

For the long term, demand for our products may be affected by:

the number of miles vehicles are driven annually. Higher vehicle mileage increases the need for maintenance and repair. Mileage levels may be affected by gas prices and other factors.

the quality of the vehicles manufactured by the original vehicle manufacturers and the length of the warranties or maintenance offered on new vehicles; and

restrictions on access to diagnostic tools and repair information imposed by the original vehicle manufacturers or by governmental regulation.

All of these factors could result in immediate and longer term declines in the demand for our products, which could adversely affect our sales, cash flows and overall financial condition.

If we are unable to compete successfully against other businesses that sell the products that we sell, we could lose customers and our sales and profits may decline.

The sale of automotive parts, accessories and maintenance items is highly competitive and is based on many factors, including name recognition, product availability, customer service, store location and price. Competitors are opening locations near our existing stores. AutoZone competes as a provider in both the DIY and DIFM auto parts and accessories markets.

Competitors include national, regional and local auto parts chains, independently owned parts stores, on-line parts stores, jobbers, repair shops, car washes and auto dealers, in addition to discount and mass merchandise stores, department stores, hardware stores, supermarkets, drugstores, convenience stores and home stores that sell aftermarket vehicle parts and supplies, chemicals, accessories, tools and maintenance parts. Although we believe we compete effectively on the basis of customer service, including the knowledge and expertise of our AutoZoners; merchandise quality, selection and availability; product warranty; store layout, location and convenience; price; and the strength of our AutoZone brand name, trademarks and service marks; some competitors may gain competitive advantages, such as greater financial and marketing resources allowing them to sell automotive products at lower prices, larger stores with more merchandise, longer operating histories, more frequent customer visits and more effective advertising. If we are unable to continue to develop successful competitive strategies, or if our competitors develop more effective strategies, we could lose customers and our sales and profits may decline.

We may not be able to sustain our recenthistoric rate of sales growth.

We have increased our store count in the past five fiscal years, growing from 3,6734,056 stores at August 27, 2005,25, 2007, to 4,6275,006 stores at August 28, 2010,25, 2012, an average store count increase per year of 5%. Additionally, we have increased annual revenues in the past five fiscal years from $5.711$6.170 billion in fiscal 20052007 to $7.363$8.604 billion in fiscal 2010,2012, an average increase per year of 6%8%. Annual revenue growth is driven by the opening of new stores and increases in same-store sales. We open new stores only after evaluating customer buying trends and market demand/needs, all of which could be adversely affected by continued job losses, wage cuts, small business failures and microeconomic conditions unique to the automotive industry. 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 continued recessionary pressures. We cannot provide any assurance that we will continue to open stores at historical rates or continue to achieve increases in same-store sales.

11


If we cannot profitably increase our market share in the commercial auto parts business, our sales growth may be limited.

Although we are one of the largest sellers of auto parts in the commercial market, to increase commercial sales we must compete against national and regional auto parts chains, independently owned parts stores, wholesalers and jobbers and auto dealers. Although we believe we compete effectively on the basis of customer service, merchandise quality, selection and availability, price, product warranty, distribution locations, and the strength of our AutoZone brand name, trademarks and service marks, some automotive aftermarket jobbers have been in business for substantially longer periods of time than we have, have developed long-term customer relationships and have large available inventories. If we are unable to profitably develop new commercial customers, our sales growth may be limited.

Deterioration in the global credit markets,

Significant changes in our credit ratings and macroeconomic factors could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

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. 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 result in an increase in interest rates and more restrictive terms on certain of our senior debt and our commercial paper, could limit our access to public debt markets, could limit the institutions willing to provide credit facilities to us, result in more restrictive financial and couldother covenants in our public and private debt and would likely significantly increase the interest rates on such facilities from current levels.

our overall borrowing costs and adversely affect our earnings.

Moreover, significant deterioration in the financial condition of large financial institutions in calendar years 2008 and 2009 resulted in a severe loss of liquidity and availability of credit in global credit markets and in more stringent borrowing terms. During brief time intervals in the fourth quarter of calendar 2008 and the first quarter of calendar 2009, there was no liquidity in the commercial paper markets, resulting in an absence of commercial paper buyers and extraordinarily high interest rates on commercial paper. We can provide no assurance that credit market events such as those that occurred in the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009 will not occur again in the foreseeable future. Conditions and events in the global credit market could have a material adverse effect on our access to short-term debt and the terms and cost of that debt.

Macroeconomic conditions also impact both our customers and our suppliers. Job growth in the United States has stagnated and unemployment has remained at historically high levels during the past four years. If the United States government is unable to reach agreement on legislation addressing the United States’ current debt level and budget deficit, many economists have predicted another economic recession. Continued recessionary conditions could result in additional job losses and business failures, which could result in our loss of certain small business customers and curtailment of spending by our retail customers. In addition, continued distress in global credit markets, business failures and other recessionary conditions could have a material adverse effect on the ability of our suppliers to obtain necessary short and long-term financing to meet our inventory demands. Moreover, rising energy prices could impact our merchandise distribution, commercial delivery, utility and product costs. All of these macroeconomic conditions could adversely affect our sales growth, margins and overhead, which could adversely affect our financial condition and operations.

Our business depends upon hiring and retaining qualified employees.

We believe that much of our brand value lies in the quality of our over 63,000the more than 70,000 AutoZoners employed in our stores, distribution centers, store support centers and ALLDATA. We cannot be assured that we can continue to hire and retain qualified employees at current wage rates. If we are unable to hire, properly train and/or retain qualified employees, we could experience higher employment costs, reduced sales, losses of customers and diminution of our brand, which could adversely affect our earnings. If we do not maintain competitive wages, our customer service could suffer due to a declining quality of our workforce or, alternatively, our earnings could decrease if we increase our wage rates.

Inability to acquire and provide quality merchandise could adversely affect our sales and results of operations.

We are dependent upon our vendors continuing to supply us with quality merchandise. If our merchandise offerings do not meet our customers’customers' expectations regarding quality and safety, we could experience lost sales, experience increased costs and be exposedexposure to legal and reputational risk. All of our vendors must comply with applicable product safety laws, and we are dependent on them to ensure that the products we buy comply with all safety and quality standards. Events that give rise to actual, potential or perceived product safety concerns could expose us to government enforcement action or private litigation and result in costly product recalls and other liabilities. To the extent our suppliers are subject to added government regulation of their product design and/or manufacturing processes, the cost of the merchandise we purchase may rise. In addition, negative customer perceptions regarding the safety or quality of the products we sell could cause our customers to seek alternative sources for their needs, resulting in lost sales. In those circumstances, it may be difficult and costly for us to regain the confidence of our customers. Moreover, if any of our significant vendors experiencesexperience financial difficulties or otherwise isare unable to deliver merchandise to us on a timely basis, or at all, we could have product shortages in our stores that could adversely affect customers’ perceptions of us and cause us to lose customers and sales.

12


Our largest stockholder, as a result of its voting ownership, may have the ability to exert substantial influence over actions to be taken or approved by our stockholders.
As of October 18, 2010, ESL Investments, Inc. and certain of its affiliates (together, “ESL”) beneficially owned approximately 34.7% of our outstanding common stock. As a result, ESL may have the ability to exert substantial influence over actions to be taken or approved by our stockholders, including the election of directors and potential change of control transactions. In the future, ESL may acquire or sell shares of common stock and thereby increase or decrease its ownership stake in us. Significant fluctuations in their level of ownership could have an impact on our share price.
In June 2008, we entered into an agreement with ESL (the “ESL Agreement”), in which ESL has agreed to vote shares of our common stock owned by ESL in excess of 37.5% in the same proportion as all non-ESL-owned shares are voted. Additionally, under the terms of the ESL Agreement, the Company added two directors in August 2008 that were identified by ESL. William C. Crowley, one of the two directors identified by ESL, is the President and Chief Operating Officer of ESL Investments, Inc.
Consolidation among our competitors may negatively impact our business.
Recently some of our competitors have merged. Consolidation among our competitors could enhance their financial position, provide them with the ability to achieve better purchasing terms allowing them to provide more competitive prices to customers for whom we compete, and allow them to achieve efficiencies in their mergers that allow for more effective use of advertising and marketing dollars and allow them to more effectively compete for customers. These consolidated competitors could take sales volume away from us in certain markets and could cause us to change our pricing with a negative impact on our margins or could cause us to spend more money to maintain customers or seek new customers, all of which could negatively impact our business.
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.

Our continued growth and success will depend in part on our ability to open and operate new stores and expand and remodel existing stores to meet customers’ needs on a timely and profitable basis. Accomplishing our new and existing store expansion goals will depend upon a number of factors, including the ability to partner with developers and landlords to obtain suitable sites for new and expanded stores at acceptable costs, the hiring and training of qualified personnel, particularly at the store management level, and the integration of new stores into existing operations. 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.

In addition, we extensively utilize hub stores, our supply chainschain and logistics management techniques to efficiently stock our stores. If we fail to effectively utilize our existing distribution hubs and/or supply chains, we could experience inappropriate inventory levels in our stores, which could adversely affect our sales volume and/or our margins.

Our failure to protect our reputation could have a material adverse effect on our brand name.

Our

We believe our continued strong sales growth is driven in significant part by our brand name. The value in our brand name and its continued effectiveness in driving our sales growth are dependent to a significant degree on our ability to maintain our reputation is critical to our brand name. Our reputation could be jeopardized if we fail to maintainfor safety, high standards for merchandise safety,product quality, friendliness, service, trustworthy advice, integrity and integrity.business ethics. Any negative publicity about these types of concerns may reduce demand for our merchandise. Failure to comply with ethical, social, product, labor and environmental standards, or related political considerations, could also jeopardize our reputation and potentially lead to various adverse consumer actions. Failure to comply with local laws and regulations, to maintain an effective system of internal controls or to provide accurate and timely financial statement information could also hurt our reputation. Failure to protect the security of our customers’, employees’ and company information could subject us to costly regulatory enforcement actions, expose us to litigation and our reputation could suffer. 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.

13


Business interruptions may negatively impact our store hours, operability of our computer and other systems, availability of merchandise and otherwise have a material negative effect on our sales and our business.

War or acts of terrorism, political unrest, hurricanes, windstorms, fires, earthquakes and other natural or other disasters or the threat of any of them, may result in certain of our stores being closed for a period of time or permanently or have a negative impact on our ability to obtain merchandise available for sale in our stores. Some of our merchandise is imported from other countries. If imported goods become difficult or impossible to bring into the United States, and if we cannot obtain such merchandise from other sources at similar costs, our sales and profit margins may be negatively affected.

In the event that commercial transportation is curtailed or substantially delayed, our business may be adversely impacted, as we may have difficulty shipping merchandise to our distribution centers and stores resulting in lost sales canceled purchase orders and/or a potential loss of customer loyalty.

Transportation issues could also cause us to cancel purchase orders if we are unable to receive merchandise in our distribution centers.

We rely extensively on our computer systems to manage inventory, process transactions and summarize results. Our systems are subject to damage or interruption from power outages, telecommunications failures, computer viruses, security breaches and catastrophic events. If our systems are damaged or fail to function properly, we may incur substantial costs to repair or replace them, and may experience loss of critical data and interruptions or delays in our ability to manage inventories or process transactions, which could result in lost sales, inability to process purchase orders and/or a potential loss of customer loyalty, which could adversely affect our results of operations.

Healthcare reform legislation could have a negative impact on our business.

The recently enacted Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “Patient Act”) as well as other healthcare reform legislation being considered by Congress and state legislatures may have an impact on our business. While we are currently evaluatingBased on the potential effectscurrent form of the Patient Act, on our business, the impact could be extensive and will most likelycould increase our employee healthcare-related costs. While the significant costs of the recent healthcare legislation enacted will occur after 2013 due to provisions of the legislation being phased in over time, changes to our healthcare costs structure could have a significant, negative impact on our business.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

Item 2. Properties

The following table reflects the square footage and number of leased and owned properties for our stores as of August 28, 2010:

         
  No. of Stores  Square Footage 
Leased  2,319   14,540,910 
Owned  2,308   15,486,198 
       
Total  4,627   30,027,108 
       
25, 2012:

   No. of Stores   Square Footage 

Leased

   2,553     16,217,428  

Owned

   2,453     16,488,376  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total

   5,006     32,705,804  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

We have approximately 4.0 million square feet in distribution centers servicing our stores, of which approximately 1.3 million square feet is leased and the remainder is owned. Our distribution centers are located in Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Mexico. Our primary store support center is located in Memphis, Tennessee, and consists of approximately 260,000 square feet. We also have two additional store support centers located in Monterrey, Mexico and Chihuahua, MexicoMexico. The ALLDATA headquarters building in Elk Grove, California, is leased, and we also own or lease other properties that are not material in the aggregate.

14


Item 3. Legal Proceedings

In 2004, we acquired a store site in Mount Ephraim, New Jersey that had previously been the site of a gasoline service station and contained evidence of groundwater contamination. Upon acquisition, we voluntarily reported the groundwater contamination issue to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and entered into a Voluntary Remediation Agreement providing for the remediation of the contamination associated with the property. We have conducted and paid for (at an immaterial cost to us) remediation of contamination on the property. We are also investigating, and will be addressing, potential vapor intrusion impacts in downgradient residences and businesses. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has indicated that it will assert that we are liable for the downgradient impacts under a defendant in a lawsuit entitled “Coalition for a Level Playing Field, L.L.C., et al., v. AutoZone, Inc. et al.,” filedjoint and severable liability theory, and we intend to contest any such assertions due to the existence of other sources of contamination in the U.S. District Court forarea of the Southern Districtproperty. Pursuant to the Voluntary Remediation Agreement, upon completion of all remediation required by the agreement, we believe we are eligible to be reimbursed up to 75 percent of qualified remediation costs by the State of New York in October 2004. The case was filed by more than 200 plaintiffs, which are principally automotive aftermarket warehouse distributorsJersey. We have asked the state for clarification that the agreement applies to off-site work, and jobbers, against a numberthe state is considering the request. Although the aggregate amount of defendants, including automotive aftermarket retailers and aftermarket automotive parts manufacturers. Inadditional costs that we may incur pursuant to the amended complaint, the plaintiffs allege,inter alia,remediation cannot currently be ascertained, we do not currently believe that some or allfulfillment of the automotive aftermarket retailer defendants have knowingly received, in violation of the Robinson-Patman Act (the “Act”), from various of the manufacturer defendants benefits such as volume discounts, rebates, early buy allowances and other allowances, fees, inventory without payment, sham advertising and promotional payments, a share in the manufacturers’ profits, benefits of pay on scan purchases, implementation of radio frequency identification technology, and excessive payments for services purportedly performed for the manufacturers. Additionally, a subset of plaintiffs alleges a claim of fraud against the automotive aftermarket retailer defendants based on discovery issues in a prior litigation involving similar claimsour obligations under the Act. In the prior litigation, the discovery dispute, as well as the underlying claims, was decidedagreement or otherwise will result in favor of AutoZone and the other automotive aftermarket retailer defendants who proceeded to trial, pursuant to a unanimous jury verdict which was affirmed by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. In the current litigation, the plaintiffs seek an unspecified amount of damages (including statutory trebling), attorneys’ fees, and a permanent injunction prohibiting the aftermarket retailer defendants from inducing and/or knowingly receiving discriminatory prices from any of the aftermarket manufacturer defendants and from opening up any further stores to compete with the plaintiffs as long as the defendants allegedly continue to violate the Act.

In an order dated September 7, 2010 and issued on September 16, 2010, the court granted motions to dismiss all claims against AutoZone and its co-defendant competitors and suppliers.  Based on the record in the prior litigation, the court dismissed with prejudice all overlapping claims – that is, those covering the same time periods covered by the prior litigation and brought by the judgment plaintiffs in the prior litigation. The court also dismissed with prejudice the plaintiffs’ attempt to revisit discovery disputes from the prior litigation.  Further, with respect to the other claims under the Act, the court found that the factual statements contained in the complaint fall short of what would be necessary to support a plausible inference of unlawful price discrimination.  Finally, the court held that the AutoZone pay-on-scan program is a difference in non-price termscosts that are not governed by the Act.  The court ordered the case closed, but also stated that “in an abundancematerial to our financial condition, results of caution the Court [was] defer[ring] decision on whether to grant leave to amend to allow plaintiff an opportunity to propose curative amendments.” Without moving for leave to amend their complaint for a third time, four plaintiffs filed a Third Amended and Supplemental Complaint (the “Third Amended Complaint”) on October 18, 2010. The Third Amended Complaint repeats and expands certain allegations from previous complaints, asserting two claims under the Act, but states that all other plaintiffs have withdrawn their claims, and that,inter alia, Chief Auto Parts, Inc. has been dismissed as a defendant.  The court set no specific procedure for further responseoperations or motion by the defendants.  We anticipate that the defendants, including AutoZone, will request that the court reject the Third Amended Complaint and/or will seek to have it dismissed.
We believe this suit to be without merit and are vigorously defending against it. We are unable to estimate a loss or possible range of loss.
cash flow.

We are involved in various other legal proceedings incidental to the conduct of our business. Althoughbusiness, including several lawsuits containing class-action allegations in which the amount of liability that may result from these other proceedings cannot be ascertained, weplaintiffs are current and former hourly and salaried employees who allege various wage and hour violations and unlawful termination practices. We do not currently believe that, either individually or in the aggregate, theythese matters will result in liabilities material to our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

Item 4. ReservedMine Safety Disclosures

15Not applicable.


PART II

Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Our common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “AZO.” On October 18, 2010,15, 2012, there were 3,1822,868 stockholders of record, which does not include the number of beneficial owners whose shares were represented by security position listings.

We currently do not pay a dividend on our common stock. Our ability to pay dividends is subject to limitations imposed by Nevada law. Any future payment of dividends in the future would be dependent upon our financial condition, capital requirements, earnings and cash flow and other factors.

flow.

The following table sets forth the high and low sales prices per share of common stock, as reported by the New York Stock Exchange, for the periods indicated:

         
  Price Range of Common Stock 
  High  Low 
Fiscal Year Ended August 28, 2010:        
Fourth quarter $215.21  $177.66 
Third quarter $187.94  $160.20 
Second quarter $161.33  $146.17 
First quarter $154.69  $135.13 
         
Fiscal Year Ended August 29, 2009:        
Fourth quarter $164.38  $141.00 
Third quarter $169.99  $129.21 
Second quarter $145.77  $92.52 
First quarter $143.80  $84.66 

   Price Range of Common Stock 
    High   Low 

Fiscal Year Ended August 25, 2012:

    

Fourth quarter

  $391.90    $353.38  

Third quarter

  $399.10    $353.80  

Second quarter

  $356.80    $313.11  

First quarter

  $341.89    $303.00  

Fiscal Year Ended August 27, 2011:

    

Fourth quarter

  $306.00    $266.25  

Third quarter

  $287.00    $247.36  

Second quarter

  $276.00    $246.26  

First quarter

  $253.50    $209.53  

During 1998, the Company announced a program permitting the Company to repurchase a portion of its outstanding shares not to exceed a dollar maximum established by the Company’s Board of Directors. The program was most recently amended on September 28, 2010,2012, to increase the repurchase authorization by $750 million to $9.4raise the cumulative share repurchase authorization to $12.65 billion from $8.9$11.90 billion. The program does not have an expiration date.

Shares of common stock repurchased by the Company during the quarter ended August 28, 2010,25, 2012, were as follows:

                 
          Total Number of  Maximum Dollar 
  Total      Shares Purchased  Value that May 
  Number of  Average  as Part of Publicly  Yet Be Purchased 
  Shares  Price Paid  Announced Plans  Under the Plans 
Period Purchased  per Share  or Programs  or Programs 
May 9, 2010, to June 5, 2010  143,300  $187.00   143,300  $724,016,859 
June 6, 2010, to July 3, 2010  1,129,590   191.26   1,129,590   507,976,727 
July 4, 2010, to July 31, 2010  700,401   201.69   700,401   366,710,411 
August 1, 2010, to August 28, 2010  869,716   208.44   869,716   185,428,381 
             
Total  2,843,007  $198.87   2,843,007  $185,428,381 
             

Period

  Total
Number of
Shares
Purchased
   Average
Price Paid
per Share
   Total Number of
Shares  Purchased
as Part of Publicly
Announced Plans
or Programs
   Maximum Dollar
Value that  May
Yet Be Purchased
Under the Plans
or Programs
 

May 6, 2012, to June 2, 2012

   424,000    $371.72     424,000    $678,290,987  

June 3, 2012, to June 30, 2012

   594,610     379.66     594,610     452,539,653  

July 1, 2012, to July 28, 2012

   97,900     357.29     97,900     417,560,788  

July 29, 2012, to August 25, 2012

   168,094     367.67     168,094     355,757,349  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total

   1,284,604    $373.77     1,284,604    $355,757,349  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

The Company also repurchased, at fair value, an additional 24,113 shares in fiscal 2012, 30,864 shares in fiscal 2011, and 30,617 shares in fiscal 2010 37,190 shares in fiscal 2009, and 39,235 shares in fiscal 2008 from employees electing to sell their stock under the Company’s ThirdSixth Amended and Restated Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “Employee Plan”), qualified under Section 423 of the Internal Revenue Code, under which all eligible employees may purchase AutoZone’s common stock at 85% of the lower of the market price of the common stock on the first day or last day of each calendar quarter through payroll deductions. Maximum permitted annual purchases are $15,000 per employee or 10 percent of compensation, whichever is less. Under the plan,Employee Plan, 19,403 shares were sold to employees in fiscal 2012, 21,608 shares were sold to employees in fiscal 2011, and 26,620 shares were sold to employees in fiscal 2010, 29,147 shares were sold to employees in fiscal 2009, and 36,147 shares were sold to employees in fiscal 2008.2010. At August 28, 2010, 293,98325, 2012, 252,972 shares of common stock were reserved for future issuance under this plan. Under the Employee Plan.

Once executives have reached the maximum purchases under the Employee Plan, the Fifth Amended and Restated Executive Stock Purchase Plan (the “Executive Plan”) permits all eligible executives are permitted to purchase AutoZone’s common stock up to 25 percent of his or her annual salary and bonus. Purchases by executives under this planthe Executive Plan were 1,4803,937 shares in fiscal 2010, 1,7052012, 1,719 shares in fiscal 2009,2011, and 1,7931,483 shares in fiscal 2008.2010. At August 28, 2010, 250,57525, 2012, 252,400 shares of common stock were reserved for future issuance under this plan.

the Executive Plan.

16


Stock Performance Graph
This

The graph shows, from the end of fiscal year 2005 to the end of fiscal year 2010,below presents changes in the value of AutoZone’s stock as compared to Standard & Poor’s 500 Composite Index (“S&P 500”).

and to Standard & Poor’s Retail Index (“S&P Retail Index”) for the five-year period beginning August 25, 2007 and ending August 25, 2012.

 

17


Item 6. Selected Financial Data

                     
(in thousands, except per share data, same store sales and Fiscal Year Ended August 
selected operating data) 2010  2009  2008(1)  2007  2006 
Income Statement Data
                    
Net sales $7,362,618  $6,816,824  $6,522,706  $6,169,804  $5,948,355 
Cost of sales, including warehouse and delivery expenses  3,650,874   3,400,375   3,254,645   3,105,554   3,009,835 
                
Gross profit  3,711,744   3,416,449   3,268,061   3,064,250   2,938,520 
Operating, selling, general and administrative expenses  2,392,330   2,240,387   2,143,927   2,008,984   1,928,595 
                
Operating profit  1,319,414   1,176,062   1,124,134   1,055,266   1,009,925 
Interest expense, net  158,909   142,316   116,745   119,116   107,889 
                
Income before income taxes  1,160,505   1,033,746   1,007,389   936,150   902,036 
Income tax expense  422,194   376,697   365,783   340,478   332,761 
                
Net income $738,311  $657,049  $641,606  $595,672  $569,275 
                
                     
Diluted earnings per share $14.97  $11.73  $10.04  $8.53  $7.50 
                
                     
Adjusted weighted average shares for diluted earnings per share  49,304   55,992   63,875   69,844   75,859 
                
                     
Same Store Sales
                    
Increase in domestic comparable store net sales(2)
  5.4%  4.4%  0.4%  0.1%  0.4%
                     
Balance Sheet Data
                    
Current assets $2,611,821  $2,561,730  $2,586,301  $2,270,455  $2,118,927 
Working (deficit) capital  (452,139)  (145,022)  66,981   (15,439)  64,359 
Total assets  5,571,594   5,318,405   5,257,112   4,804,709   4,526,306 
Current liabilities  3,063,960   2,706,752   2,519,320   2,285,895   2,054,568 
Debt  2,908,486   2,726,900   2,250,000   1,935,618   1,857,157 
Long-term capital leases  66,333   38,029   48,144   39,073    
Stockholders’ (deficit) equity $(738,765) $(433,074) $229,687  $403,200  $469,528 
                     
Selected Operating Data
                    
Number of stores at beginning of year  4,417   4,240   4,056   3,871   3,673 
New stores  213   180   185   186   204 
Closed stores  3   3   1   1   6 
                
Net new stores  210   177   184   185   198 
                
Relocated stores  3   9   14   18   18 
                
Number of stores at end of year  4,627   4,417   4,240   4,056   3,871 
                
                     
Total store square footage (in thousands)  30,027   28,550   27,291   26,044   24,713 
Average square footage per store  6,490   6,464   6,437   6,421   6,384 
Increase in store square footage  5%  5%  5%  5%  6%
Inventory per store (in thousands) $498  $500  $507  $495  $477 
Average net sales per store (in thousands) $1,595  $1,541  $1,539  $1,525  $1,546 
Net sales per store square foot $246  $239  $239  $238  $243 
Total employees at end of year (in thousands)  63   60   57   55   53 
Merchandise under pay-on-scan arrangements (in thousands) $634  $3,530  $6,732  $22,387  $92,142 
Inventory turnover(3)
  1.6x  1.5x  1.6x  1.6x  1.7x
Accounts payable to inventory ratio  105.6%  96.0%  95.0%  93.2%  92.0%
After-tax return on invested capital (4)
  27.6%  24.4%  23.9%  23.2%  22.7%
Adjusted debt to EBITDAR(5)
  2.4   2.5   2.2   2.1   2.1 
Net cash provided by operating activities (in thousands) $1,196,252  $923,808  $921,100  $845,194  $822,747 
Cash flow before share repurchases and changes in debt (in thousands)(6)
 $947,643  $673,347  $690,621  $678,522  $599,507 

(in thousands, except per share data, same store sales and

selected operating data)

  Fiscal Year Ended August 
  2012  2011  2010  2009  2008(1) 

Income Statement Data

      

Net sales

  $8,603,863   $8,072,973   $7,362,618   $6,816,824   $6,522,706  

Cost of sales, including warehouse and delivery expenses

   4,171,827    3,953,510    3,650,874    3,400,375    3,254,645  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Gross profit

   4,432,036    4,119,463    3,711,744    3,416,449    3,268,061  

Operating, selling, general and administrative expenses

   2,803,145    2,624,660    2,392,330    2,240,387    2,143,927  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Operating profit

   1,628,891    1,494,803    1,319,414    1,176,062    1,124,134  

Interest expense, net

   175,905    170,557    158,909    142,316    116,745  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Income before income taxes

   1,452,986    1,324,246    1,160,505    1,033,746    1,007,389  

Income tax expense

   522,613    475,272    422,194    376,697    365,783  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Net income

  $930,373   $848,974   $738,311   $657,049   $641,606  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Diluted earnings per share

  $23.48   $19.47   $14.97   $11.73   $10.04  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Adjusted weighted average shares for diluted earnings per share

   39,625    43,603    49,304    55,992    63,875  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Same Store Sales

      

Increase in domestic comparable store net sales(2)

   3.9  6.3  5.4  4.4  0.4

Balance Sheet Data

      

Current assets

  $2,978,946   $2,792,425   $2,611,821   $2,561,730   $2,586,301  

Working (deficit) capital

   (676,646  (638,471  (452,139  (145,022  66,981  

Total assets

   6,265,639    5,869,602    5,571,594    5,318,405    5,257,112  

Current liabilities

   3,655,592    3,430,896    3,063,960    2,706,752    2,519,320  

Debt

   3,768,183    3,351,682    2,908,486    2,726,900    2,250,000  

Long-term capital leases

   72,414    61,360    66,333    38,029    48,144  

Stockholders’ (deficit) equity

   (1,548,025  (1,254,232  (738,765  (433,074  229,687  

Selected Operating Data

      

Number of stores at beginning of year

   4,813    4,627    4,417    4,240    4,056  

New stores

   193    188    213    180    185  

Closed stores

   —      2    3    3    1  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Net new stores

   193    186    210    177    184  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Relocated stores

   10    10    3    9    14  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Number of stores at end of year

   5,006    4,813    4,627    4,417    4,240  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Domestic commercial programs

   3,053    2,659    2,424    2,303    2,236  

Total store square footage (in thousands)

   32,706    31,337    30,027    28,550    27,291  

Average square footage per store

   6,533    6,511    6,490    6,464    6,437  

Increase in store square footage

   4.4  4.4  5.2  4.6  4.8

Inventory per store (in thousands)

  $525   $512   $498   $500   $507  

Average net sales per store (in thousands)

  $1,716   $1,675   $1,595   $1,541   $1,539  

Net sales per store square foot

  $263   $258   $246   $239   $239  

Total employees at end of year (in thousands)

   70    65    63    60    57  

Inventory turnover(3)

   1.6x    1.6x    1.6x    1.5x    1.6x  

Accounts payable to inventory ratio

   111.4  111.7  105.6  96.0  95.0

After-tax return on invested capital (4)

   33.0  31.3  27.6  24.4  23.9

Adjusted debt to EBITDAR(5)

   2.5    2.4    2.4    2.5    2.2  

Net cash provided by operating activities (in thousands)

  $1,223,981   $1,291,538   $1,196,252   $923,808   $921,100  

Cash flow before share repurchases and changes in debt (in thousands)(6)

  $949,627   $1,023,927   $947,643   $673,347   $690,621  

(1)The fiscal year ended August 30, 2008 consisted of 53 weeks.
(2)The domestic comparable sales increases are based on sales for all domestic stores open at least one year. Relocated stores are included in the same store sales computation based on the year the original store was opened. Closed store sales are included in the same store sales computation up to the week it closes, and excluded from the computation for all periods subsequent to closing.
(3)Inventory turnover is calculated as cost of sales divided by the average merchandise inventory balance over the trailing 5 quarters. The calculation includes cost of sales related to pay-on-scan sales, which were $2.5 million for the 52 weeks ended August 28, 2010, $5.8 million for the 52 weeks ended August 29, 2009, $19.2 million for the 53 weeks ended August 30, 2008, $85.4 million for the 52 weeks ended August 25, 2007, and $198.1 million for the 52 weeks ended August 26, 2006.
(4)After-tax return on invested capital is defined as after-tax operating profit (excluding rent charges) divided by average invested capital (which includes a factor to capitalize operating leases). See Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

18


(5)Adjusted debt to EBITDAR is defined as the sum of total debt, capital lease obligations and annual rents times six; divided by net income plus interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, rent and share-based compensation expense. See Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
(6)Cash flow before share repurchases and changes in debt is defined as the change in cash and cash equivalents less the change in debt plus treasury stock purchases. See Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

We are the nation’s leading retailer, and a leading distributor, of automotive replacement parts and accessories.accessories in the United States. We began operations in 1979 and at August 28, 2010,25, 2012, operated 4,3894,685 stores in the United States, andincluding Puerto Rico, and 238321 in Mexico. Each of our stores 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 August 28, 2010,25, 2012, in 2,4243,053 of our domestic stores and 173 of our Mexico 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 have commercial programs in select stores in Mexico as well. We also sell the ALLDATA brand automotive diagnostic and repair software through www.alldata.com.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 as part of our commercial sales program,customers can make purchases through www.autozonepro.com. We do not derive revenue from automotive repair or installation services.

Executive Summary

We achieved a strong performance in fiscal 2010,2012, delivering record earningsnet income of $738$930.4 million, a 9.6% increase over the prior year, and sales growth of $546$530.9 million, a 6.6% increase over the prior year. We completed the year with strong growth in all areas of our commercial and retail businesses.business. We are excited aboutpleased with the results of our retail business opportunities and encouraged by the increase in our commercial business, where we continue to build our internal sales force and continue to refine our parts assortment. There are various factors occurring within the current economy that affect both our customers and our industry, including the impact of the recent recession, continued high unemployment, and other challenging economic conditions, which we believe have aided our sales growth during the credit crisis and higher unemployment.year. As consumers’ cash flows have decreased due to these factors, we believe consumers have become more likely to keep their current vehicles longer and perform repair and maintenance in order to keep those vehicles well maintained. Our belief is supported by industry data showing an increase in the average age of vehicles on the road and recent declines in new car sales, which we believe have led to an increase in demand for the products that we sell. Given the nature of these macroeconomic factors, we cannot predict whether or for how long these trends will continue, nor can we predict to what degree these trends will impact us in the future.

Another macroeconomic factor affecting our customers and our industry is gas prices. We believe gas prices have adversely impacted our customers’ behavior with respect to driving and maintaining their cars. 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. During fiscal 2012, the average price per gallon of unleaded gasoline in the United States remained at a high level of $3.57 per gallon compared to $3.33 per gallon during fiscal 2011. We continue to believe gas prices remain at overall high levels, thereby reducing discretionary spending for all consumers, and, in particular, our customers. 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 future periods.

During fiscal 2012, failure and maintenance related categories represented the largest portion of our sales mix, at approximately 83% of total sales, with failure related categories continuing to be our strongest performers. While we have not experienced any fundamental shifts in our category sales mix as compared to previous years, we did experience a slight decline in sales of the maintenance category. We believe maintenance related products were negatively impacted by weather. Because of the unusually mild winter across parts of the U.S., we saw less wear on maintenance related products compared to the prior fiscal year. We remain focused on refining and expanding our product assortment to ensure we have the best merchandise at the right price in each of our categories.

Our primary response to fluctuations in the demand for the products we sell is to adjust our advertising message, store staffing, and product assortment. We continue to believe we are well positioned to help our customers save money and meet their needs in a challenging macro economicmacroeconomic environment.

Also, we believe changes in gas prices impact our customers’ behavior with respect to driving and maintaining their cars. With approximately ten billion gallons of unleaded gas consumed each month across the United States, each $1 dollar decrease at the pump contributes approximately $10 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 in the future, nor can we predict how any future changes in gas prices will impact our sales in future periods.

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.

19


Miles Driven

We believe that as the number of miles driven increases, consumers’ vehicles are more likely to need service and maintenance, resulting in an increase in the need for automotive hard parts and maintenance items. Prior to the recession, we had seen a close correlation between annual miles driven and our annual net sales; however, this correlation has not existed in the recent short-term recessionary period. Since the beginning of the fiscal year and through July 2010June 2012 (latest publicly available information), miles driven wereremained relatively flat as compared to the comparablesame period last year. However, during the first two quarters of calendar 2012, miles driven improved by 1.1% compared to the prior year period. Throughout this periodfiscal year and contrary to the correlation experienced prior to the recession, sales have grown at an increaseda consistent rate, while miles driven have grown at a slower rate than what we have historically experienced. We believe that the impact of changes in other factors, primarily an increase in seven year old or olderthe average age of vehicles, more than offset the impact of miles driven. AsOver the economy continues to recover,long-term, we believe that annual miles driven will return to pre-recession low single digit growth rates, and the correlation between annual miles driven and the annual sales growth of our industry should return.

Seven Year Old or Older Vehicles

Since 2008, new vehicle sales have been significantly lower than historical levels, which we believe contributed to an increasing number of seven year old or older vehicles on the road. We estimate vehicles are driven an average of approximately 12,500 miles each year. In seven years, the average miles driven equates to approximately 87,500 miles. Our experience is that at this point in a vehicle’s life, most vehicles are not covered by warranties and increased maintenance is needed to keep the vehicle operating. According to data provided by the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association, as of December 2011, the numberaverage age of seven year old or older vehicles increased by approximately 2.2% duringon the 2009 calendar yearroad is 10.8 years as compared to the 2008 calendar year.10.6 years as of December 2010. As the number of seven year old or older vehicles on the road increases, we expect an increase in demand for the products that we sell. InAlthough we have seen an improvement in new car sales during fiscal 2011 and 2012, in the near term, we expect this trendthe aging vehicle population to continue to increase, as consumers keep their cars longer in an effort to save money during this uncertain economy.

Results of Operations

Fiscal 20102012 Compared with Fiscal 20092011

For the fiscal year ended August 28, 2010,25, 2012, we reported net sales of $7.363$8.604 billion compared with $6.817$8.073 billion for the year ended August 29, 2009, an 8.0%27, 2011, a 6.6% increase from fiscal 2009.2011. This growth was driven primarily by an increase in domestic same store sales of 5.4%3.9% and sales from new stores of $203.4$214.2 million. The improvement in domestic same store sales was driven by an improvement in transaction count trends, while increases in averagehigher transaction value, remained generally consistent with our long-term trends. Higherpartially offset by decreased transaction value is attributable to product inflation due to both more complex, costly products and commodity price increases.

counts.

At August 28, 2010,25, 2012, we operated 4,3894,685 domestic stores and 238321 stores in Mexico, compared with 4,2294,534 domestic stores and 188279 stores in Mexico at August 29, 2009.27, 2011. We reported a domestic retailtotal auto parts (domestic and Mexico operations) sales increase of 6.9% and a domestic commercial sales increase of 13.8%6.5% for fiscal 2010.

2012.

Gross profit for fiscal 20102012 was $3.712$4.432 billion, or 50.4%51.5% of net sales, compared with $3.416$4.119 billion, or 50.1%51.0% of net sales for fiscal 2009.2011. The improvement in gross margin was primarily attributable to leveraging distribution costs due to higher sales and operating efficienciesmerchandise margins (19 basis points) and lower shrink expense (17 basis points).

Lower acquisition costs drove the higher merchandise margins for the year.

Operating, selling, general and administrative expenses for fiscal 20102012 increased to $2.392$2.803 billion, or 32.6% of net sales, from $2.625 billion, or 32.5% of net sales from $2.240 billion, or 32.9% of net sales for fiscal 2009.2011. The reductionslight increase in operating expenses, as a percentage of sales, reflected leveragewas the result of store operating expenses due to higher sales,self-insurance costs (42 basis points); partially offset by higher pension expense (17lower incentive compensation (30 basis points) and the continued investment in the hub store initiative (16 basis points).

Interest expense, net for fiscal 20102012 was $158.9$175.9 million compared with $142.3$170.6 million during fiscal 2009.2011. This increase was primarily due to higher average borrowing levels over the comparable prior year period.period; partially offset by a decline in borrowing rates. Average borrowings for fiscal 20102012 were $2.752$3.507 billion, compared with $2.460$3.103 billion for fiscal 20092011 and weighted average borrowing rates were 5.3%4.7% for fiscal 2010,2012, compared to 5.4%5.1% for fiscal 2009.

2011.

Our effective income tax rate was 36.4%36.0% of pre-tax income for fiscal 20102012 compared to 36.4%35.9% for fiscal 2009.

2011.

Net income for fiscal 20102012 increased by 12.4%9.6% to $738.3$930.4 million, and diluted earnings per share increased 27.6%20.6% to $14.97$23.48 from $11.73$19.47 in fiscal 2009.2011. The impact of the fiscal 20102012 stock repurchases on diluted earnings per share in fiscal 20102012 was an increase of approximately $0.74.

$0.96.

20


Fiscal 20092011 Compared with Fiscal 20082010

For the fiscal year ended August 29, 2009,27, 2011, we reported net sales of $6.817$8.073 billion compared with $6.523$7.363 billion for the year ended August 30, 2008,28, 2010, a 4.5%9.6% increase from fiscal 2008. Excluding $125.9 million of sales from the 53rdweek included in the prior year, total company net sales increased 6.6%.2010. This growth was driven primarily by an increase in domestic same store sales of 4.4%6.3% and sales from new stores of $165.5$216.8 million. The improvement in domestic same store sales was driven by an improvement in transaction count trends, while increases in averagehigher transaction value remained generally consistent with our long-termand, to a lesser extent, higher transaction count trends. Higher transaction value is attributable to product inflation due to both more complex, costly products and commodity price increases.

At August 29, 2009,27, 2011, we operated 4,2294,534 domestic stores and 188279 stores in Mexico, compared with 4,0924,389 domestic stores and 148238 stores in Mexico at August 30, 2008. Excluding the28, 2010. We reported a total auto parts (domestic and Mexico operations) sales from the 53rdweek in the prior year, domestic retail sales increased 7.1% and domestic commercial sales increased 4.3%.

increase of 9.6% for fiscal 2011.

Gross profit for fiscal 20092011 was $3.416$4.119 billion, or 50.1%51.0% of net sales, compared with $3.268$3.712 billion, or 50.1%50.4% of net sales for fiscal 2008. Gross profit2010. The improvement in gross margin was primarily attributable to lower shrink expense (32 basis points) and higher merchandise margins (26 basis points). Increased penetration of Duralast product sales, as a percent of net sales was positively impacted by favorable distribution costs from improved efficiencies and lower fuel costs. However, this favorability was largelywell as retail price increases on commodity based products, drove the higher merchandise margins, which were partially offset by a shift in mix to lower margin products.

increased penetration of commercial sales.

Operating, selling, general and administrative expenses for fiscal 20092011 increased to $2.240$2.625 billion, or 32.9%32.5% of net sales, from $2.144$2.392 billion, or 32.9%32.5% of net sales for fiscal 2008. Leverage from increased2010. The slight increase in operating expenses, as a percentage of sales, was largely offset by expenses associated with our continued enhancements to our hub storesthe result of higher fuel costs (20 basis points) and increased incentive compensation costs (17 basis points), an acceleration of our store maintenance program (9 basis points), and a continued expansion of our commercialpartially offset by leverage due to higher sales force (7 basis points).

volumes.

Interest expense, net for fiscal 20092011 was $142.3$170.6 million compared with $116.7$158.9 million during fiscal 2008.2010. This increase was primarily due to higher average borrowing levels over the comparable prior year period andperiod; partially offset by a higher percentage of fixed rate debt.decline in borrowing rates. Average borrowings for fiscal 20092011 were $2.460$3.103 billion, compared with $2.024$2.752 billion for fiscal 20082010 and weighted average borrowing rates were 5.4%5.1% for fiscal 2009,2011, compared to 5.2%5.3% for fiscal 2008.

2010.

Our effective income tax rate was 36.4%35.9% of pre-tax income for fiscal 20092011 compared to 36.3%36.4% for fiscal 2008.

2010.

Net income for fiscal 20092011 increased by 2.4%15.0% to $657.0$849.0 million, and diluted earnings per share increased 16.8%30.0% to $11.73$19.47 from $10.04$14.97 in fiscal 2008.2010. The impact of the fiscal 20092011 stock repurchases on diluted earnings per share in fiscal 20092011 was an increase of approximately $0.78. Excluding the additional week in the prior year, net income for the year increased 5.0% over the previous year, while diluted earnings per share increased 19.7%.

$1.15.

Seasonality and Quarterly Periods

Our business is somewhat seasonal in nature, with the highest sales typically occurring in the spring and summer months of February through September, in which average weekly per-store sales historically have been about 15% to 25% higher than in the slower months of December and January. During short periods of time, a store’s sales can be affected by weather conditions. Extremely hot or extremely cold weather may enhance sales by causing parts to fail and spurringfail; thereby increasing sales of seasonal products. Mild or rainy weather tends to soften sales, as parts failure rates are lower in mild weather, with elective maintenance deferred during periods of rainy weather. Over the longer term, the effects of weather balance out, as we have stores throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and Mexico.

Each of the first three quarters of our fiscal year consistedconsists of 12 weeks, and the fourth quarter consisted of 16 weeks in 2010, 16 weeks in 2009,2012, 2011, and 17 weeks in 2008.2010. Because the fourth quarter contains the seasonally high sales volume and consists of 16 or 17 weeks, compared with 12 weeks for each of the first three quarters, our fourth quarter represents a disproportionate share of the annual net sales and net income. The fourth quarter of fiscal year 2012 represented 32.1% of annual sales and 34.8% of net income; the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 represented 32.7% of annual sales and 35.5% of net income; and the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010 containing 16 weeks, represented 33.2% of annual sales and 36.4% of net income; the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009, containing 16 weeks, represented 32.7% of annual sales and 35.9% of net income; and the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008, containing 17 weeks, represented 33.9% of annual sales and 38.0% of net income.

21


Liquidity and Capital Resources

The primary source of our liquidity is our cash flows realized through the sale of automotive parts and accessories.products. Net cash provided by operating activities was $1,196.3 million$1.224 billion in fiscal 2010, $923.8 million2012, $1.292 billion in fiscal 2009,2011, and $921.1 million$1.196 billion in fiscal 2008. The increase over prior2010. Cash flows from operations are unfavorable to last year was primarily due to higherthe change in inventories net income of $81.3 million and improvements in accounts payable as our cash flows from operating activities continue to benefit from our inventory purchases being largely financedpayables, offset by our vendors. The increase in fiscal 2009 as compared to fiscal 2008 was due primarily to the growth in net income, timing of income tax payments and deductions, and improvements in our accounts payable to inventory ratio as our vendors finance a large portion of our inventory. Partially offsetting this increase were higher accounts receivable and the 53rd week of income in fiscal 2008.income. We had an accounts payable to inventory ratio of 106%111.4% at August 25, 2012, 111.7% at August 27, 2011, and 105.6% at August 28, 2010, 96% at August 29, 2009, and 95% at August 30, 2008.2010. Our inventory increases are primarily attributable to an increased number of stores and to a lesser extent, our efforts to update product assortmentassortments in all of our stores. Many of our vendors have supported our initiative to update our product assortmentassortments by providing extended payment terms. These extended payment terms have allowed us to continue to growour high accounts payable at a faster rate than inventory.

to inventory ratio.

Our primary capital requirement has been the funding of our continued new-store development program. From the beginning of fiscal 20082010 to August 28, 2010,25, 2012, we have opened 578594 new stores. Net cash flows used in investing activities were $374.8 million in fiscal 2012, compared to $319.0 million in fiscal 2011, and $307.4 million in fiscal 2010, compared to $263.7 million in fiscal 2009, and $243.2 million in fiscal 2008.2010. We invested $315.4$378.1 million in capital assets in fiscal 2010,2012, compared to $272.2$321.6 million in capital assetsfiscal 2011, and $315.4 million in fiscal 2009, and $243.6 million in capital assets in fiscal 2008.2010. The increase in capital expenditures during this time was primarily attributable to the number and types of stores opened, and increased investment in our existing stores.stores, and continued investment in our hub store initiative. New store openings were 193 for fiscal 2012, 188 for fiscal 2011, and 213 for fiscal 2010, 180 for2010. We also completed 40 hub projects in fiscal 2009,2012 and 185 for20 hub projects in fiscal 2008.2011 as part of our ongoing hub initiative. We invest a portion of our assets held by the Company’s wholly owned insurance captive in marketable securities. We acquired $56.2$45.7 million of marketable securities in fiscal 2010, $48.42012, $43.8 million in fiscal 2009,2011, and $54.3$56.2 million in fiscal 2008.2010. We had proceeds from the sale of marketable securities of $42.4 million in fiscal 2012, $43.1 million in fiscal 2011, and $52.6 million in fiscal 2010, $46.3 million in fiscal 2009, and $50.7 million in fiscal 2008.2010. Capital asset disposals provided $6.6 million in fiscal 2012, $3.3 million in fiscal 2011, and $11.5 million in fiscal 2010, $10.7 million in fiscal 2009, and $4.0 million in fiscal 2008.

2010.

Net cash used in financing activities was $843.4 million in fiscal 2012, $973.8 million in fiscal 2011, and $883.5 million in fiscal 2010, $806.9 million in fiscal 2009, and $522.7 million in fiscal 2008.2010. The net cash used in financing activities reflected purchases of treasury stock which totaled $1.1$1.363 billion for fiscal 2010, $1.32012, $1.467 billion for fiscal 2009,2011, and $849.2 million$1.124 billion for fiscal 2008.2010. The treasury stock purchases in fiscal 2010, 20092012, 2011 and 20082010 were primarily funded by cash flowflows from operations and at times, by increases in debt levels. Proceeds from issuance of debt were $26.2 million for fiscal 2010, $500.0 million for fiscal 2009,2012 and $750.0$500.0 million for fiscal 2008. There2011; there were no debt repayments forissuances in fiscal 2010; debt repayments were $300.7 million for fiscal 2009, and $229.8 million for fiscal 2008.2010. In fiscal 2009, we used2012, the proceeds from the issuance of debt to repay outstandingwere used for the repayment of a portion of commercial paper indebtedness, to prepay our $300 million term loan in August 2009borrowings and for general corporate purposes, including for working capital requirements, capital expenditures, store openings and stock repurchases. ProceedsIn fiscal 2011, we used the proceeds from the debt issuance in fiscal 2008 were usedof debt to repay outstandingour $199.3 million term loan in November 2010, to repay a portion of our commercial paper indebtednessborrowings and for general corporate purposes, includingpurposes. There were no repayments of debt for working capital requirements, capital expenditures, store openingsfiscal 2012 or fiscal 2010. Net payments of commercial paper and stock repurchases. Netshort-term borrowings were $81.3 million for fiscal 2012. In 2011 and 2010, we received proceeds from the issuance of commercial paper were $155.4and short term borrowing in the amount of $141.5 million forand $181.6 million, respectively.

During fiscal 2010 and $277.6 million for fiscal 2009. For fiscal 2008, net repayments of commercial paper were $206.7 million.

We2013, we expect to invest in our business consistent with historical rates duringat an increased rate as compared to fiscal 2011, with our investment being2012. Our investments are expected to be directed primarily to our new-store development program and enhancements to existing stores and infrastructure. The amount of our investments in our new-store program 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 Mexico,Brazil, or located in urban or rural areas. During fiscal 2010,2012, fiscal 2009,2011, and fiscal 2008,2010, our capital expenditures have increased by approximately 16%18%, 12%2% and 9%16%, respectively, as compared to the prior year. Our mix of store openings has moved away from build-to-suit leases (lower cost)initial capital investment) to ground leases and land purchases (higher cost)initial capital investment), resulting in increased capital expenditures duringper store over the previous three years, and we expect this trend to continue during the fiscal year ending August 27, 2011.
31, 2013.

In addition to the building and land costs, our new-store development program requires 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. 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.

22


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 credit ratings and favorable experiences in the debt markets in the past.

Our cash balances are held in various locations around the world. Of the $103 million and $98 million of cash and cash equivalents at August 25, 2012, and August 27, 2011, respectively, $7.8 million and $6.7 million, respectively, were held outside of the U.S. and were generally utilized to support liquidity needs in our foreign operations. We intend to continue to permanently reinvest the cash in our foreign operations.

For the fiscal year ended August 28, 2010,25, 2012, our after-tax return on invested capital (“ROIC”) was 27.6%33.0% as compared to 24.4%31.3% 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 increased primarily due to increased after-tax operating profit. 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

In July 2009,September 2011, we terminatedamended and restated our $1.0 billion$800 million revolving credit facility, which was scheduled to expire in fiscal 2010, and replaced it with an $800 millionJuly 2012. The capacity under the revolving credit facility.facility was increased to $1.0 billion. 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 may be increased to $1.0$1.250 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 $100$175 million in capital leases each fiscal year. As the available balance is reduced by commercial paper borrowings and certain outstanding letters of credit, we had $331.1 million in available capacity under this facility at August 28, 2010. 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 the London InterBank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) plus the applicable percentage, which could range from 150 basis points to 450 basis points,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 atas defined in the prime rate.revolving credit facility. We also have the option to borrow funds under the terms of a swingline loan subfacility. The revolving credit facility expires in July 2012.

September 2016.

The revolving credit facility agreement requires that our consolidated interest coverage ratio as of the last day of each quarter shall be no less than 2.50:1. This ratio is defined as the ratio of (i) consolidated earnings before interest, taxes and rents to (ii) consolidated interest expense plus consolidated rents. Our consolidated interest coverage ratio as of August 28, 201025, 2012 was 4.27:4.58:1.

As the available balance is reduced by commercial paper borrowings and certain outstanding letters of credit, we had $454.9 million of available capacity under our $1.0 billion revolving credit facility at August 25, 2012.

In June 2010, we entered into 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 August 28, 2010,25, 2012, we have $100.0$98.7 million in letters of credit outstanding under the letter of credit facility, which expires in June 2013.

During August 2009, we elected to prepay, without penalty, the $300 million bank term loan entered in December 2004, and subsequently amended. The term loan facility provided for a term loan, which consisted of, at our election, base rate loans, Eurodollar loans or a combination thereof. The entire unpaid principal amount of the term loan would be due and payable in full on December 23, 2009, when the facility was scheduled to terminate. Interest accrued on base rate loans at a base rate per annum equal to the higher of the prime rate or the Federal Funds Rate plus 1/2 of 1%. We entered into an interest rate swap agreement on December 29, 2004, to effectively fix, based on current debt ratings, the interest rate of the term loan at 4.4%. The outstanding liability associated with the interest rate swap totaled $3.6 million, and was expensed in operating, selling, general and administrative expenses upon termination of the hedge in fiscal 2009.

23


On July 2, 2009,April 24, 2012, we issued $500 million in 5.75%3.700% Senior Notes due 2015April 2022 under our shelf registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 29, 2008April 17, 2012 (the “Shelf Registration”). Also, on August 4, 2008, we issued $500 million in 6.50% Senior Notes due 2014 and $250 million in 7.125% Senior Notes due 2018 under the Shelf Registration. The 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 store openings, stock repurchases and acquisitions. In fiscal 2009,Proceeds from the Companydebt issuance on April 24, 2012, were used to repay a portion of the commercial paper borrowings and for general corporate purposes. On November 15, 2010, we issued $500 million in 4.000% Senior Notes due 2020 under a shelf registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 29, 2008. We used the proceeds from the November 15, 2010 issuance of debt to repay outstandingthe principal due relating to the 4.750% Senior Notes that matured on November 15, 2010, to repay a portion of the commercial paper indebtedness, to prepay our $300 million term loan in August 2009borrowings and for general corporate purposes. Proceeds from the debt issuance in fiscal 2008 were used to repay outstanding commercial paper indebtedness and for general corporate purposes.

The 5.75%5.750% Senior Notes issued in July 2009 and the 6.50%6.500% and 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. TheyThe Notes, along with the 3.700% Senior Notes issued in April 2012 and the 4.000% Senior Notes issued in during November 2010, also contain a provision that repayment of the Notesnotes 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 revolving credit facility, covenants include limitations on total indebtedness, restrictions on liens, a minimum fixed charge coveragemaximum debt to earnings ratio, and a change of control provision that may require acceleration of the repayment obligations under certain circumstances. These covenants are in addition to the consolidated interest coverage ratio discussed above. 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 August 28, 2010,25, 2012, we were in compliance with all covenants related to our borrowing arrangements and expect to remain in compliance with those covenants in the future.

Our

For the fiscal year ended August 25, 2012, our adjusted debt to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, rent and share-based compensation expense (“EBITDAR”) ratio was 2.4:2.5:1 and 2.5:as compared to 2.4:1 as of August 28, 2010 and August 29, 2009, respectively.the comparable prior year end. 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 compensation expense to net income. 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

During 1998, we announced a program permitting us to repurchase a portion of our outstanding shares not to exceed a dollar maximum established by our Board of Directors. The program was amended in June 2010Directors (the “Board”). On March 7, 2012, the Board voted to increase the authorization by $750 million to raise the cumulative share repurchase authorization from $11.15 billion to $8.9 billion from $8.4$11.90 billion. From January 1998 to August 28, 2010,25, 2012, we have repurchased a total of 121.7131.1 million shares at an aggregate cost of $8.7$11.5 billion. We repurchased 3.8 million shares of common stock at an aggregate cost of $1.363 billion during fiscal 2012, 5.6 million shares of common stock at an aggregate cost of $1.467 billion during fiscal 2011, and 6.4 million shares of common stock at an aggregate cost of $1.1$1.124 billion during fiscal 2010, 9.3 million shares of common stock at an aggregate cost of $1.3 billion during fiscal 2009, and 6.8 million shares of common stock at an aggregate cost of $849.2 million during fiscal 2008.2010. Considering cumulative repurchases as of August 28, 2010,25, 2012, we have $185.4$355.8 million remaining under the Board of Director’s authorization to repurchase our common stock.

On September 28, 2010,

Subsequent to August 25, 2012, the Board of Directors voted to increase the authorization by $500$750 million to raise the cumulative share repurchase authorization from $8.9$11.90 billion to $9.4$12.65 billion. We have repurchased approximately 800 thousand629,168 shares of our common stock at an aggregate cost of $185.9$234.6 million during fiscal 2011.

2013.

24


Financial Commitments

The following table shows our significant contractual obligations as of August 28, 2010:

                     
  Total  Payment Due by Period 
  Contractual  Less than  Between  Between  Over 
(in thousands) Obligations  1 year  1-3 years  4-5 years  5 years 
Long-term debt(1)
 $2,882,300  $632,300  $500,000  $1,000,000  $750,000 
Interest payments(2)
  617,225   140,600   245,238   155,800   75,587 
Operating leases(3)
  1,740,047   196,291   357,943   284,836   900,977 
Capital leases (4)
  92,745   21,947   44,832   25,966    
Self-insurance reserves(5)
  158,384   60,955   43,045   22,688   31,696 
Construction commitments  15,757   15,757          
                
  $5,506,458  $1,067,850  $1,191,058  $1,489,290  $1,758,260 
                
25, 2012:

(in thousands)

  Total
Contractual
Obligations
   Payment Due by Period 
    Less than
1  year
   Between
1-3 years
   Between
3-5 years
   Over
5 years
 

Long-term debt(1)

  $3,718,302    $968,302    $1,000,000    $500,000    $1,250,000  

Interest payments(2)

   713,417     165,529     232,800     134,775     180,313  

Operating leases(3)

   1,910,410     217,844     401,596     332,535     958,435  

Capital leases (4)

   105,404     29,842     53,379     22,183     —    

Self-insurance reserves(5)

   179,673     63,484     49,306     25,375     41,508  

Construction commitments

   25,604     25,604     —      —       —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
  $6,652,810    $1,470,605    $1,737,081    $1,014,868    $2,430,256  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

(1)Long-term debt balances represent principal maturities, excluding interest.
(2)Represents obligations for interest payments on long-term debt.
(3)Operating lease obligations are inclusive of amounts accrued within deferred rent and closed store obligations reflected in our consolidated balance sheets.
(4)Capital lease obligations include related interest.
(5)We retain a significant portion of the risks associated with workers’ compensation, employee health, general and product liability, property, and vehicle insurance. These amounts representSelf-insurance reserves reflect estimates based on actuarial calculations. Although these obligations do not have scheduled maturities, the timing of future payments are predictable based upon historical patterns. Accordingly, we reflect the net present value of these obligations in our consolidated balance sheets.

We have pension obligations reflected in our consolidated balance sheet that are not reflected in the table above due to the absence of scheduled maturities and the nature of the account. During fiscal 2012, we made contributions of $15.4 million to the pension plan. We expect to make contributions of approximately $9 million during fiscal 2013; however a change to the expected cash funding may be impacted by a change in interest rates or a change in the actual or expected return on plan assets.

As of August 28, 2010,25, 2012, our defined benefit obligation associated with our pension liabilityplans is $211.5$305.2 million and our pension assets are valued at $117.2$181.4 million, resulting in a net pension obligation of $123.8 million. Amounts recorded in accumulatedAccumulated other comprehensive loss are $94.3$154.7 million at August 28, 2010. These amounts25, 2012. The balance in Accumulated other comprehensive loss will be amortized into pension expense in the future, unless theythe losses are recovered in future periods through actuarial gains.

Additionally, our tax liability for uncertain tax positions, including interest and penalties, was $46.5$31.8 million at August 28, 2010.25, 2012. Approximately $28.4$7.5 million is classified as current liabilities and $18.1$24.3 million is classified as long-term liabilities. We did not reflect these obligations in the table above as we are unable to make an estimate of the timing of payments due to uncertainties in the timing of the settlement of these tax positions.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

The following table reflects outstanding letters of credit and surety bonds as of August 28, 2010:

     
  Total 
  Other 
(in thousands) Commitments 
Standby letters of credit $107,554 
Surety bonds  23,723 
    
  $131,277 
    
25, 2012:

(in thousands)

  Total
Other
Commitments
 

Standby letters of credit

  $102,258  

Surety bonds

   33,083  
  

 

 

 
  $135,341  
  

 

 

 

A substantial portion of the outstanding standby letters of credit (which are primarily renewed on an annual basis) and surety bonds are used to cover reimbursement obligations to our workers’ compensation carriers. There are no additional contingent liabilities associated with themthese instruments as the underlying liabilities are already reflected in our consolidated balance sheet. The standby letters of credit and surety bonds arrangements expire within one year, but have automatic renewal clauses.

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

“Selected Financial Data” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” include certain financial measures not derived in accordance with 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.

25


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 as it indicates more clearly our comparative year-to-year operating results. Furthermore, our management and Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors use the above-mentioned 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: Cash Flow Before Share Repurchases and Changes in Debt

The following table reconciles net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents to cash flow before share repurchases and changes in debt, which is presented in “Selected Financial Data”:

                     
  Fiscal Year Ended August 
(in thousands) 2010  2009  2008  2007  2006 
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents $5,574  $(149,755) $155,807  $(4,904) $16,748 
Less: Increase (decrease) in debt  181,586   476,900   314,382   78,461   (4,693)
Less: Share repurchases  (1,123,655)  (1,300,002)  (849,196)  (761,887)  (578,066)
                
Cash flow before share repurchases and changes in debt $947,643  $673,347  $690,621  $678,522  $599,507 
                

   Fiscal Year Ended August 

(in thousands)

  2012   2011  2010   2009  2008 

Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents

  $5,487    $(674 $5,574    $(149,755 $155,807  

Less: Increase in debt

   418,729     442,201    181,586     476,900    314,382  

Plus: Share repurchases

   1,362,869     1,466,802    1,123,655     1,300,002    849,196  
  

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

 

Cash flow before share repurchases and changes in debt

  $949,627    $1,023,927   $947,643    $673,347   $690,621  
  

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

 

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measure: After-tax Return on Invested Capital

The following table reconcilescalculates the percentagespercentage of ROIC. ROIC is calculated as after-tax operating profit (excluding rent) divided by average invested capital (which includes a factor to capitalize operating leases). The ROIC percentages are presented in “Selected Financial Data” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”:

                     
  Fiscal Year Ended August 
(in thousands, except percentages) 2010  2009  2008(1)  2007  2006 
Net income $738,311  $657,049  $641,606  $595,672  $569,275 
Adjustments:                    
Interest expense  158,909   142,316   116,745   119,116   107,889 
Rent expense  195,632   181,308   165,121   152,523   143,888 
Tax effect(2)
  (128,983)  (117,929)  (102,345)  (98,796)  (92,880)
                
After-tax return $963,869  $862,744  $821,127  $768,515  $728,172 
                
                     
Average debt(3)
 $2,769,617  $2,468,351  $2,074,738  $1,888,989  $1,822,642 
Average (deficit) equity(4)
  (507,885)  (75,162)  308,401   482,702   518,303 
Rent x 6(5)
  1,173,792   1,087,848   990,726   915,138   863,328 
Average capital lease obligations(6)
  62,220   58,901   60,763   27,093    
                
Pre-tax invested capital $3,497,744  $3,539,938  $3,434,628  $3,313,922  $3,204,273 
                
                     
ROIC  27.6%  24.4%  23.9%  23.2%  22.7%
                

   Fiscal Year Ended August 

(in thousands, except percentages)

  2012  2011  2010  2009  2008(1) 

Net income

  $930,373   $848,974   $738,311   $657,049   $641,606  

Adjustments:

      

Interest expense

   175,905    170,557    158,909    142,316    116,745  

Rent expense

   229,417    213,846    195,632    181,308    165,121  

Tax effect(2)

   (145,916  (137,962  (128,983  (117,929  (102,345
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

After-tax return

  $1,189,779   $1,095,415   $963,869   $862,744   $821,127  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Average debt(3)

  $3,508,970   $3,121,880   $2,769,617   $2,468,351   $2,074,738  

Average (deficit) equity(4)

   (1,372,342  (993,624  (507,885  (75,162  308,401  

Rent x 6(5)

   1,376,502    1,283,076    1,173,792    1,087,848    990,726  

Average capital lease obligations(6)

   96,027    84,966    62,220    58,901    60,763  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Pre-tax invested capital

  $3,609,157   $3,496,298   $3,497,744   $3,539,938   $3,434,628  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

ROIC

   33.0  31.3  27.6  24.4  23.9
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

(1)The fiscal year ended August 30, 2008 consisted of 53 weeks.
(2)The effective tax rate during fiscal 2012, 2011, 2010, fiscal 2009 fiscaland 2008 fiscal 2007 and fiscal 2006 was 36.4%36.0%, 35.9%, 36.4%, 36.3%, 36.4% and 36.9%36.3%, respectively.
(3)Average debt is equal to the average of our debt measured as of the previous five quarters.
(4)Average equity is equal to the average of our stockholders’ (deficit) equity measured as of the previous five quarters.
(5)Rent is multiplied by a factor of six to capitalize operating leases in the determination of pre-tax invested capital.
(6)Average capital lease obligations relating to vehicle capital leases entered into at the beginning of fiscal 2007 is computed as the average of our capital lease obligations over the trailingprevious five quarters. Rent expense associated with the vehicles prior to the conversion to capital leases is included in the rent for purposes of calculating return on invested capital.

26


Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measure: Adjusted Debt to EBITDAR

The following table reconcilescalculates the ratio of adjusted debt to EBITDAR. Adjusted debt to EBITDAR is calculated as the sum of total debt, capital lease obligations and annual rents times six; divided by net income plus interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, rent and share-based compensation expense. The adjusted debt to EBITDAR ratios are presented in “Selected Financial Data” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”:

                     
  Fiscal Year Ended August 
(in thousands, except ratios) 2010  2009  2008(1)  2007  2006 
Net income $738,311  $657,049  $641,606  $595,672  $569,275 
Add: Interest expense  158,909   142,316   116,745   119,116   107,889 
Income tax expense  422,194   376,697   365,783   340,478   332,761 
                
EBIT  1,319,414   1,176,062   1,124,134   1,055,266   1,009,925 
Add: Depreciation expense  192,084   180,433   169,509   159,411   139,465 
Rent expense  195,632   181,308   165,121   152,523   143,888 
Option expense  19,120   19,135   18,388   18,462   17,370 
                
EBITDAR $1,726,250  $1,556,938  $1,477,152  $1,385,662  $1,310,648 
                
                     
Debt $2,908,486  $2,726,900  $2,250,000  $1,935,618  $1,857,157 
Capital lease obligations  88,280   54,764   64,061   55,088    
Rent x 6  1,173,792   1,087,848   990,726   915,138   863,328 
                
Adjusted debt $4,170,558  $3,869,512  $3,304,787  $2,905,844  $2,720,485 
                
                     
Adjusted debt to EDITDAR  2.4   2.5   2.2   2.1   2.1 
                

   Fiscal Year Ended August 

(in thousands, except ratios)

  2012   2011   2010   2009   2008(1) 

Net income

  $930,373    $848,974    $738,311    $657,049    $641,606  

Add: Interest expense

   175,905     170,557     158,909     142,316     116,745  

Income tax expense

   522,613     475,272     422,194     376,697     365,783  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

EBIT

   1,628,891     1,494,803     1,319,414     1,176,062     1,124,134  

Add: Depreciation expense

   211,831     196,209     192,084     180,433     169,509  

Rent expense

   229,417     213,846     195,632     181,308     165,121  

Share-based expense

   33,363     26,625     19,120     19,135     18,388  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

EBITDAR

  $2,103,502    $1,931,483    $1,726,250    $1,556,938    $1,477,152  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Debt

  $3,768,183    $3,351,682    $2,908,486    $2,726,900    $2,250,000  

Capital lease obligations

   102,256     86,656     88,280     54,764     64,061  

Rent x 6

   1,376,502     1,283,076     1,173,792     1,087,848     990,726  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Adjusted debt

  $5,246,941    $4,721,414    $4,170,558    $3,869,512    $3,304,787  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Adjusted debt to EBITDAR

   2.5     2.4     2.4     2.5     2.2  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

(1)The fiscal year ended August 30, 2008 consisted of 53 weeks.
Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measure: Fiscal 2008 Results Excluding Impact of 53rd Week
The following table summarizes the favorable impact

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

See Note A of the additional week included in the 53-week fiscal year ended August 30, 2008:

                     
              Fiscal 2008    
          Results of  Results of    
  Fiscal 2008      Operations  Operations    
(in thousands, except per share data Results of  Percent of  for  Excluding  Percent of 
and percentages) Operations  Revenue  53rd Week  53rd Week  Revenue 
Net sales $6,522,706   100.0% $(125,894) $6,396,812   100.0%
Cost of sales  3,254,645   49.9%  (62,700)  3,191,945   49.9%
                
Gross profit  3,268,061   50.1%  (63,194)  3,204,867   50.1%
Operating expenses  2,143,927   32.9%  (36,087)  2,107,840   32.9%
                
Operating profit  1,124,134   17.2%  (27,107)  1,097,027   17.2%
Interest expense, net  116,745   1.8%  (2,340)  114,405   1.8%
                
Income before income taxes  1,007,389   15.4%  (24,767)  982,622   15.4%
Income taxes  365,783   5.6%  (8,967)  356,816   5.6%
                
Net income $641,606   9.8% $(15,800) $625,806   9.8%
                
Diluted earnings per share $10.04      $(0.24) $9.80     
                  
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In October 2009, theNotes to Consolidated Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2009-13,Revenue Arrangements with Multiple Deliverables, which amends Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 605 (formerly Emerging Issues Task Force Issue No. 00-21,Revenue Arrangements with Multiple Deliverables). This ASU addresses theStatements for a discussion on recent accounting for multiple-deliverable revenue arrangements to enable vendors to account for deliverables separately rather than as a combined unit. This ASU will be effective prospectively for revenue arrangements entered into commencing with our first fiscal quarter beginning August 29, 2010. We do not expect the provisions of ASU 2009-13 to have a material effect on the consolidated financial statements.

pronouncements.

27


Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

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. In the Notesnotes to Consolidated Financial Statements,our consolidated financial statements, we describe our significant accounting policies used in preparing the consolidated financial statements. Our policies are evaluated on an ongoing basis and 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 senior management has identified the critical accounting policies for the areas that are materially impacted by estimates and assumptions and have discussed such policies with the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors.Board. The following items in our consolidated financial statements represent our critical accounting policies that require significant estimation or judgment by management:

Inventory Reserves and Cost of Sales

LIFO

We state our inventories at the lower of cost or market using the last-in, first-out (“LIFO”) method for domestic merchandise and the first-in, first out (“FIFO”) method for Mexico inventories. Due to price deflation on our merchandise purchases, our domestic inventory balances are effectively maintained under the FIFO method. We do not write up inventory for favorable LIFO adjustments, and due to price deflation, LIFO costs of our domestic inventories exceed replacement costs by $247.3$270.4 million at August 28, 2010,25, 2012, calculated using the dollar value method.

Inventory Obsolescence and Shrinkage

Our inventory, primarily hard parts, maintenance items, accessories and non-automotive products, is used on vehicles that have rather long lives; and therefore, the risk of obsolescence is minimal and the majority of excess inventory has historically been returned to our vendors for credit. In the isolated instances where less than full credit will be received for such returns and where we anticipate that items will be sold at retail prices that are less than recorded costs, we record a charge (less than $20 million in each of the last three years) through cost of sales for the difference. These charges are based on management’s judgment, including estimates and assumptions regarding marketability of products and the market value of inventory to be sold in future periods.

Historically, we have not encountered material exposure to inventory obsolescence or excess inventory, nor have we experienced material changes to our estimates. However, we may be exposed to material losses should our vendors alter their policy with regard to accepting excess inventory returns.

Additionally, we reduce inventory for projected losses related to shrinkage, which is estimated based on historical losses and current inventory loss trends resulting from previous physical inventories. Shrinkage may occur due to theft, loss or inaccurate records for the receipt of goods, among other things. Throughout the year, we take physical inventory counts of our stores and distribution centers to verify these estimates. We make assumptions regarding upcoming physical inventory counts that may differ from actual results. Over the last three years, there has been less than a 2550 basis point fluctuation in our shrinkage rate.

Each quarter, we evaluate the accrued shrinkage in light of the actual shrink results. To the extent our actual physical inventory count results differ from our estimates, we may experience material adjustments to our financial statements. Historically, we have not experienced material adjustments to our shrinkage estimates and do not believe there is a reasonable likelihood that there will be a material change in the future estimates or assumptions we use.

A 10% difference in our inventory reserves as of August 28, 2010,25, 2012, would have affected net income by approximately $5$7 million in fiscal 2010.

2012.

Vendor Allowances

We receive various payments and allowances from our vendors through a variety of programs and arrangements, including allowances for warranties, advertising and general promotion of vendor products. Vendor allowances are treated as a reduction of inventory, unless they are provided as a reimbursement of specific, incremental, identifiable costs incurred by the Company in selling the vendor’s products. Approximately 85%87% of the vendor funds received are recorded as a reduction of the cost of inventories and recognized as a reduction to cost of sales as these inventories are sold.

28


Based on our vendor agreements, a significant portion of vendor funding we receive is based on our inventory purchases. Therefore, we record receivables for funding earned but not yet received as we purchase inventory. During the year, we regularly review the receivables from vendors to ensure vendors are able to meet their obligations. We generally have not recorded a reserve against these receivables as we have legal right of offset with our vendors for payments owed them. Historically, we have had minimal write-offs (lessless than $100$500 thousand in anyeach of the last three years).
years.

Self-Insurance Reserves

We retain a significant portion of the risks associated with workers’ compensation, employee health, general and products liability, property and vehicle insurance losses;liability; and we obtain third party insurance to limit the exposure related to certain of these risks. Our self-insurance reserve estimates totaled $156$175.8 million $158at August 25, 2012, and $159.3 million and $145 million as of the end of fiscal years 2010, 2009, and 2008, respectively. These changes areat August 27, 2011. This change is primarily reflective of our growing operations, including inflation, increases in health care costs, the number of vehicles and the number of hours worked, as well as our historical claims experience and changes in our discount rate.

The assumptions made by management in estimating our self-insurance reserves include consideration of historical cost experience, judgments about the present and expected levels of cost per claim and retention levels. We utilize various methods, including analyses of historical trends and actuarial methods, to estimate the cost to settle reported claims, and claims incurred but not yet reported. The actuarial methods develop estimates of the future ultimate claim costs based on the claims incurred as of the balance sheet date. When estimating these liabilities, we consider factors, such as the severity, duration and frequency of claims, legal costs associated with claims, healthcare trends, and projected inflation of related factors. In recent history, we have experienced improvements in frequency and duration of claims; however, medical and wage inflation have partially offset these trends. Throughout this time, our methods for determining our exposure have remained consistent, and theseour historical trends have been appropriately factored into our reserve estimates.

As we obtain additional information and refine our methods regarding the assumptions and estimates we use to recognize liabilities incurred, we will adjust our reserves accordingly.

Management believes that the various assumptions developed and actuarial methods used to determine our self- insurance reserves are reasonable and provide meaningful data and information that management uses to make its best estimate of our exposure to these risks. Arriving at these estimates, however, requires a significant amount of subjective judgment by management, and as a result these estimates are uncertain and our actual exposure may be different from our estimates. For example, changes in our assumptions about health care costs, the severity of accidents and the incidence of illness, the average size of claims and other factors could cause actual claim costs to vary materially from our assumptions and estimates, causing our reserves to be overstated or understated. For instance, a 10% change in our self-insurance liability would have affected net income by approximately $10$11 million for fiscal 2010.

As we obtain additional information and refine our methods regarding the assumptions and estimates we use to recognize liabilities incurred, we will adjust our reserves accordingly. In recent years, we have experienced favorable claims development, particularly related to workers’ compensation, and have adjusted our estimates as necessary. We attribute this success to programs, such as return to work and projects aimed at accelerating claims closure. The programs have matured and proven to be successful and are therefore considered in our current and future assumptions regarding claims costs.
2012.

Our liabilities for workers’ compensation, certain general and product liability, property and vehicle claims do not have scheduled maturities; however, the timing of future payments is predictable based on historical patterns and is relied upon in determining the current portion of these liabilities. Accordingly, we reflect the net present value of the obligations we determine to be long-term using the risk-free interest rate as of the balance sheet date. If the discount rate used to calculate the present value of these reserves changed by 50 basis points, net income would have changedbeen affected by approximately $2 million for fiscal 2010.2012. Our liability for health benefits is classified as current, as the historical average duration of claims is approximately six weeks.

29


Income Taxes

Our income tax returns are audited by state, federal and foreign tax authorities, and we are typically engaged in various tax examinations at any given time. Tax contingencies often arise due to uncertainty or differing interpretations of the application of tax rules throughout the various jurisdictions in which we operate. The contingencies are influenced by items such as tax audits, changes in tax laws, litigation, appeals and prior experience with similar tax positions. We regularly review our tax reserves for these items and assess the adequacy of the amount we have recorded. As of August 28, 2010,25, 2012, we had approximately $46.5$31.8 million reserved for uncertain tax positions.

We evaluate potential exposures associated with our various tax filings in accordance with ASC Topic 740 (formerly Financial Accounting Standards Board Interpretation No. 48,Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes) by estimating a liability for uncertain tax positions based on a two-step process. The first step is to evaluate the tax position for recognition by determining if the weight of available evidence indicates that it is more likely than not that the position will be sustained on audit, including resolution of related appeals or litigation processes, if any. The second step requires us to estimate and measure the tax benefit as the largest amount that is more than 50% likely to be realized upon ultimate settlement.

We believe our estimates to be reasonable and have not experienced material adjustments to our reserves in the previous three years; however, actual results could differ from our estimates and we may be exposed to gains or losses that could be material. Specifically, management has used judgment and made assumptions to estimate the likely outcome of uncertain tax positions. Additionally, to the extent we prevail in matters for which a liability has been established, or must pay in excess of recognized reserves, our effective tax rate in any particular period could be materially affected.

Pension Obligation

Prior to January 1, 2003, substantially all full-time employees were covered by a qualified defined benefit pension plan. The benefits under the plan were based on years of service and the employee’s highest consecutive five-year average compensation. On January 1, 2003, the plan was frozen. Accordingly, pension plan participants will earn no new benefits under the plan formula and no new participants will join the pension plan. On January 1, 2003, our supplemental, unqualified defined benefit pension plan for certain highly compensated employees was also frozen. Accordingly, plan participants will earn no new benefits under the plan formula and no new participants will join the pension plan. As the plan benefits are frozen, the annual pension expense and recorded liabilities are not impacted by increases in future compensation levels, but are impacted by the use of two key assumptions in the calculation of these balances:

Expected long-term rate of return on plan assets:WeFor the fiscal year ended August 25, 2012, we have assumed an 8%a 7.5% long-term rate of return on our plan assets. This estimate is a judgmental matter in which management considers the composition of our asset portfolio, our historical long-term investment performance and current market conditions. We review the expected long-term rate of return on an annual basis, and revise it accordingly. Additionally, we monitor the mix of investments in our portfolio to ensure alignment with our long-term strategy to manage pension cost and reduce volatility in our assets. At August 28, 2010,25, 2012, our plan assets totaled $117$181 million in our qualified plan. Our assets are generally valued using the net asset values, which are determined by valuing investments at the closing price or last trade reported on the major market on which the individual securities are traded. We have no assets in our nonqualified plan. A 50 basis point change in our expected long term rate of return would impact annual pension expense/incomeexpense by approximately $600$900 thousand for the qualified plan.

Discount rate used to determine benefit obligations:This rate is highly sensitive and is adjusted annually based on the interest rate for long-term, high-quality, corporate bonds as of the measurement date using yields for maturities that are in line with the duration of our pension liabilities. This same discount rate is also used to determine pension expense for the following plan year. For fiscal 2010,2012, we assumed a discount rate of 5.25%3.9%. A decrease in the discount rate increases our projected benefit obligation and pension expense. A 50 basis point change in the discount rate at August 28, 201025, 2012 would impact annual pension expense/income by approximately $2.2$2 million for the qualified plan and $40$30 thousand for the nonqualified plan.

Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

We are exposed to market risk from, among other things, changes in interest rates, foreign exchange rates and fuel prices. From time to time, we use various financialderivative instruments to reduce interest rate and fuel price risks. To date, based upon our current level of foreign operations, no derivative instruments have been utilized to reduce foreign exchange rate risk. All of our hedging activities are governed by guidelines that are authorized by our Board of Directors.the Board. Further, we do not buy or sell financialderivative instruments for trading purposes.

30


Interest Rate Risk

Our financial market risk results primarily from changes in interest rates. At times, we reduce our exposure to changes in interest rates by entering into various interest rate hedge instruments such as interest rate swap contracts, treasury lock agreements and forward-starting interest rate swaps.

We have historically utilized interest rate swaps to convert variable rate debt to fixed rate debt and to lock in fixed rates on future debt issuances. We reflect the current fair value of all interest rate hedge instruments as a component of either other current assets or accrued expenses and other. Our interest rate hedge instruments are designated as cash flow hedges.

Unrealized gains and losses on interest rate hedges are deferred in stockholders’ deficit as a component of accumulatedAccumulated other comprehensive loss. These deferred gains and losses are recognized in income as a decrease or increase to interest expense in the period in which the related cash flows being hedged are recognized in expense. However, to the extent that the change in value of an interest rate hedge instrument does not perfectly offset the change in the value of the cash flow being hedged, that ineffective portion is immediately recognized in earnings.

At

During the third quarter of fiscal 2012, the Company entered into two treasury rate locks. These agreements were designated as cash flow hedges and were used to hedge the exposure to variability in future cash flows resulting from changes in variable interest rates related to the $500 million Senior Note debt issuance in April 2012. The treasury rate locks had notional amounts of $300 million and $100 million with associated fixed rates of 2.09% and 2.07% respectively. The locks were benchmarked based on the 10-year U.S. treasury notes. These locks expired on April 20, 2012 and resulted in a loss of $2.8 million, which has been deferred in Accumulated other comprehensive loss and will be reclassified to Interest expense over the life of the underlying debt. The hedges remained highly effective until they expired, and no ineffectiveness was recognized in earnings.

As of August 28, 2010,25, 2012, we held forward starting interesttwo treasury rate swapslocks, each with a total notional amount of $300$100 million. These agreements, which are set to expire inon November of 2010,1, 2012, are cash flow hedges used to hedge the exposure to variability in future cash flows resulting from changes in variable interest rates relating to an anticipated debt transactions.transaction. The fixed rates of the hedges are 2.07% and 1.92% and are benchmarked based on the 10-year U.S. treasury notes. It is expected that upon settlement of thethese agreements, the realized gain or loss will be deferred in accumulatedAccumulated other comprehensive loss and reclassified to interestInterest expense over the life of the underlying debt. During fiscal 2009, we terminated an interest rate swap related to a $300 million term loan that was prepaid. As a result, at August 29, 2009, we had no outstanding interest rate swaps.

The fair value of our debt was estimated at $3.182$4.055 billion as of August 28, 2010,25, 2012, and $2.853$3.633 billion as of August 29, 2009,27, 2011, based on the quoted market prices for the same or similar debt issues or on the current rates available to us for debt having the same remaining maturities. Such fair value is greater than the carrying value of debt by $273.5$286.6 million and $126.5$281.0 million at August 28, 201025, 2012 and August 29, 2009,27, 2011, respectively. We had $459.2$518.2 million of variable rate debt outstanding at August 28, 2010,25, 2012, and $277.6$601.7 million of variable rate debt outstanding at August 29, 2009.27, 2011. In fiscal 2010,2012, at this borrowing level for variable rate debt, a one percentage point increase in interest rates would have had an unfavorable impact on our pre-tax earnings and cash flows of $4.6approximately $5 million. The primary interest rate exposure on variable rate debt is based on LIBOR. We had outstanding fixed rate debt of $2.449$3.250 billion at August 28, 2010,25, 2012, and $2.750 billion at August 29, 2009.27, 2011. A one percentage point increase in interest rates would reduce the fair value of our fixed rate debt by $94.2approximately $130 million at August 28, 2010.

25, 2012.

Fuel Price Risk

Fuel

From time to time, we utilize fuel swap contracts that we utilize have not previously been designated as hedging instruments and thus do not qualify for hedge accounting treatment, althoughin order to lower fuel cost volatility in our operating results. Historically, the instruments were executed to economically hedge a portion of our diesel and unleaded fuel exposure. However, we have not designated the fuel swap contracts as hedging instruments; and therefore, the contracts have not qualified for hedge accounting treatment. We did not enter into any fuel swap contracts during the 2010 fiscal year. During2012, fiscal year 2009, we entered into fuel swaps to economically hedge a portion of our unleaded fuel exposure. As of August 29, 2009, we had an outstanding liability of less than one hundred thousand dollars associated with our unleaded fuel swap which had no significant impact on our results of operations.

2011 or fiscal 2010.

Foreign Currency Risk

Foreign currency exposures arising from transactions include firm commitments and anticipated transactions denominated in a currency other than an entity’sour entities’ functional currency.currencies. To minimize our risk, we generally enter into transactions denominated in theirthe respective functional currencies. Foreign currency exposures arising from transactions denominated in currencies other than the functional currency are not material.

Our We are exposed to euros, Canadian dollars, and Brazilian reals, but our primary foreign currency exposure arises from Mexican peso-denominated revenues and profits and their translation into U.S. dollars.

We generally view our investments in the Mexican subsidiaries as long-term. As a result, we generally do not hedge these net investments. The net investmentasset exposure in the Mexican subsidiaries translated into U.S. dollars using the year-end exchange rates was $254.6$315.7 million at August 28, 201025, 2012 and $215.4$292.2 million at August 29, 2009.27, 2011. The potential loss in value of our net investmentassets in the Mexican subsidiaries resulting from a hypothetical 10 percent adverse change in quoted foreign currency exchange rates at August 28, 201025, 2012 and August 29, 2009,27, 2011, amounted to $23.1approximately $29 million and $19.6approximately $27 million, respectively. Any changes in our net investmentassets in the Mexican subsidiaries relating to foreign currency exchange rates would be reflected in the foreign currency translation component of accumulatedAccumulated other comprehensive loss, unless the Mexican subsidiaries are sold or otherwise disposed.

During fiscal 2010,2012, exchange rates with respect to the Mexican peso increaseddecreased by approximately 1.4%6.2% with respect to the U.S. dollar. Exchange rates with respect to the Mexican peso decreasedincreased by approximately 30%4.3% with respect to the U.S. dollar during fiscal 2009.

2011.

31



Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended). Our internal control over financial reporting includes, among other things, defined policies and procedures for conducting and governing our business, sophisticated information systems for processing transactions and properly trained staff. Mechanisms are in place to monitor the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, including regular testing performed by the Company’s internal audit team, which is comprised of both Company personnel and Deloitte & Touche LLP professionals and Company personnel.professionals. Actions are taken to correct deficiencies as they are identified. Our procedures for financial reporting include the active involvement of senior management, our Audit Committee and a staff of highly qualified financial and legal professionals.

Management, with the participation of our principal executive and financial officers, assessed our internal control over financial reporting as of August 28, 2010,25, 2012, the end of our fiscal year. Management based its assessment on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.

Based on this assessment, management has concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of August 28, 2010.

25, 2012.

Our independent registered public accounting firm, Ernst & Young LLP, audited the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Ernst & Young LLP has issued itsLLP’s attestation report concurring with management’s assessment, whichon the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of August 25, 2012 is included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

/s/ WILLIAM C. RHODES, III

William C. Rhodes, III

Chairman, President and

Chief Executive Officer

(Principal Executive Officer)

/s/ WILLIAM T. GILES

William T. Giles

Chief Financial Officer and Executive

Vice President – Finance, Information

Technology and ALLDATA

(Principal Financial Officer)

Certifications

Compliance with NYSE Corporate Governance Listing Standards

On January 4, 2010,5, 2012, the Company submitted to the New York Stock Exchange the Annual CEO Certification required pursuant to Section 303A.12(a) of the New York Stock Exchange Listed Company Manual.

Rule 13a-14(a)13a-14(a) Certifications of Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer

The Company has filed, as exhibits to its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 28, 2010,25, 2012, the certifications of its Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer required pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2004.

2002.

33


Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

The Board of Directors and Stockholders of AutoZone, Inc.

We have audited AutoZone, Inc.’s internal control over financial reporting as of August 28, 2010,25, 2012, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (the “COSO criteria”). AutoZone, Inc.’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting included in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on AutoZone, Inc.’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

In our opinion, AutoZone, Inc. maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of August 28, 2010,25, 2012, based on the COSO criteria.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the consolidated balance sheets of AutoZone, Inc. as of August 28, 201025, 2012 and August 29, 200927, 2011 and the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, stockholders’ (deficit) equity,deficit, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended August 28, 201025, 2012 of AutoZone, Inc. and our report dated October 25, 201022, 2012 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.

/s/ Ernst & Young LLP
/s/ Ernst & Young LLP

Memphis, Tennessee

October 25, 2010

22, 2012

34


Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

The Board of Directors and Stockholders of AutoZone, Inc.

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of AutoZone, Inc. as of August 28, 201025, 2012 and August 29, 200927, 2011 and the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, stockholders’ (deficit) equity,deficit, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended August 28, 2010.25, 2012. These financial statements are the responsibility of AutoZone, Inc.’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of AutoZone, Inc. as of August 28, 201025, 2012 and August 29, 2009,27, 2011, and the consolidated results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended August 28, 2010,25, 2012, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), AutoZone, Inc.’s internal control over financial reporting as of August 28, 2010,25, 2012, based on criteria established in Internal Control Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and our report dated October 25, 201022, 2012 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.

/s/ Ernst & Young LLP
/s/ Ernst & Young LLP

Memphis, Tennessee

October 25, 2010

22, 2012

35


Consolidated Statements of Income
             
  Year Ended 
  August 28,  August 29,  August 30, 
  2010  2009  2008 
(in thousands, except per share data) (52 weeks)  (52 weeks)  (53 weeks) 
             
Net sales $7,362,618  $6,816,824  $6,522,706 
Cost of sales, including warehouse and delivery expenses  3,650,874   3,400,375   3,254,645 
          
Gross profit  3,711,744   3,416,449   3,268,061 
Operating, selling, general and administrative expenses  2,392,330   2,240,387   2,143,927 
          
Operating profit  1,319,414   1,176,062   1,124,134 
Interest expense, net  158,909   142,316   116,745 
          
Income before income taxes  1,160,505   1,033,746   1,007,389 
Income tax expense  422,194   376,697   365,783 
          
Net income $738,311  $657,049  $641,606 
          
             
Weighted average shares for basic earnings per share  48,488   55,282   63,295 
Effect of dilutive stock equivalents  816   710   580 
          
Adjusted weighted average shares for diluted earnings per share  49,304   55,992   63,875 
             
Basic earnings per share $15.23  $11.89  $10.14 
          
Diluted earnings per share $14.97  $11.73  $10.04 
          

   Year Ended 

(in thousands, except per share data)

  August 25,
2012

(52 weeks)
   August 27,
2011

(52 weeks)
   August 28,
2010

(52 weeks)
 

Net sales

  $8,603,863    $8,072,973    $7,362,618  

Cost of sales, including warehouse and delivery expenses

   4,171,827     3,953,510     3,650,874  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Gross profit

   4,432,036     4,119,463     3,711,744  

Operating, selling, general and administrative expenses

   2,803,145     2,624,660     2,392,330  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Operating profit

   1,628,891     1,494,803     1,319,414  

Interest expense, net

   175,905     170,557     158,909  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Income before income taxes

   1,452,986     1,324,246     1,160,505  

Income tax expense

   522,613     475,272     422,194  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Net income

  $930,373    $848,974    $738,311  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Weighted average shares for basic earnings per share

   38,696     42,632     48,488  

Effect of dilutive stock equivalents

   929     971     816  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Adjusted weighted average shares for diluted earnings per share

   39,625     43,603     49,304  

Basic earnings per share

  $24.04    $19.91    $15.23  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

Diluted earnings per share

  $23.48    $19.47    $14.97  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

 

36


Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income

   Year Ended 

(in thousands)

  August 25,
2012

(52 weeks)
  August 27,
2011

(52 weeks)
  August 28,
2010

(52 weeks)
 

Net income

  $930,373   $848,974   $738,311  

Other comprehensive loss:

    
    

Pension liability adjustments, net of taxes(1)

   (17,262  (17,346  (8,133

Foreign currency translation adjustments

   (13,866  8,347    705  

Unrealized loss on marketable securities, net of taxes(2)

   (128  (171  (104

Net derivative activity, net of taxes(3)

   (1,066  (4,053  (6,890
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total other comprehensive loss

   (32,322  (13,223  (14,422
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Comprehensive income

  $898,051   $835,751   $723,889  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Consolidated Balance Sheets
         
  August 28,  August 29, 
(in thousands) 2010  2009 
         
Assets
        
Current assets:        
Cash and cash equivalents $98,280  $92,706 
Accounts receivable  125,802   126,514 
Merchandise inventories  2,304,579   2,207,497 
Other current assets  83,160   135,013 
       
Total current assets  2,611,821   2,561,730 
         
Property and equipment:        
Land  690,098   656,516 
Buildings and improvements  2,013,301   1,900,610 
Equipment  923,595   887,521 
Leasehold improvements  247,748   219,606 
Construction in progress  192,519   145,161 
       
   4,067,261   3,809,414 
Less: Accumulated depreciation and amortization  1,547,315   1,455,057 
       
   2,519,946   2,354,357 
         
Goodwill  302,645   302,645 
Deferred income taxes  46,223   59,067 
Other long-term assets  90,959   40,606 
       
   439,827   402,318 
       
  $5,571,594  $5,318,405 
       
         
Liabilities and Stockholders’ Deficit
        
Current liabilities:        
Accounts payable $2,433,050  $2,118,746 
Accrued expenses and other  432,368   381,271 
Income taxes payable  25,385   35,145 
Deferred income taxes  146,971   171,590 
Short-term borrowings  26,186    
       
Total current liabilities  3,063,960   2,706,752 
         
Long-term debt  2,882,300   2,726,900 
Other long-term liabilities  364,099   317,827 
         
Commitments and contingencies      
         
Stockholders’ deficit:        
Preferred stock, authorized 1,000 shares; no shares issued      
Common stock, par value $.01 per share, authorized 200,000 shares; 50,061 shares issued and 45,107 shares outstanding in 2010 and 57,881 shares issued and 50,801 shares outstanding in 2009  501   579 
Additional paid-in capital  557,955   549,326 
Retained (deficit) earnings  (245,344)  136,935 
Accumulated other comprehensive loss  (106,468)  (92,035)
Treasury stock, at cost  (945,409)  (1,027,879)
       
Total stockholders’ deficit  (738,765)  (433,074)
       
  $5,571,594  $5,318,405 
       

(1)Pension liability adjustments are presented net of taxes of $29,744 in 2012, $3,998 in 2011, and $5,504 in 2010
(2)Unrealized losses on marketable securities are presented net of taxes of $69 in 2012, $91 in 2011 and $56 in 2010
(3)Net derivative activities are presented net of taxes of $4,800 in 2012, $0 in 2011, and $3,700 in 2010

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

Consolidated Balance Sheets

 

(in thousands)

  August 25,
2012
  August 27,
2011
 

Assets

   

Current assets:

   

Cash and cash equivalents

  $103,093   $97,606  

Accounts receivable

   161,375    140,690  

Merchandise inventories

   2,627,983    2,466,107  

Other current assets

   85,649    88,022  

Deferred income taxes

   846    —    
  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total current assets

   2,978,946    2,792,425  

Property and equipment:

   

Land

   800,175    740,276  

Buildings and improvements

   2,400,895    2,177,476  

Equipment

   1,016,835    994,369  

Leasehold improvements

   314,559    275,299  

Construction in progress

   127,297    184,452  
  

 

 

  

 

 

 
   4,659,761    4,371,872  

Less: Accumulated depreciation and amortization

   1,803,833    1,702,997  
  

 

 

  

 

 

 
   2,855,928    2,668,875  

Goodwill

   302,645    302,645  

Deferred income taxes

   33,796    10,661  

Other long-term assets

   94,324    94,996  
  

 

 

  

 

 

 
   430,765    408,302  
  

 

 

  

 

 

 
  $6,265,639   $5,869,602  
  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Liabilities and Stockholders’ Deficit

   

Current liabilities:

   

Accounts payable

  $2,926,740   $2,755,853  

Accrued expenses and other

   478,085    449,327  

Income taxes payable

   17,053    25,185  

Deferred income taxes

   183,833    166,449  

Short-term borrowings

   49,881    34,082  
  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total current liabilities

   3,655,592    3,430,896  

Long-term debt

   3,718,302    3,317,600  

Other long-term liabilities

   439,770    375,338  

Commitments and contingencies

   —      —    

Stockholders’ deficit:

   

Preferred stock, authorized 1,000 shares; no shares issued

   —      —    

Common stock, par value $.01 per share, authorized 200,000 shares; 39,869 shares issued and 37,028 shares outstanding in 2012 and 44,084 shares issued and 40,109 shares outstanding in 2011

   399    441  

Additional paid-in capital

   689,890    591,384  

Retained deficit

   (1,033,197  (643,998

Accumulated other comprehensive loss

   (152,013  (119,691

Treasury stock, at cost

   (1,053,104  (1,082,368
  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total stockholders’ deficit

   (1,548,025  (1,254,232
  

 

 

  

 

 

 
  $6,265,639   $5,869,602  
  

 

 

  

 

 

 

37


Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
             
  Year Ended 
  August 28,  August 29,  August 30, 
  2010  2009  2008 
(in thousands) (52 weeks)  (52 weeks)  (53 weeks) 
             
Cash flows from operating activities:            
Net income $738,311  $657,049  $641,606 
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:            
Depreciation and amortization of property and equipment  192,084   180,433   169,509 
Amortization of debt origination fees  6,495   3,644   1,837 
Income tax benefit from exercise of stock options  (22,251)  (8,407)  (10,142)
Deferred income taxes  (9,023)  46,318   67,474 
Share-based compensation expense  19,120   19,135   18,388 
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:            
Accounts receivable  782   (56,823)  (11,145)
Merchandise inventories  (96,077)  (76,337)  (137,841)
Accounts payable and accrued expenses  349,122   137,158   175,733 
Income taxes payable  12,474   32,264   (3,861)
Other, net  5,215   (10,626)  9,542 
          
Net cash provided by operating activities  1,196,252   923,808   921,100 
             
Cash flows from investing activities:            
Capital expenditures  (315,400)  (272,247)  (243,594)
Purchase of marketable securities  (56,156)  (48,444)  (54,282)
Proceeds from sale of marketable securities  52,620   46,306   50,712 
Disposal of capital assets  11,489   10,663   4,014 
          
Net cash used in investing activities  (307,447)  (263,722)  (243,150)
             
Cash flows from financing activities:            
Net proceeds from (repayments of ) commercial paper  155,400   277,600   (206,700)
Proceeds from issuance of debt  26,186   500,000   750,000 
Repayment of debt     (300,700)  (229,827)
Net proceeds from sale of common stock  52,922   39,855   27,065 
Purchase of treasury stock  (1,123,655)  (1,300,002)  (849,196)
Income tax benefit from exercise of stock options  22,251   8,407   10,142 
Payments of capital lease obligations  (16,597)  (17,040)  (15,880)
Other     (15,016)  (8,286)
          
Net cash used in financing activities  (883,493)  (806,896)  (522,682)
             
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash  262   (2,945)  539 
          
             
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents  5,574   (149,755)  155,807 
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year  92,706   242,461   86,654 
          
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year $98,280  $92,706  $242,461 
          
             
Supplemental cash flow information:            
Interest paid, net of interest cost capitalized $150,745  $132,905  $107,477 
          
Income taxes paid $420,575  $299,021  $313,875 
          
Assets acquired through capital lease $75,881  $16,880  $61,572 
          
See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

38


Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ (Deficit) EquityCash Flows
                             
                  Accumulated       
  Common      Additional  Retained  Other       
  Shares  Common  Paid-in  (Deficit)  Comprehensive  Treasury    
(in thousands) Issued  Stock  Capital  Earnings  Loss  Stock  Total 
Balance at August 25, 2007  71,250  $713  $545,404  $546,049  $(9,550) $(679,416) $403,200 
Net income              641,606           641,606 
Pension liability adjustments, net of taxes of ($1,145)                  (1,817)      (1,817)
Foreign currency translation adjustment                  13,965       13,965 
Unrealized gain adjustment on marketable securities, net of taxes of $142                  263       263 
Net losses on outstanding derivatives, net of taxes of ($3,715)                  (6,398)      (6,398)
Reclassification of net gain on derivatives into earnings                  (598)      (598)
                           
Comprehensive income                          647,021 
Cumulative effect of adopting ASC Topic 740              (26,933)          (26,933)
Purchase of 6,802 shares of treasury stock                      (849,196)  (849,196)
Retirement of treasury stock  (8,100)  (81)  (63,990)  (954,623)      1,018,694    
Sale of common stock under stock option and stock purchase plans  450   4   27,061               27,065 
Share-based compensation expense          18,388               18,388 
Income tax benefit from exercise of stock options          10,142               10,142 
                      
Balance at August 30, 2008  63,600   636   537,005   206,099   (4,135)  (509,918)  229,687 
Net income              657,049           657,049 
Pension liability adjustments, net of taxes of ($29,481)                  (46,956)      (46,956)
Foreign currency translation adjustment                  (43,655)      (43,655)
Unrealized gain adjustment on marketable securities net of taxes of $306                  568       568 
Reclassification of net loss on termination of swap into earnings, net of taxes of $1,601                  2,744       2,744 
Reclassification of net gain on derivatives into earnings                  (612)      (612)
                            
Comprehensive income                          569,138 
Cumulative effect of adopting ASC Topic 715 measurement date, net of taxes of $198              300   11       311 
Purchase of 9,313 shares of treasury stock                      (1,300,002)  (1,300,002)
Issuance of 3 shares of common stock                      395   395 
Retirement of treasury shares  (6,223)  (62)  (55,071)  (726,513)      781,646    
Sale of common stock under stock option and stock purchase plans  504   5   39,850               39,855 
Share-based compensation expense          19,135               19,135 
Income tax benefit from exercise of stock options          8,407               8,407 
                      
Balance at August 29, 2009  57,881   579   549,326   136,935   (92,035)  (1,027,879)  (433,074)
Net income              738,311           738,311 
Pension liability adjustments, net of taxes of ($5,504)                  (8,133)      (8,133)
Foreign currency translation adjustment                  705       705 
Unrealized loss adjustment on marketable securities, net of taxes of ($56)                  (104)      (104)
Net losses on outstanding derivatives, net of taxes of ($3,700)                  (6,278)      (6,278)
Reclassification of net gain on derivatives into earnings                  (612)      (612)
                            
Comprehensive income                          723,889 
Purchase of 6,376 shares of treasury stock                      (1,123,655)  (1,123,655)
Retirement of treasury shares  (8,504)  (85)  (85,657)  (1,120,289)      1,206,031    
Sale of common stock under stock options and stock purchase plan  684   7   52,915               52,922 
Share-based compensation expense          19,120               19,120 
Income tax benefit from exercise of stock options          22,251               22,251 
Other              (301)  (11)  94   (218)
                      
Balance at August 28, 2010  50,061  $501  $557,955  $(245,344) $(106,468) $(945,409) $(738,765)
                      

   Year Ended 

(in thousands)

  August 25,
2012
(52 weeks)
  August 27,
2011
(52 weeks)
  August 28,
2010
(52 weeks)
 

Cash flows from operating activities:

    

Net income

  $930,373   $848,974   $738,311  

Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:

    

Depreciation and amortization of property and equipment

   211,831    196,209    192,084  

Amortization of debt origination fees

   8,066    8,962    6,495  

Income tax benefit from exercise of stock options

   (63,041  (34,945  (22,251

Deferred income taxes

   25,557    44,667    (9,023

Share-based compensation expense

   33,363    26,625    19,120  

Changes in operating assets and liabilities:

    

Accounts receivable

   (21,276  (14,605  782  

Merchandise inventories

   (167,914  (155,421  (96,077

Accounts payable and accrued expenses

   197,406    342,826    349,122  

Income taxes payable

   56,754    34,319    12,474  

Other, net

   12,862    (6,073  5,215  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Net cash provided by operating activities

   1,223,981    1,291,538    1,196,252  

Cash flows from investing activities:

    

Capital expenditures

   (378,054  (321,604  (315,400

Purchase of marketable securities

   (45,665  (43,772  (56,156

Proceeds from sale of marketable securities

   42,385    43,081    52,620  

Disposal of capital assets

   6,573    3,301    11,489  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Net cash used in investing activities

   (374,761  (318,994  (307,447

Cash flows from financing activities:

    

Net (payments) proceeds from commercial paper

   (54,200  134,600    155,400  

Net (payments) proceeds from short-term borrowings

   (27,071  6,901    26,186  

Proceeds from issuance of debt

   500,000    500,000    —    

Repayment of debt

   —      (199,300  —    

Net proceeds from sale of common stock

   75,343    55,846    52,922  

Purchase of treasury stock

   (1,362,869  (1,466,802  (1,123,655

Income tax benefit from exercise of stock options

   63,041    34,945    22,251  

Payments of capital lease obligations

   (26,750  (22,781  (16,597

Other

   (10,927  (17,180  —    
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Net cash used in financing activities

   (843,433  (973,771  (883,493

Effect of exchange rate changes on cash

   (300  553    262  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents

   5,487    (674  5,574  

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year

   97,606    98,280    92,706  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Cash and cash equivalents at end of year

  $103,093   $97,606   $98,280  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Supplemental cash flow information:

    

Interest paid, net of interest cost capitalized

  $161,797   $155,531   $150,745  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Income taxes paid

  $443,666   $405,654   $420,575  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Assets acquired through capital lease

  $74,726   $32,301   $75,881  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Deficit

 

(in thousands)

  Common
Shares
Issued
  Common
Stock
  Additional
Paid-in
Capital
  Retained
(Deficit)
Earnings
  Accumulated
Other
Comprehensive
Loss
  Treasury
Stock
  Total 

Balance at August 29, 2009

   57,881   $579   $549,326   $136,935   $(92,035 $(1,027,879 $(433,074

Net income

      738,311      738,311  

Total other comprehensive loss

       (14,422   (14,422

Purchase of 6,376 shares of treasury stock

        (1,123,655  (1,123,655

Retirement of treasury shares

   (8,504  (85  (85,657  (1,120,289   1,206,031    —    

Sale of common stock under stock options and stock purchase plans

   684    7    52,915       52,922  

Share-based compensation expense

     19,120       19,120  

Income tax benefit from exercise of stock options

     22,251       22,251  

Other

      (301  (11  94    (218
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Balance at August 28, 2010

   50,061    501    557,955    (245,344  (106,468  (945,409  (738,765

Net income

      848,974      848,974  

Total other comprehensive loss

       (13,223   (13,223

Purchase of 5,598 shares of treasury stock

        (1,466,802  (1,466,802

Retirement of treasury shares

   (6,577  (66  (82,150  (1,247,627   1,329,843    —    

Sale of common stock under stock options and stock purchase plans

   600    6    55,840       55,846  

Share-based compensation expense

     24,794       24,794  

Income tax benefit from exercise of stock options

     34,945       34,945  

Other

      (1    (1
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Balance at August 27, 2011

   44,084    441    591,384    (643,998  (119,691  (1,082,368  (1,254,232

Net income

      930,373      930,373  

Total other comprehensive loss

       (32,322   (32,322

Purchase of 3,795 shares of treasury stock

        (1,362,869  (1,362,869

Retirement of treasury shares

   (4,929  (49  (72,512  (1,319,572   1,392,133    —    

Sale of common stock under stock options and stock purchase plans

   714    7    75,336       75,343  

Share-based compensation expense

     32,641       32,641  

Income tax benefit from exercise of stock options

     63,041       63,041  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Balance at August 25, 2012

   39,869   $399   $689,890   $(1,033,197 $(152,013 $(1,053,104 $(1,548,025
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

39See Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.


Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

Note A Significant Accounting Policies

Business:AutoZone, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiaries (“AutoZone” or the “Company”) isare principally a retailer and distributor of automotive parts and accessories. At the end of fiscal 2010,2012, the Company operated 4,389 domestic4,685 stores in the United States (“U.S.”) and, including Puerto Rico, and 238321 stores in Mexico. Each 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. In 2,4243,053 of the domestic stores, and 173 of theas well as select stores in Mexico, stores at the end of fiscal 2010,2012, the Company had 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. The Company also sells the ALLDATA brand automotive diagnostic and repair software through www.alldata.com.www.alldata.com and www.alldatadiy.com. Additionally, the Company sells automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories and non-automotive products through www.autozone.com, and as part of ourthe Company’s commercial sales program,customers can make purchases through www.autozonepro.com.

The Company does not derive revenue from automotive repair or installation services.

Fiscal Year:The Company’s fiscal year consists of 52 or 53 weeks ending on the last Saturday in August. Accordingly,Each of fiscal 2012, 2011 and 2010 represented 52 weeks ended on August 28, 2010, fiscal 2009 represented 52 weeks ended on August 29, 2009, and fiscal 2008 represented 53 weeks ended on August 30, 2008.

weeks.

Basis of Presentation:The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of AutoZone, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiaries. All significant intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation.

Use of Estimates:Management of the Company has made a number of estimates and assumptions relating to the reporting of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent liabilities to prepare these financial statements. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Cash Equivalents:Cash equivalents consist of investments with original maturities of 90 days or less at the date of purchase. Cash equivalents include proceeds due from credit and debit card transactions with settlement terms of less than 5 days. Credit and debit card receivables included within cash and cash equivalents were $29.6$34.0 million at August 28, 201025, 2012 and $24.3$32.5 million at August 29, 2009.

Marketable Securities:The Company invests a portion of its assets held by the Company’s wholly owned insurance captive in marketable debt securities and classifies them as available-for-sale. The Company includes these securities within the other current assets and other long-term assets captions in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets and records the amounts at fair market value, which is determined using quoted market prices at the end of the reporting period. A discussion of marketable securities is included in “Note E — Fair Value Measurements” and “Note F — Marketable Securities”.
27, 2011.

Accounts Receivable:Accounts receivable consists of receivables from commercial customers and vendors, and are presented net of an allowance for uncollectible accounts. AutoZone routinely grants credit to certain of its commercial customers. The risk of credit loss in its trade receivables is substantially mitigated by the Company’s credit evaluation process, short collection terms and sales to a large number of customers, as well as the low revenuedollar value per transaction for most of its sales. Allowances for potential credit losses are determined based on historical experience and current evaluation of the composition of accounts receivable. Historically, credit losses have been within management’s expectations and the allowances for uncollectible accounts were $1.4$2.4 million at August 28, 2010,25, 2012, and $2.5$2.1 million at August 29, 2009.

Historically, certain receivables were sold to a third party at a discount for cash with limited recourse. At August 30, 2008, the Company had $55.4 million outstanding under this program. During the second quarter of fiscal 2009, AutoZone terminated its agreement to sell receivables to a third party.
27, 2011.

Merchandise Inventories:Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or market using the last-in, first-out method for domestic inventories and the first-in, first out (“FIFO”) method for Mexico inventories. Included in inventory are related purchasing, storage and handling costs. Due to price deflation on the Company’s merchandise purchases, the Company’s domestic inventory balances are effectively maintained under the FIFO method. The Company’s policy is not to write up inventory in excess of replacement cost. The cumulative balance of this unrecorded adjustment, which will be reduced upon experiencing price inflation on our merchandise purchases, was $247.3$270.4 million at August 28, 2010,25, 2012, and $223.0$253.3 million at August 29, 2009.

27, 2011.

40Marketable Securities:The Company invests a portion of its assets held by the Company’s wholly owned insurance captive in marketable debt securities and classifies them as available-for-sale. The Company includes these securities within the Other current assets and Other long-term assets captions in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets and records the amounts at fair market value, which is determined using quoted market prices at the end of the reporting period. A discussion of marketable securities is included in “Note E – Fair Value Measurements” and “Note F – Marketable Securities”.


Property and Equipment:Property and equipment is stated at cost. Depreciation and amortization are computed principally using the straight-line method over the following estimated useful lives: buildings, 40 to 50 years; building improvements, 5 to 15 years; equipment, 3 to 10 years; and leasehold improvements, over the shorter of the asset’s estimated useful life or the remaining lease term, which includes any reasonably assured renewal periods. Depreciation and amortization include amortization of assets under capital lease.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets:The Company evaluates the recoverability of its long-lived assets whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of an asset may not be recoverable. When such an event occurs, the Company compares the sum of the undiscounted expected future cash flows of the asset (asset group) with the carrying amounts of the asset. If the undiscounted expected future cash flows are less than the carrying value of the assets, the Company measures the amount of impairment loss as the amount by which the carrying amount of the assets exceeds the fair value of the assets. NoThere were no material impairment losses were recorded in the three years ended August 28, 2010.

25, 2012.

Goodwill:The cost in excess of fair value of identifiable net assets of businesses acquired is recorded as goodwill. Goodwill has not been amortized since fiscal 2001, but an analysis is performed at least annually to compare the fair value of the reporting unit to the carrying amount to determine if any impairment exists. The Company performs its annual impairment assessment in the fourth quarter of each fiscal year, unless circumstances dictate more frequent assessments. No impairment losses were recorded in the three years ended August 28, 2010.25, 2012. Goodwill was $302.6 million as of August 28, 2010,25, 2012, and August 29, 2009.

27, 2011.

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities:AutoZone is exposed to market risk from, among other things, changes in interest rates, foreign exchange rates and fuel prices. From time to time, the Company uses various financialderivative instruments to reduce such risks. To date, based upon the Company’s current level of foreign operations, no derivative instruments have been utilized to reduce foreign exchange rate risk. All of the Company’s hedging activities are governed by guidelines that are authorized by AutoZone’s Board of Directors.Directors (the “Board”). Further, the Company does not buy or sell financialderivative instruments for trading purposes.

AutoZone’s financial market risk results primarily from changes in interest rates. At times, AutoZone reduces its exposure to changes in interest rates by entering into various interest rate hedge instruments such as interest rate swap contracts, treasury lock agreements and forward-starting interest rate swaps. All of the Company’s interest rate hedge instruments are designated as cash flow hedges. Refer to “Note H Derivative Financial Instruments” for additional disclosures regarding the Company’s derivative instruments and hedging activities. Cash flows related to these instruments designated as qualifying hedges are reflected in the accompanying consolidated statementsConsolidated Statements of cash flowsCash Flows in the same categories as the cash flows from the items being hedged. Accordingly, cash flows relating to the settlement of interest rate derivatives hedging the forecasted issuance of debt have been reflected upon settlement as a component of financing cash flows. The resulting gain or loss from such settlement is deferred to Accumulated other comprehensive loss and reclassified to interest expense over the term of the underlying debt. This reclassification of the deferred gains and losses impacts the interest expense recognized on the underlying debt that was hedged and is therefore reflected as a component of operating cash flows in periods subsequent to settlement. The periodic settlement of interest rate derivatives hedging outstanding variable rate debt is recorded as an adjustment to interest expense and is therefore reflected as a component of operating cash flows.

Foreign Currency:The Company accounts for its Mexican operations using the Mexican peso as the functional currency and converts its financial statements from Mexican pesos to U.S. dollars. The cumulative loss on currency translation is recorded as a component of accumulatedAccumulated other comprehensive loss and approximated $44.7$50.3 million at August 28, 2010,25, 2012 and $45.5$36.4 million at August 29, 2009.

27, 2011.

Self-Insurance Reserves:The Company retains a significant portion of the risks associated with workers’ compensation, employee health, general, products liability, property and vehicle insurance. Through various methods, which include analyses of historical trends and utilization of actuaries, the Company estimates the costs of these risks. The costs are accrued based upon the aggregate of the liability for reported claims and an estimated liability for claims incurred but not reported. Estimates are based on calculations that consider historical lag and claim development factors. The long-term portions of these liabilities are recorded at ourthe Company’s estimate of their net present value.

41


Deferred Rent:The Company recognizes rent expense on a straight-line basis over the course of the lease term, which includes any reasonably assured renewal periods, beginning on the date the Company takes physical possession of the property (see “Note M Leases”). Differences between this calculated expense and cash payments are recorded as a liability in accruedwithin the Accrued expenses and other and otherOther long-term liabilities captions in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets.Sheets, based on the terms of the lease. Deferred rent approximated $67.6$86.9 million as of August 28, 2010,25, 2012, and $59.2$77.6 million as of August 29, 2009.
27, 2011.

Financial Instruments:The Company has financial instruments, including cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, other current assets and accounts payable. The carrying amounts of these financial instruments approximate fair value because of their short maturities. A discussion of the carrying values and fair values of the Company’s debt is included in “Note I Financing,” marketable securities is included in “Note F Marketable Securities,” and derivatives is included in “Note H Derivative Financial Instruments.”

Income Taxes:The Company accounts for income taxes under the liability method. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on differences between financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities and are measured using the enacted tax rates and laws that will be in effect when the differences are expected to reverse. Our effective tax rate is based on income by tax jurisdiction, statutory rates, and tax saving initiatives available to usthe Company in the various jurisdictions in which we operate.

The Company recognizes liabilities for uncertain income tax positions based on a two-step process. The first step is to evaluate the tax position for recognition by determining if the weight of available evidence indicates that it is more likely than not that the position will be sustained on audit, including resolution of related appeals or litigation processes, if any. The second step requires usthe Company to estimate and measure the tax benefit as the largest amount that is more than 50% likely to be realized upon ultimate settlement. It is inherently difficult and subjective to estimate such amounts, as the Company must determine the probability of various possible outcomes. The Company reevaluates these uncertain tax positions on a quarterly basis or when new information becomes available to management. These reevaluations are based on factors including, but not limited to, changes in facts or circumstances, changes in tax law, successfully settled issues under audit, expirations due to statutes, and new audit activity. Such a change in recognition or measurement could result in the recognition of a tax benefit or an increase to the tax accrual.

The Company classifies interest related to income tax liabilities, as income tax expense, and if applicable, penalties, are recognized as a component of incomeIncome tax expense. The income tax liabilities and accrued interest and penalties that are dueexpected to be payable within one year of the balance sheet date are presented as accruedwithin the Accrued expenses and other caption in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets. The remaining portion of the income tax liabilities and accrued interest and penalties are presented as otherwithin the Other long-term liabilities caption in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets because payment of cash is not anticipated within one year of the balance sheet date.

Sales and Use Taxes:Governmental authorities assess sales and use taxes on the sale of goods and services. The Company excludes taxes collected from customers in its reported sales results; such amounts are reflected as accruedincluded within the Accrued expenses and other caption until remitted to the taxing authorities.

Dividends:The Company currently does not pay a dividend on its common stock. The ability to pay dividends is subject to limitations imposed by Nevada law. Under Nevada law, any future payment of dividends would be dependent upon the Company’s financial condition, capital requirements, earnings and cash flow.

Revenue Recognition:The Company recognizes sales at the time the sale is made and the product is delivered to the customer. Revenue from sales are presented net of allowances for estimated sales returns, which are based on historical return rates.

A portion of the Company’sCompany's transactions include the sale of auto parts that contain a core component. The core component represents the recyclable portion of the auto part. Customers are not charged for the core component of the new part if a used core is returned at the point of sale of the new part; otherwise the Company charges customers a specified amount for the core component. The Company refunds that same amount upon the customer returning a used core to the store at a later date. The Company does not recognize sales or cost of sales for the core component of these transactions when a used part is returned or expected to be returned from the customer.

Vendor Allowances and Advertising Costs:The Company receives various payments and allowances from its vendors through a variety of programs and arrangements. Monies received from vendors include rebates, allowances and promotional funds. The amounts to be received are subject to the terms of the vendor agreements, which generally do not state an expiration date, but are subject to ongoing negotiations that may be impacted in the future based on changes in market conditions, vendor marketing strategies and changes in the profitability or sell-through of the related merchandise.

42


Rebates and other miscellaneous incentives are earned based on purchases or product sales and are accrued ratably over the purchase or sale of the related product. These monies are generally recorded as a reduction of merchandise inventories and are recognized as a reduction to cost of sales as the related inventories are sold.

For arrangements that provide for reimbursement of specific, incremental, identifiable costs incurred by the Company in selling the vendors’ products, the vendor funds are recorded as a reduction to Operating, selling, general and administrative expenses in the period in which the specific costs were incurred.

The Company expenses advertising costs as incurred. Advertising expense, net of vendor promotional funds, was $74.7 million in fiscal 2012, $71.5 million in fiscal 2011, and $65.5 million in fiscal 2010, $72.1 million in fiscal 2009, and $86.2 million in fiscal 2008.2010. Vendor promotional funds, which reduced advertising expense, amounted to $19.7 million in fiscal 2012, $23.2 million in fiscal 2011, and $19.6 million in fiscal 2010, $9.7 million in fiscal 2009, and $2.9 in fiscal 2008.

2010.

Cost of Sales and Operating, Selling, General and Administrative Expenses:The following illustrates the primary costs classified in each major expense category:

Cost of Sales

Total cost of merchandise sold, including:

Freight expenses associated with moving merchandise inventories from the Company’s vendors to the distribution centers and to the retail storesstores;

Vendor allowances that are not reimbursements for specific, incremental and identifiable costscosts;

Costs associated with operating the Company’s supply chain, including payroll and benefit costs, warehouse occupancy costs, transportation costs and depreciationdepreciation; and

Inventory shrinkage

Operating, Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Payroll and benefit costs for store and store support employees;

Occupancy costs of store and store support facilities;

Depreciation and amortization related to retail and store support assets;

Transportation costs associated with commercial and hub deliveries;

Advertising;

Advertising;

Self insurance costs; and

Other administrative costs, such as credit card transaction fees, supplies, and travel and lodging

Warranty Costs:The Company or the vendors supplying its products provides the Company’s customers limited warranties on certain products that range from 30 days to lifetime. In most cases, the Company’s vendors are primarily responsible for warranty claims. Warranty costs relating to merchandise sold under warranty not covered by vendors are estimated and recorded as warranty obligations at the time of sale based on each product’s historical return rate. These obligations, which are often funded by vendor allowances, are recorded as a component of accrued expenses.within the Accrued expenses and other caption in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. For vendor allowances that are in excess of the related estimated warranty expense for the vendor’s products, the excess is recorded in inventory and recognized as a reduction to cost of sales as the related inventory is sold.

Shipping and Handling Costs:The Company does not generally charge customers separately for shipping and handling. Substantially all the costs the Company incurs to ship products to our stores are included in cost of sales.

Pre-opening Expenses:Pre-opening expenses, which consist primarily of payroll and occupancy costs, are expensed as incurred.

Earnings per Share:Basic earnings per share is based on the weighted average outstanding common shares. Diluted earnings per share is based on the weighted average outstanding common shares adjusted for the effect of common stock equivalents, which are primarily stock options. There were no30,000 stock options excluded from the diluted earnings per share computation because theythat would have been anti-dilutive atas of August 25, 2012. There were no options excluded for the years ended August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010. There were approximately 30,000 shares excluded at August 29, 2009, and approximately 31,000 shares excluded at August 30, 2008.

43


Share-Based Payments:Share-based payments include stock option grants and certain other transactions under the Company’s stock plans. The Company recognizes compensation expense for its share-based payments based on the fair value of the awards. See “Note B Share-Based Payments” for further discussion.

RecentRisk and Uncertainties: In fiscal 2012, one class of similar products accounted for 10 percent of the Company’s total revenues, and one vendor supplied more than 10 percent of the Company’s total purchases. No other class of similar products accounted for 10 percent or more of total revenues, and no other individual vendor provided more than 10 percent of total purchases.

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements:In October 2009,December 2010, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2009-13,2010-28,Revenue Arrangements with Multiple DeliverablesIntangibles – Goodwill and Other, which amends Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 605 (formerly Emerging Issues Task Force Issue No. 00-21,350,Revenue ArrangementsIntangibles – Goodwill and Other. ASU 2010-28 modifies Step 1 of the goodwill impairment test for reporting units with Multiple Deliverableszero or negative carrying amounts. For those reporting units, an entity is required to perform Step 2 of the goodwill impairment analysis if it is more likely than not that a goodwill impairment exists based on a qualitative assessment of adverse factors. The Company adopted this standard in fiscal 2012, and it did not have an impact on the consolidated financial statements.

In May 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-04,Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure Requirements in U.S. GAAP and IFRSs), which amends ASC Topic 820,Fair Value Measurement. ThisThe purpose of ASU addresses2011-04 is to clarify the accountingintent about the application of existing fair value measurement and disclosure requirements and to change a particular principle or requirement for multiple-deliverable revenue arrangementsmeasuring fair value or for disclosing information about fair value measurements. The Company adopted this standard in the third quarter of fiscal 2012, and it had no impact on the consolidated financial statements.

In June 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-05,Presentation of Comprehensive Income, which amends ASC Topic 220,Comprehensive Income. The objective of ASU 2011-05 is to enable vendorsimprove the comparability, consistency and transparency of financial reporting and to accountincrease the prominence of items reported in other comprehensive income. The update requires entities to present items of net income, items of other comprehensive income and total comprehensive income in one continuous statement or two separate consecutive statements, and entities are no longer allowed to present items of other comprehensive income in the statement of stockholders’ equity. ASU 2011-05 also states that reclassification adjustments between other comprehensive income and net income are presented separately on the face of the financial statements. However, the FASB issued ASU 2011-12 in December 2011, which deferred the effective date pertaining to these reclassification adjustments out of accumulated other comprehensive income until the FASB was able to reconsider operational concerns. All other requirements in ASU 2011-05 are not affected by ASU 2011-12. The Company has early adopted ASU 2011-05 effective August 25, 2012, and it had no impact on the consolidated financial statements.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements: In August 2011, the FASB issued ASU 2011-08,Intangibles – Goodwill and Other,which amends ASC Topic 350,Intangibles – Goodwill and Other. The purpose of ASU 2011-08 is to simplify how an entity tests goodwill for deliverables separately ratherimpairment. Entities will assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is more likely than asnot that a combined unit. This ASUreporting unit’s fair value is less than its carrying value. In instances where the fair value is determined to be less than the carrying value, entities will be effective prospectively for revenue arrangements entered into commencing withperform the Company’s first fiscal quarter beginning August 29, 2010.two-step quantitative goodwill impairment test. The Company does not expect the provisions of ASU 2009-132011-08 to have a material effect on theimpact to its consolidated financial statements.

This update will be effective for the Company’s fiscal year ending August 31, 2013.

Note B Share-Based Payments

Total share-based compensation expense (a component of operating,Operating, selling, general and administrative expenses) was $19.1$33.4 million related to stock options and share purchase plans for fiscal 2010,2012, $26.6 million for fiscal 2011, and $19.1 million for fiscal 2009, and $18.4 million for fiscal 2008.2010. As of August 28, 2010,25, 2012, share-based compensation expense for unvested awards not yet recognized in earnings is $16.9$25.6 million and will be recognized over a weighted average period of 2.5 years. Tax deductions in excess of recognized compensation cost are classified as a financing cash inflow.

On December 15, 2010, the Company’s stockholders approved the 2011 Equity Incentive Award Plan (the “2011 Plan”), allowing the Company to provide equity-based compensation to non-employee directors and employees for their service to AutoZone or its subsidiaries or affiliates. Under the 2011 Plan, participants may receive equity-based compensation in the form of stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units, dividend equivalents, deferred stock, stock payments, performance share awards and other incentive awards structured by the Board and the Compensation Committee of the Board. Prior to the Company’s adoption of the 2011 Plan, equity-based compensation was provided to employees under the 2006 Stock Option Plan and to non-employee directors under the 2003 Director Compensation Plan (the “2003 Comp Plan”) and the 2003 Director Stock Option Plan (the “2003 Option Plan”).

The Company grants options to purchase common stock to certain of its employees and directors under various plansits plan at prices equal to the market value of the stock on the date of grant. Options have a term of 10 years or 10 years and one day from grant date. Director options generally vest three years from grant date. Employee options generally vest in equal annual installments on the first, second, third and fourth anniversaries of the grant date. Employeesdate and directors generally have 30 or 90 days after the service relationship ends, or one year after death, to exercise all vested options. The fair value of each option grant is separately estimated for each vesting date. The fair value of each option is amortized into compensation expense on a straight-line basis between the grant date for the award and each vesting date.

In addition to the 2011 Plan, on December 15, 2010, the Company adopted the 2011 Director Compensation Program (the “2011 Program”), which states that non-employee directors will receive their compensation in awards of restricted stock units under the 2011 Plan. Under the 2011 Program, restricted stock units are granted the first day of each calendar quarter. The number of restricted stock units granted each quarter is determined by dividing one-fourth of the amount of the annual retainer by the fair market value of the shares of common stock as of the grant date. The restricted stock units are fully vested on the date they are issued and are paid in shares of the Company’s common stock subsequent to the non-employee director ceasing to be a member of the Board.

The 2011 Program replaced the 2003 Comp Plan and the 2003 Option Plan. Under the 2003 Comp Plan, non-employee directors could receive no more than one-half of their director fees immediately in cash, and the remainder of the fees was required to be taken in common stock or stock appreciation rights. The director had the option to elect to receive up to 100% of the fees in stock or defer all or part of the fees in units with value equivalent to the value of shares of common stock as of the grant date. At August 25, 2012, the Company has $6.7 million accrued related to 18,241 outstanding units issued under the 2003 Comp Plan and prior plans, and there was $5.9 million accrued related to 19,709 outstanding units issued as of August 27, 2011. No additional shares of stock or units will be issued in future years under the 2003 Comp Plan.

Under the 2003 Option Plan, each non-employee director received an option grant on January 1 of each year, and each new non-employee director received an option to purchase 3,000 shares upon election to the Board, plus a portion of the annual directors’ option grant prorated for the portion of the year actually served. These stock option grants were made at the fair market value as of the grant date and generally vested three years from the grant date. There were 104,679 and 125,614 outstanding options under the 2003 Option Plan as of August 25, 2012 and August 27, 2011, respectively. No additional shares of stock or units will be issued in future years under the 2003 Option Plan.

The Company has estimated the fair value of all stock option awards as of the date of the grant by applying the Black-Scholes-Merton multiple-option pricing valuation model. The application of this valuation model involves assumptions that are judgmental and highly sensitive in the determination of compensation expense.

The following table presents the weighted average for key assumptions used in determining the fair value of options granted and the related share-based compensation expense:
             
  Year Ended 
  August 28,  August 29,  August 30, 
  2010  2009  2008 
             
Expected price volatility  31%  28%  24%
Risk-free interest rates  1.8%  2.4%  4.1%
Weighted average expected lives in years  4.3   4.1   4.0 
Forfeiture rate  10%  10%  10%
Dividend yield  0%  0%  0%

   Year Ended 
   August 25,
2012
  August 27,
2011
  August 28,
2010
 

Expected price volatility

   28  31  31

Risk-free interest rates

   0.7  1.0  1.8

Weighted average expected lives (in years)

   5.4    4.3    4.3  

Forfeiture rate

   10  10  10

Dividend yield

   0  0  0

The following methodologies were applied in developing the assumptions used in determining the fair value of options granted:

Expected price volatility This is a measure of the amount by which a price has fluctuated or is expected to fluctuate. The Company uses actual historical changes in the market value of ourits stock to calculate the volatility assumption as it is management’s belief that this is the best indicator of future volatility. We calculateThe Company calculates daily market value changes from the date of grant over a past period representative of the expected life of the options to determine volatility. An increase in the expected volatility will increase compensation expense.

44


Risk-free interest rate This is the U.S. Treasury rate for the week of the grant having a term equal to the expected life of the option. An increase in the risk-free interest rate will increase compensation expense.

Expected lives This is the period of time over which the options granted are expected to remain outstanding and is based on historical experience. Separate groups of employees that have similar historical exercise behavior are considered separately for valuation purposes. Options granted have a maximum term of ten years or ten years and one day. An increase in the expected life will increase compensation expense.

Forfeiture rate This is the estimated percentage of options granted that are expected to be forfeited or canceled before becoming fully vested. This estimate is based on historical experience at the time of valuation and reduces expense ratably over the vesting period. An increase in the forfeiture rate will decrease compensation expense. This estimate is evaluated periodically based on the extent to which actual forfeitures differ, or are expected to differ, from the previous estimate.

Dividend yield The Company has not made any dividend payments nor does it have plans to pay dividends in the foreseeable future. An increase in the dividend yield will decrease compensation expense.

The weighted average grant date fair value of options granted was $94.71 during fiscal 2012, $58.57 during fiscal 2011, and $40.75 during fiscal 2010, $34.06 during fiscal 2009, and $30.28 during fiscal 2008.2010. The intrinsic value of options exercised was $65$176.5 million in fiscal 2010, $292012, $100.0 million in fiscal 2009,2011, and $29$64.8 million in fiscal 2008.2010. The total fair value of options vested was $21$32.6 million in fiscal 2010, $162012, $20.7 million in fiscal 20092011 and $18$20.7 million in fiscal 2008.

2010.

The Company generally issues new shares when options are exercised. The following table summarizes information about stock option activity for the year ended August 28, 2010:

                 
          Weighted-    
          Average    
      Weighted  Remaining    
      Average  Contractual  Aggregate 
  Number  Exercise  Term  Intrinsic Value 
  of Shares  Price  ( in years)  (in thousands) 
                 
Outstanding — August 29, 2009  3,095,352  $98.73         
Granted  496,580   143.49         
Exercised  (683,548)  79.08         
Canceled  (34,178)  116.49         
                
Outstanding — August 28, 2010  2,874,206   110.93   6.48  $298,115 
                
Exercisable  1,509,720   94.12   5.08   181,970 
                
Expected to vest  1,228,037   129.53   8.03   104,531 
                
Available for future grants  3,194,942             
                
Under the AutoZone, Inc. 2003 Director Compensation Plan, a non-employee director may receive no more than one-half of their director fees immediately in cash, and the remainder of the fees must be taken in common stock. The director may elect to receive up to 100% of the fees in stock or defer all or part of the fees in units (“Director Units”) with value equivalent to the value of shares of common stock as of the grant date. At August 28, 2010, the Company has $4.1 million accrued related to 19,228 Director Units issued under the current and prior plans with 76,415 shares of common stock reserved for future issuance under the current plan. At August 29, 2009, the Company has $2.6 million accrued related to 17,506 Director Units issued under the current and prior plans.
Under the AutoZone, Inc. 2003 Director Stock Option Plan (the “Director Stock Option Plan”), each non-employee director receives an option grant on January 1 of each year, and each new non-employee director receives an option to purchase 3,000 shares upon election to the Board of Directors, plus a portion of the annual directors’ option grant prorated for the portion of the year actually served in office. Under the Director Compensation Program, each non-employee director may choose between two pay options, and the number of stock options a director receives under the Director Stock Option Plan depends on which pay option the director
25, 2012:

 

   Number
of Shares
  Weighted
Average
Exercise
Price
   Weighted-
Average
Remaining
Contractual
Term

(in years)
   Aggregate
Intrinsic
Value

(in
thousands)
 

Outstanding – August 27, 2011

   2,630,194   $132.32      

Granted

   407,130    330.12      

Exercised

   (712,524  107.84      

Canceled

   (62,121  227.53      
  

 

 

      

Outstanding – August 25, 2012

   2,262,679    173.01     6.40    $435,062  
  

 

 

      

Exercisable

   1,236,652    120.55     5.03     302,402  
  

 

 

      

Expected to vest

   1,026,027    236.25     8.05     118,969  
  

 

 

      

Available for future grants

   2,420,546       
  

 

 

      

45


chooses. Directors who elect to be paid only the base retainer receive, on January 1 during their first two years of services as a director, an option to purchase 3,000 shares of AutoZone common stock. After the first two years, such directors receive, on January 1 of each year, an option to purchase 1,500 shares of common stock, and each such director who owns common stock or Director Units worth at least five times the base retainer receive an additional option to purchase 1,500 shares. Directors electing to be paid a supplemental retainer in addition to the base retainer receive, on January 1 during their first two years of service as a director, an option to purchase 2,000 shares of AutoZone common stock. After the first two years, such directors receive an option to purchase 500 shares of common stock, and each such director who owns common stock or Director Units worth at least five times the base retainer receive an additional option to purchase 1,500 shares. These stock option grants are made at the fair market value as of the grant date. At August 28, 2010, there are 137,016 outstanding options with 210,484 shares of common stock reserved for future issuance under this plan.
The Company recognized $1.0$1.5 million in expense related to the discount on the selling of shares to employees and executives under various share purchase plans in fiscal 2010, $0.92012, $1.4 million in fiscal 20092011 and $0.7$1.0 million in fiscal 2008.2010. The employee stock purchase plan,Sixth Amended and Restated AutoZone, Inc. Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “Employee Plan”), which is qualified under Section 423 of the Internal Revenue Code, permits all eligible employees to purchase AutoZone’s common stock at 85% of the lower of the market price of the common stock on the first day or last day of each calendar quarter through payroll deductions. Maximum permitted annual purchases are $15,000 per employee or 10 percent of compensation, whichever is less. Under the plan,Employee Plan, 19,403 shares were sold to employees in fiscal 2012, 21,608 shares were sold to employees in fiscal 2011, and 26,620 shares were sold to employees in fiscal 2010, 29,1472010. The Company repurchased 24,113 shares were sold to employeesat fair value in fiscal 2009, and 36,1472012, 30,864 shares were sold to employeesat fair value in fiscal 2008. The Company repurchased2011, and 30,617 shares at fair value in fiscal 2010 37,190 shares at fair value in fiscal 2009, and 39,235 shares at fair value in fiscal 2008 from employees electing to sell their stock. Issuances of shares under the employee stock purchase plansEmployee Plan are netted against repurchases and such repurchases are not included in share repurchases disclosed in “Note K Stock Repurchase Program.” At August 28, 2010, 293,98325, 2012, 252,972 shares of common stock were reserved for future issuance under this plan. the Employee Plan.

Once executives have reached the maximum purchases under the employee stock purchase plan,Employee Plan, the Fifth Amended and Restated Executive Stock Purchase Plan (the “Executive Plan”) permits all eligible executives to purchase AutoZone’s common stock up to 25 percent of his or her annual salary and bonus. Purchases under this planthe Executive Plan were 3,937 shares in fiscal 2012, 1,719 shares in fiscal 2011, and 1,483 shares in fiscal 2010, 1,705 shares in fiscal 2009, and 1,793 shares in fiscal 2008.2010. At August 28, 2010, 258,05625, 2012, 252,400 shares of common stock were reserved for future issuance under this plan.

the Executive Plan.

Note C Accrued Expenses and Other

Accrued expenses and other consisted of the following:

         
  August 28,  August 29, 
(in thousands) 2010  2009 
         
Medical and casualty insurance claims (current portion) $60,955  $65,024 
Accrued compensation, related payroll taxes and benefits  134,830   121,192 
Property, sales, and other taxes  102,364   92,065 
Accrued interest  31,091   32,448 
Accrued gift cards  22,013   16,337 
Accrued sales and warranty returns  14,679   12,432 
Capital lease obligations  21,947   16,735 
Other  44,489   25,038 
       
  $432,368  $381,271 
       

(in thousands)

  August 25,
2012
   August 27,
2011
 

Medical and casualty insurance claims (current portion)

  $63,484    $55,896  

Accrued compensation, related payroll taxes and benefits

   151,669     151,419  

Property, sales, and other taxes

   97,542     89,675  

Accrued interest

   39,220     33,811  

Accrued gift cards

   29,060     27,406  

Accrued sales and warranty returns

   17,276     16,269  

Capital lease obligations

   29,842     25,296  

Other

   49,992     49,555  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
  $478,085    $449,327  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

The Company retains a significant portion of the insurance risks associated with workers’ compensation, employee health, general, products liability, property and vehicle insurance. A portion of these self-insured losses is managed through a wholly owned insurance captive. The Company maintains certain levels for stop-loss coverage for each self-insured plan in order to limit its liability for large claims. The limits are per claim and are $1.5 million for workers’ compensation and property, $0.5 million for employee health, and $1.0 million for general, products liability, and vehicle.

46


Note D Income Taxes

The provision for income tax expense consisted of the following:

             
  Year Ended 
  August 28,  August 29,  August 30, 
(in thousands) 2010  2009  2008 
             
Current:            
Federal $397,062  $303,929  $285,516 
State  34,155   26,450   20,516 
          
   431,217   330,379   306,032 
             
Deferred:            
Federal  (3,831)  46,809   51,997 
State  (5,192)  (491)  7,754 
          
   (9,023)  46,318   59,751 
          
Income tax expense $422,194  $376,697  $365,783 
          

   Year Ended 

(in thousands)

  August 25,
2012
  August 27,
2011
  August 28,
2010
 

Current:

    

Federal

  $449,670   $391,132   $397,062  

State

   47,386    39,473    34,155  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 
   497,056    430,605    431,217  

Deferred:

    

Federal

   28,379    49,698    (3,831

State

   (2,822  (5,031  (5,192
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 
   25,557    44,667    (9,023
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Income tax expense

  $522,613   $475,272   $422,194  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

A reconciliation of the provision for income taxes to the amount computed by applying the federal statutory tax rate of 35% to income before income taxes is as follows:

             
  Year Ended 
  August 28,  August 29,  August 30, 
(in thousands) 2010  2009  2008 
             
Federal tax at statutory U.S. income tax rate  35.0%  35.0%  35.0%
State income taxes, net  1.6%  1.6%  1.8%
Other  (0.2%)  (0.2%)  (0.5%)
          
Effective tax rate  36.4%  36.4%  36.3%
          

   Year Ended 

(in thousands)

  August 25,
2012
  August 27,
2011
  August 28,
2010
 

Federal tax at statutory U.S. income tax rate

   35.0  35.0  35.0

State income taxes, net

   2.0  1.7  1.6

Other

   (1.0%)   (0.8%)   (0.2%) 
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Effective tax rate

   36.0  35.9  36.4
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Significant components of the Company’sCompany's deferred tax assets and liabilities were as follows:

         
  August 28,  August 29, 
(in thousands) 2010  2009 
Deferred tax assets:        
Domestic net operating loss and credit carryforwards $25,781  $23,119 
Foreign net operating loss and credit carryforwards     1,369 
Insurance reserves  20,400   14,769 
Accrued benefits  50,991   32,976 
Pension  34,965   26,273 
Other  34,764   35,836 
       
Total deferred tax assets  166,901   134,342 
Less: Valuation allowances  (7,085)  (7,116)
       
   159,816   127,226 
         
Deferred tax liabilities:        
Property and equipment  (35,714)  (36,472)
Inventory  (205,000)  (192,715)
Other  (19,850)  (14,840)
       
   (260,564)  (244,027)
       
Net deferred tax liability $(100,748) $(116,801)
       

(in thousands)

  August 25,
2012
  August 27,
2011
 

Deferred tax assets:

   

Net operating loss and credit carryforwards

  $36,605   $31,772  

Insurance reserves

   18,185    17,542  

Accrued benefits

   63,320    61,436  

Pension

   43,904    30,967  

Other

   41,658    39,878  
  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total deferred tax assets

   203,672    181,595  

Less: Valuation allowances

   (9,532  (7,973
  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Net deferred tax assets

   194,140    173,622  

Deferred tax liabilities:

   

Property and equipment

   (67,480  (64,873

Inventory

   (244,414  (220,234

Other

   (31,437  (44,303
  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total deferred tax liabilities

   (343,331  (329,410
  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Net deferred tax liability

  $(149,191 $(155,788
  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Deferred taxes are not provided for temporary differences of approximately $91.1$195.8 million at August 28, 2010,25, 2012, and $47.1$140.2 million ofat August 29, 2009,27, 2011, representing earnings of non-U.S. subsidiaries that are intended to be permanently reinvested. Computation of the potential deferred tax liability associated with these undistributed earnings and other basis differences is not practicable.

47


At August 28, 2010,25, 2012 and August 29, 2009,27, 2011, the Company had deferred tax assets of $8.2$7.8 million and $8.4$8.0 million from federal tax operating losses (“NOLs”) of $23.4$22.2 million and $24.0$22.8 million, and deferred tax assets of $1.6$2.1 million and $1.3$1.1 million from state tax NOLs of $35.5$46.6 million and $24.6$22.5 million, respectively. At August 28, 2010, the Company had no deferred tax assets from Non-U.S. NOLs. At25, 2012 and August 29, 2009,27, 2011, the Company had deferred tax assets of $1.3$2.4 million and $1.5 million from Non-U.S. NOLs of $3.3 million.$7.7 million and $5.1 million, respectively. The federal and state NOLs expire between fiscal 20112013 and fiscal 2025.2031. At August 28, 201025, 2012 and August 29, 2009,27, 2011, the Company had a valuation allowance of $6.8$9.1 million and $6.8$8.0 million, respectively, for certain federal, state, and stateNon-U.S. NOLs resulting primarily from annual statutory usage limitations. At August 28, 201025, 2012 and August 29, 2009,27, 2011, the Company had deferred tax assets of $16.0$24.3 million and $13.5$21.2 million, respectively, for federal, state, and Non-U.S. income tax credit carryforwards. Certain tax credit carryforwards have no expiration date and others will expire in fiscal 20112013 through fiscal 2030.2026. At August 28, 2010 and August 29, 2009,25, 2012, the Company had a valuation allowance of $0.3 million and $0.3$0.4 million for credits subject to such expiration periods, respectively.
ASC Topic 740 (formerly FASB Statement No. 109,Accounting for Income Taxes, and FASB Interpretation No. 48,Accounting for Uncertain Tax Positions — an Interpretation of FASB Statement No. 109) prescribes a recognition threshold that aNon-U.S. tax position is required to meet before being recognized in the financial statements and provides guidance on derecognition, measurement, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim periods, disclosure and transition issues. The adoption of portions of ASC Topic 740 resulted in a decrease to the beginning balance of retained earnings of $26.9 million during fiscal 2008. Including this cumulative effect amount, the liability recorded for total unrecognized tax benefits upon adoption at August 26, 2007, was $49.2 million.
credits.

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:

         
  August 28,  August 29, 
(in thousands) 2010  2009 
         
Beginning balance $44,192  $40,759 
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year  16,802   5,511 
Additions for tax positions of prior years  2,125   9,567 
Reductions for tax positions of prior years  (6,390)  (5,679)
Reductions due to settlements  (16,354)  (2,519)
Reductions due to statue of limitations  (1,821)  (3,447)
       
Ending balance $38,554  $44,192 
       

(in thousands)

  August 25,
2012
  August 27,
2011
 

Beginning balance

  $29,906   $38,554  

Additions based on tax positions related to the current year

   6,869    6,205  

Additions for tax positions of prior years

   44    11,787  

Reductions for tax positions of prior years

   (1,687  (20,998

Reductions due to settlements

   (4,586  (3,829

Reductions due to statute of limitations

   (2,831  (1,813
  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Ending balance

  $27,715   $29,906  
  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Included in the August 28, 2010,25, 2012, balance is $16.7$18.1 million of unrecognized tax benefits that, if recognized, would reduce the Company’s effective tax rate.

The Company accrues interest on unrecognized tax benefits as a component of income tax expense. Penalties, if incurred, would be recognized as a component of income tax expense. The Company had $7.9$4.1 million and $12.4$5.2 million accrued for the payment of interest and penalties associated with unrecognized tax benefits at August 28, 201025, 2012 and August 29, 2009,27, 2011, respectively.

The major jurisdictions where the Company files income tax returns are the U.S.United States and Mexico. With few exceptions, tax returns filed for tax years 20062008 through 20092011 remain open and subject to examination by the relevant tax authorities. The Company is typically engaged in various tax examinations at any given time, both by U.S.U. S. federal and state taxing jurisdictions and Mexican tax authorities.jurisdictions. As of August 28, 2010,25, 2012, the Company estimates that the amount of unrecognized tax benefits could be reduced by approximately $23.1$6.0 million over the next twelve months as a result of tax audit closings, settlements, and the expiration of statutes to examine such returns in various jurisdictions. While the Company believes that it hasis adequately accrued for possible audit adjustments, the final resolution of these examinations cannot be determined at this time and could result in final settlements that differ from current estimates.

48


Note E Fair Value Measurements
Effective August 31, 2008, the

The Company has adopted ASC Topic 820, (formerly FASB Statement No. 157,Fair Value Measurements)Measurement, which defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value in generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and expands disclosure requirements about fair value measurements. This standard defines fair value as the price received to transfer an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. ASC Topic 820 establishes a framework for measuring fair value by creating a hierarchy of valuation inputs used to measure fair value, and although it does not require additional fair value measurements, it applies to other accounting pronouncements that require or permit fair value measurements.

The hierarchy prioritizes the inputs into three broad levels:

Level 1 inputs— unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the Company has the ability to access. An active market for the asset or liability is one in which transactions for the asset or liability occur with sufficient frequency and volume to provide ongoing pricing information.

Level 2 inputs— inputs other than quoted market prices included in Level 1 that are observable, either directly or indirectly, for the asset or liability. Level 2 inputs include, but are not limited to, quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in an active market, quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active and inputs other than quoted market prices that are observable for the asset or liability, such as interest rate curves and yield curves observable at commonly quoted intervals, volatilities, credit risk and default rates.

Level 3 inputs— unobservable inputs for the asset or liability.

Financial Assets & Liabilities Measured at Fair Value on a Recurring Basis

The Company’s assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis were as follows:

                 
  August 28, 2010 
(in thousands) Level 1  Level 2  Level 3  Fair Value 
                 
Other current assets $11,307  $4,996  $  $16,303 
Other long-term assets  47,725   8,673      56,398 
Accrued expenses and other     9,979      9,979 
             
  $59,032  $23,648  $  $82,680 
             
                 
  August 29, 2009 
(in thousands) Level 1  Level 2  Level 3  Fair Value 
                 
Other current assets $11,915  $  $  $11,915 
Other long-term assets  58,123         58,123 
             
  $70,038  $  $  $70,038 
             

   August 25, 2012 

(in thousands)

  Level 1   Level 2  Level 3   Fair Value 

Other current assets

  $22,515    $—     $—      $22,515  

Other long-term assets

   40,424     13,275    —       53,699  
  

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

 
  $62,939    $13,275   $—      $76,214  
  

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Accrued expenses and other

  $—      $(4,915 $—      $(4,915
  

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

 

   August 27, 2011 

(in thousands)

  Level 1   Level 2   Level 3   Fair Value 

Other current assets

  $11,872    $—      $—      $11,872  

Other long-term assets

   55,390     5,869     —       61,259  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
  $67,262    $5,869    $—      $73,131  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

At August 28, 2010,25, 2012, the fair value measurement amounts for assets and liabilities recorded in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheet consisted of short-term marketable securities of $16.3$22.5 million, which are included within otherOther current assets,assets; long-term marketable securities of $56.4$53.7 million, which are included in otherOther long-term assets,assets; and cash flow hedging instruments of $10.0$4.9 million, which are included within accruedAccrued expenses and other. The Company’s marketable securities are typically valued at the closing price in the principal active market as of the last business day of the quarter or through the use of other market inputs relating to the securities, including benchmark yields and reported trades. Reference “Note H — Derivative Financial Instruments” for further informationA discussion on how the Company’s cash flow hedges are valued.

The fair value of the Company’s debtvalued is disclosedincluded in “Note I — Financing” andH – Derivative Financial Instruments”, while the fair value of the Company’s pension plan assets are disclosed in “Note L Pension and Savings Plans”.

49

Non-Financial Assets Measured at Fair Value on a Non-Recurring Basis


Non-financial assets could be required to be measured at fair value on a non-recurring basis in certain circumstances, including the event of impairment. The assets could include assets acquired in an acquisition as well as property, plant and equipment that are determined to be impaired. During fiscal 2012 and fiscal 2011, the Company did not have any significant non-financial assets measured at fair value on a non-recurring basis in periods subsequent to initial recognition.

Financial Instruments not Recognized at Fair Value

The Company has financial instruments, including cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable, other current assets and accounts payable. The carrying amounts of these financial instruments approximate fair value because of their short maturities. The fair value of the Company’s debt is disclosed in “Note I – Financing”.

Note F Marketable Securities

The Company’s basis for determining the cost of a security sold is the “Specific Identification Model”. Unrealized gains (losses) on marketable securities are recorded in accumulatedAccumulated other comprehensive loss. The Company’s available-for-sale marketable securities consisted of the following:

                 
  August 28, 2010 
  Amortized  Gross  Gross    
  Cost  Unrealized  Unrealized    
(in thousands) Basis  Gains  Losses  Fair Value 
                 
Corporate securities $28,707  $490  $(1) $29,196 
Government bonds  24,560   283      24,843 
Mortgage-backed securities  8,603   192      8,795 
Asset-backed securities and other  9,831   47   (11)  9,867 
             
  $71,701  $1,012  $(12) $72,701 
             
                 
  August 29, 2009 
  Amortized  Gross  Gross    
  Cost  Unrealized  Unrealized    
(in thousands) Basis  Gains  Losses  Fair Value 
                 
Corporate securities $28,302  $654  $(5) $28,951 
Government bonds  18,199   283      18,482 
Mortgage-backed securities  14,772   366   (119)  15,019 
Asset-backed securities and other  7,589   207   (210)  7,586 
             
  $68,862  $1,510  $(334) $70,038 
             

   August 25, 2012 

(in thousands)

  Amortized
Cost
Basis
   Gross
Unrealized
Gains
   Gross
Unrealized
Losses
  Fair Value 

Corporate securities

  $26,215    $307    $—     $26,522  

Government bonds

   20,790     117     (1  20,906  

Mortgage-backed securities

   4,369     17     (19  4,367  

Asset-backed securities and other

   24,299     120     —      24,419  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

 
  $75,673    $561    $(20 $76,214  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

 

   August 27, 2011 

(in thousands)

  Amortized
Cost
Basis
   Gross
Unrealized
Gains
   Gross
Unrealized
Losses
  Fair Value 

Corporate securities

  $26,261    $229    $(45 $26,445  

Government bonds

   29,464     343     —      29,807  

Mortgage-backed securities

   4,291     55     —      4,346  

Asset-backed securities and other

   12,377     156     —      12,533  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

 
  $72,393    $783    $(45 $73,131  
  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

 

The debt securities held at August 28, 2010,25, 2012, had effective maturities ranging from less than one year to approximately 3 years. The Company did not realize any material gains or losses on its sale of marketable securities during fiscal 2012, fiscal 2011, or fiscal 2010.

The Company holds twosix securities that are in an unrealized loss position of approximately $12$20 thousand at August 28, 2010.25, 2012. The Company has the intent and ability to hold these investments until recovery of fair value or maturity, and does not deem the investments to be impaired on an other than temporary basis. In evaluating whether the securities are deemed to be impaired on an other than temporary basis, the Company considers factors such as the duration and severity of the loss position, the credit worthiness of the investee, the term to maturity and our intent and ability to hold the investments until maturity or until recovery of fair value.

Note G Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss

Accumulated other comprehensive loss includes certain adjustments to pension liabilities, foreign currency translation adjustments, certain activity for interest rate swaps and treasury rate locks that qualify as cash flow hedges and unrealized gains (losses) on available-for-sale securities.

50


Changes in accumulatedAccumulated other comprehensive loss consisted of the following:
                         
          Unrealized          
          Loss (Gain)  Net Loss  Reclassification    
  Pension  Foreign  on  (Gain) on  of Net Gains on  Accumulated 
  Liability  Currency  Marketable  Outstanding  Derivatives into  Other 
  Adjustments,  Translation  Securities,  Derivatives,  Earnings, net of  Comprehensive 
(in thousands) net of taxes  Adjustments  net of taxes  net of taxes  taxes  Loss 
Balance at August 30, 2008 $4,270  $1,798  $(186) $2,744  $(4,491) $4,135 
Fiscal 2009 activity  46,945   43,655   (568)  (2,744)  612   87,900 
                   
Balance at August 29, 2009  51,215   45,453   (754)     (3,879)  92,035 
Fiscal 2010 activity  8,144   (705)  104   6,278   612   14,433 
                   
Balance at August 28, 2010 $59,359  $44,748  $(650) $6,278  $(3,267) $106,468 
                   
The

(in thousands)

  Pension
Liability
   Foreign
Currency (1)
  Net
Unrealized
Gain on
Securities
  Derivatives   Total 

Balance at August 28, 2010

  $59,359    $44,748   $(650 $3,011    $106,468  

Fiscal 2011 activity

   17,346     (8,347  171    4,053     13,223  
  

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balance at August 27, 2011

   76,705     36,401    (479  7,064     119,691  

Fiscal 2012 activity

   17,262     13,866    128    1,066     32,322  
  

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Balance at August 25, 2012

  $93,967    $50,267   $(351 $8,130    $152,013  
  

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

 

(1)Foreign currency is not shown net of deferred tax as earnings of non-U.S. subsidiaries are intended to be permanently reinvested.

During fiscal 2009 pension adjustment of $46.9 million reflects actuarial losses not yet reflected in2012, the periodic pension cost caused primarily by the significant losses on pension assets in fiscal 2009. The foreign currency translation adjustment of $43.7 million during fiscal 2009Company was attributableparty to the weakeningfour treasury rate locks. Two of the Mexican Peso against the US Dollar, whichtreasury rate locks were settled during third quarter of fiscal 2012, resulting in a loss of $2.8 million. The remaining two treasury rate locks are outstanding as of August 29, 2009, had decreased25, 2012, and have a liability balance of $4.9 million at the balance sheet date. The net losses on the four treasury rate locks are partially offset by approximately 30% when compared to August 30, 2008.

net losses from prior derivatives being amortized into Interest expense of $1.9 million. The net derivative activity in fiscal 2011 reflects net losses on three forward starting swaps, resulting in a loss of $5.4 million, offset by net losses from prior derivatives being amortized into Interest expense of $1.4 million.

Note H Derivative Financial Instruments

Cash Flow Hedges

The Company periodically uses derivatives to hedge exposures to interest rates. The Company does not hold or issue financial instruments for trading purposes. For transactions that meet the hedge accounting criteria, the Company formally designates and documents the instrument as a hedge at inception and quarterly thereafter assesses the hedges to ensure they are effective in offsetting changes in the cash flows of the underlying exposures. Derivatives are recorded in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheet at fair value, determined using available market information or other appropriate valuation methodologies. In accordance with ASC Topic 815, (formerly FASB Statement No. 133,Accounting for Derivative InstrumentsDerivatives and Hedging Activitiesand FASB Statement No. 161,Disclosures about Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities), the effective portion of a financial instrument’s change in fair value is recorded in accumulatedAccumulated other comprehensive loss for derivatives that qualityqualify as cash flow hedges and any ineffective portion of an instrument’s change in fair value is recognized in earnings.

At August 28, 2010,

During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012, the Company heldentered into two forward starting swaps,treasury rate locks, each with a notional amount of $150$100 million. These agreements, which are set to expire inon November 2010,1, 2012, are cash flow hedges used to hedge the exposure to variability in future cash flows resulting from changes in variable interest rates relating to an anticipated debt transactions.transaction. The fixed rates of the hedges are 3.15%2.07% and 3.13%1.92% and are benchmarked based on the 10-year U.S. treasury notes. It is expected that upon settlement of these agreements, the realized gain or loss will be deferred in Accumulated other comprehensive loss and reclassified to Interest expense over the life of the underlying debt. As of August 25, 2012, no ineffectiveness was recognized in earnings.

During the third quarter of fiscal 2012, the Company entered into two treasury rate locks. These agreements were designated as cash flow hedges and were used to hedge the exposure to variability in future cash flows resulting from changes in variable interest rates related to the $500 million Senior Note debt issuance in April 2012. The treasury rate locks had notional amounts of $300 million and $100 million with associated fixed rates of 2.09% and 2.07% respectively. The locks were benchmarked based on the 10-year U.S. treasury notes. These locks expired on April 20, 2012 and resulted in a loss of $2.8 million, which has been deferred in Accumulated other comprehensive loss and will be reclassified to Interest expense over the life of the underlying debt. The hedges remained highly effective until they expired, and no ineffectiveness was recognized in earnings.

During the first quarter of fiscal 2011, the Company was party to three forward starting swaps, of which two were entered into during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010 and one was entered into during the first quarter of fiscal 2011. These agreements were designated as cash flow hedges and were used to hedge the exposure to variability in future cash flows resulting from changes in variable interest rates related to the $500 million Senior Note debt issuance during the first quarter of fiscal 2011. The swaps had notional amounts of $150 million, $150 million and $100 million with associated fixed rates of 3.15%, 3.13%, and 2.57%, respectively. The swaps were benchmarked based on the 3-month London InterBank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”). It is expected that upon settlementThese swaps expired in November 2010 and resulted in a loss of the agreements, the realized gain or loss will be$11.7 million, which has been deferred in accumulatedAccumulated other comprehensive loss and will be reclassified to interestInterest expense over the life of the underlying debt.

The hedges remained highly effective until they expired, and no ineffectiveness was recognized in earnings.

At August 28, 2010,25, 2012, the Company had $6.3 million, net of tax, recorded in accumulated other comprehensive loss related to net unrealized losses associated with these derivatives. For the fiscal year ended August 28, 2010, the Company’s forward starting swaps were determined to be highly effective, and no ineffective portion was recognized in earnings. The fair values of the interest rate hedge instruments at August 28, 2010 was a liability of $10.0 million recorded within the accrued expenses and other caption in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheet.

During 2009, the Company was party to an interest rate swap agreement related to its $300 million term floating rate loan, which bore interest based on the three month LIBOR and matured in December 2009. Under this agreement, which was accounted for as a cash flow hedge, the interest rate on the term loan was effectively fixed for its entire term at 4.4% and effectiveness was measured each reporting period. During August 2009, the Company elected to prepay, without penalty, the entire $300 million term loan. The outstanding liability associated with the interest rate swap totaled $3.6 million, and was immediately expensed in earnings upon termination. The Company recognized $5.9 million as increases to interest expense during 2009 related to payments associated with the interest rate swap agreement prior to its termination.

51


At August 28, 2010, the Company had $3.3$8.0 million recorded in accumulatedAccumulated other comprehensive loss related to net realized gainslosses associated with terminated interest rate swap and treasury rate lock derivatives which were designated as hedges.hedging instruments. Net gainslosses are amortized into earningsInterest expense over the remaining life of the associated debt. ForDuring the fiscal yearsyear ended August 28, 2010, and August 29, 2009,25, 2012, the Company reclassified $612 thousand$1.9 million of net gainslosses from accumulatedAccumulated other comprehensive loss to interest expense in each year.
Derivatives not designated as Hedging Instruments
Interest expense. In the fiscal year ended August 27, 2011, the Company reclassified $1.4 million of net losses from Accumulated other comprehensive loss to Interest expense. The Company is dependent upon diesel fuelexpects to operate its vehicles used inreclassify $904 thousand of net losses from Accumulated other comprehensive loss to Interest expense over the Company’s distribution network to deliver parts to its stores and unleaded fuel for delivery of parts from its stores to its commercial customers or other stores. Fuel is not a material component of the Company’s operating costs; however, the Company attempts to secure fuel at the lowest possible cost and to reduce volatility in its operating costs. Because unleaded and diesel fuel include transportation costs and taxes, there are limited opportunities to hedge this exposure directly.
The Company had no fuel hedges during fiscal 2010. During fiscal year 2009, the Company used a derivative financial instrument based on the Reformulated Gasoline Blendstock for Oxygen Blending index to economically hedge the commodity cost associated with its unleaded fuel. The fuel swap did not qualify for hedge accounting treatment and was executed to economically hedge a portion of unleaded fuel purchases. The notional amount of the contract was 2.5 million gallons and terminated August 31, 2009. The loss on the fuel contract for fiscal 2009 was $2.3 million.
next 12 months.

Note I Financing

The Company’s long-term debt consisted of the following:

         
  August 28,  August 29, 
(in thousands) 2010  2009 
         
4.75% Senior Notes due November 2010, effective interest rate of 4.17% $199,300  $199,300 
5.875% Senior Notes due October 2012, effective interest rate of 6.33%  300,000   300,000 
4.375% Senior Notes due June 2013, effective interest rate of 5.65%  200,000   200,000 
6.5% Senior Notes due January 2014, effective interest rate of 6.63%  500,000   500,000 
5.75% Senior Notes due January 2015, effective interest rate of 5.89%  500,000   500,000 
5.5% Senior Notes due November 2015, effective interest rate of 4.86%  300,000   300,000 
6.95% Senior Notes due June 2016, effective interest rate of 7.09%  200,000   200,000 
7.125% Senior Notes due August 2018, effective interest rate of 7.28%  250,000   250,000 
Commercial paper, weighted average interest rate of 0.4% at August 28, 2010, and 0.5% at August 29, 2009  433,000   277,600 
       
  $2,882,300  $2,726,900 
       

(in thousands)

  August 25,
2012
   August 27,
2011
 

5.875% Senior Notes due October 2012, effective interest rate of 6.33%

  $300,000    $300,000  

4.375% Senior Notes due June 2013, effective interest rate of 5.65%

   200,000     200,000  

6.500% Senior Notes due January 2014, effective interest rate of 6.63%

   500,000     500,000  

5.750% Senior Notes due January 2015, effective interest rate of 5.89%

   500,000     500,000  

5.500% Senior Notes due November 2015, effective interest rate of 4.86%

   300,000     300,000  

6.950% Senior Notes due June 2016, effective interest rate of 7.09%

   200,000     200,000  

7.125% Senior Notes due August 2018, effective interest rate of 7.28%

   250,000     250,000  

4.000% Senior Notes due November 2020, effective interest rate of 4.43%

   500,000     500,000  

3.700% Senior Notes due April 2022, effective interest rate of 3.85%

   500,000     —    

Commercial paper, weighted average interest rate of 0.42% at August 25, 2012, and 0.35% at August 27, 2011

   468,302     567,600  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 
  $3,718,302    $3,317,600  
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

As of August 28, 2010,25, 2012, the commercial paper borrowings, and the 4.75%5.875% Senior Notes due November 2010October 2012, and the 4.375% Senior Notes due June 2013 mature in the next twelve months but are classified as long-term in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets, as the Company has the ability and intent to refinance them on a long-term basis. Specifically, excluding the effect of commercial paper borrowings, the Company had $792.4$996.6 million of availability under its $800 million$1.0 billion revolving credit facility, expiring in July 2012September 2016 that would allow it to replace these short-term obligations with long-term financing.

In addition to the long-term debt discussed above, the Company had $26.2$49.9 million of short-term borrowings that are scheduled to mature in the next twelve months as of August 28, 2010.25, 2012. The short-term borrowings are $45.1 million of commercial paper borrowings that accrue interest at 0.42% and $4.8 million of unsecured, peso denominated borrowings andthat accrue interest at 5.69%4.57% as of August 28, 2010.

25, 2012.

52


In July 2009,September 2011, the Company terminatedamended and restated its $1.0 billion$800 million revolving credit facility, which was scheduled to expire in fiscal 2010, and replaced it with an $800 millionJuly 2012. The capacity under the revolving credit facility.facility was increased to $1.0 billion. This credit facility is available to primarily support commercial paper borrowings, letters of credit and other short-term, unsecured bank loans. ThisThe capacity of the credit facility expires in July 2012, may be increased to $1.0$1.250 billion prior to the maturity date at AutoZone’sthe Company’s election and subject to bank credit capacity and approval, may include up to $200 million in letters of credit, and may include up to $100$175 million in capital leases each fiscal year. After reducing the available balance by commercial paper borrowings and certain outstanding letters of credit, the Company had $331.1 million in available capacity under this facility at August 28, 2010. Under the revolving credit facility, the Company may borrow funds consisting of Eurodollar loans or base rate loans. Interest accrues on Eurodollar loans at a defined Eurodollar rate, (defineddefined as LIBOR)LIBOR plus the applicable percentage, which could range from 150 basis points to 450 basis points,as defined in the revolving credit facility, depending upon the Company’s senior, unsecured, (non-credit enhanced) long-term debt rating of the Company.rating. Interest accrues on base rate loans atas defined in the prime rate.credit facility. The Company also has the option to borrow funds under the terms of a swingline loan subfacility. The revolving credit facility expires in 2012.
September 2016.

The revolving credit facility agreement requires that the Company’s consolidated interest coverage ratio as of the last day of each quarter shall be no less than 2.50:1. This ratio is defined as the ratio of (i) consolidated earnings before interest, taxes and rents to (ii) consolidated interest expense plus consolidated rents. The Company’s consolidated interest coverage ratio as of August 28, 201025, 2012 was 4.27:4.58:1.

In June 2010, the Company entered into a letter of credit facility that allows the Company to request the participating bank to issue letters of credit on the Company’s 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 August 28, 2010,25, 2012, the Company has $100.0$98.7 million in letters of credit outstanding under the letter of credit facility, which expires in June 2013.

During August 2009, the Company elected to prepay, without penalty, a $300 million bank term loan entered in December 2004, and subsequently amended. The term loan facility provided for a term loan, which consisted of, at the Company’s election, base rate loans, Eurodollar loans or a combination thereof. The entire unpaid principal amount of the term loan would be due and payable in full on December 23, 2009, when the facility was scheduled to terminate. Interest accrued on base rate loans at a base rate per annum equal to the higher of the prime rate or the Federal Funds Rate plus 1/2 of 1%. The Company entered into an interest rate swap agreement on December 29, 2004, to effectively fix, based on current debt ratings, the interest rate of the term loan at 4.4%. The outstanding liability associated with the interest rate swap totaled $3.6 million, and was expensed in operating, selling, general and administrative expenses upon termination of the hedge in fiscal 2009.

On July 2, 2009,April 24, 2012, the Company issued $500 million in 5.75%3.700% Senior Notes due 2015April 2022 under the Company’s shelf registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 29, 2008April 17, 2012 (the “Shelf Registration”). In addition, on August 4, 2008, the Company issued $500 million in 6.50% Senior Notes due 2014 and $250 million in 7.125% Senior Notes due 2018 under the Shelf Registration. The Shelf Registration allows the Company 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 store openings, stock repurchases and acquisitions. In fiscal 2009, theThe Company used the proceeds from the issuance of debt to repay outstandinga portion of the commercial paper indebtedness, to prepay our $300 million term loan in August 2009borrowings and for general corporate purposes. Proceeds

On November 15, 2010, the Company issued $500 million in 4.000% Senior Notes due 2020 under a shelf registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 29, 2008. The Company used the proceeds from the debt issuance in fiscal 2008 were usedof debt to repay outstandingthe principal due relating to the $199.3 million in 4.750% Senior Notes that matured on November 15, 2010, to repay a portion of the commercial paper indebtednessborrowings and for general corporate purposes.

The 5.75%5.750% Senior Notes issued in July 2009 and the 6.50%6.500% and 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. TheyThe Notes, along with the 3.700% Senior Notes issued in April 2012 and the 4.000% Senior Notes issued in during November 2010, also contain a provision that repayment of the Notesnotes may be accelerated if AutoZonethe Company experiences a change in control (as defined in the agreements). The Company’s borrowings under the Company’sits other senior notes arrangements contain minimal covenants, primarily restrictions on liens. Under the Company’s revolving credit facility, covenants include limitations on total indebtedness, restrictions on liens, a minimum coveragemaximum debt to earnings ratio, and a change of control provision that may require acceleration of the repayment obligations under certain circumstances. These covenants are in addition to the consolidated interest coverage ratio discussed above. All of the repayment obligations under the Company’s borrowing arrangements may be accelerated and come due prior to the scheduled payment date if covenants are breached or an event of default occurs.

53


As of August 28, 2010,25, 2012, the Company was in compliance with all covenants related to its borrowing arrangements. All of the Company’s debt is unsecured. Scheduled maturities of long-term debt are as follows:
     
  Scheduled 
(in thousands) Maturities 
     
2011 $632,300 
2012   
2013  500,000 
2014  500,000 
2015  500,000 
Thereafter  750,000 
    
  $2,882,300 
    

(in thousands)

  Scheduled
Maturities
 

2013

  $968,302  

2014

   500,000  

2015

   500,000  

2016

   500,000  

2017

   —    

Thereafter

   1,250,000  
  

 

 

 
  $3,718,302  
  

 

 

 

The fair value of the Company’s debt was estimated at $3.182$4.055 billion as of August 28, 2010,25, 2012, and $2.853$3.633 billion as of August 29, 2009,27, 2011, based on the quoted market prices for the same or similar issues or on the current rates available to the Company for debt of the same remaining maturities.terms (Level 2). Such fair value is greater than the carrying value of debt by $273.5$286.6 million and $126.5$281.0 million at August 28, 201025, 2012 and August 29, 2009,27, 2011, respectively.

Note J Interest Expense

Net interest expense consisted of the following:

             
  Year Ended 
  August 28,  August 29,  August 30, 
(in thousands) 2010  2009  2008 
             
Interest expense $162,628  $147,504  $121,843 
Interest income  (2,626)  (3,887)  (3,785)
Capitalized interest  (1,093)  (1,301)  (1,313)
          
  $158,909  $142,316  $116,745 
          

   Year Ended 

(in thousands)

  August 25,
2012
  August 27,
2011
  August 28,
2010
 

Interest expense

  $178,547   $173,674   $162,628  

Interest income

   (1,397  (2,058  (2,626

Capitalized interest

   (1,245  (1,059  (1,093
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 
  $175,905   $170,557   $158,909  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Note K Stock Repurchase Program

During 1998, the Company announced a program permitting the Company to repurchase a portion of its outstanding shares not to exceed a dollar maximum established by the Company’s Board of Directors.Board. The program was last amended on June 15, 2010March 7, 2012 to increase the repurchase authorization to $8.9$11.90 billion from $8.4$11.15 billion. From January 1998 to August 28, 2010,25, 2012, the Company has repurchased a total of 121.7131.1 million shares at an aggregate cost of $8.7$11.5 billion.

The following table summarizes ourCompany’s share repurchase activity forconsisted of the followingfollowing:

   Year Ended 

(in thousands)

  August 25,
2012
   August 27,
2011
   August 28,
2010
 

Amount

  $1,362,869    $1,466,802    $1,123,655  

Shares

   3,795     5,598     6,376  

During the fiscal years:

             
  Year Ended 
  August 28,  August 29,  August 30, 
(in thousands) 2010  2009  2008 
             
Amount $1,123,655  $1,300,002  $849,196 
Shares  6,376   9,313   6,802 
On September 28, 2010,year 2012, the BoardCompany retired 4.9 million shares of Directorstreasury stock which had previously been repurchased under the Company’s share repurchase program. The retirement increased Retained deficit by $1,319.6 million and decreased Additional paid-in capital by $72.5 million. During the comparable prior year period, the Company retired 6.6 million shares of treasury stock, which increased Retained deficit by $1,247.7 million and decreased Additional paid-in capital by $82.2 million.

Subsequent to August 25, 2012, the Board voted to increase the authorization by $500$750 million to raise the cumulative share repurchase authorization from $8.9$11.90 billion to $9.4$12.65 billion. From August 29, 2010 to October 25, 2010, the CompanyWe have repurchased approximately 800 thousand629,168 shares for $185.9 million.

of common stock at an aggregate cost of $234.6 million during fiscal 2013.

54


Note L Pension and Savings Plans

Prior to January 1, 2003, substantially all full-time employees were covered by a defined benefit pension plan. The benefits under the plan were based on years of service and the employee’s highest consecutive five-year average compensation. On January 1, 2003, the plan was frozen. Accordingly, pension plan participants will earn no new benefits under the plan formula and no new participants will join the pension plan.

On January 1, 2003, the Company’s supplemental defined benefit pension plan for certain highly compensated employees was also frozen. Accordingly, plan participants will earn no new benefits under the plan formula and no new participants will join the pension plan.

ASC Topic 715 (formerly SFAS No. 158,Employers’ Accounting for Defined Benefit Pension and Other Postretirement Plans, an amendment of FASB Statements No. 87, 88, 106, and 132(R)) requires plan sponsors of defined benefit pension and other postretirement benefit plans to recognize the funded status of their postretirement benefit plans in the statement of financial position, measure the fair value of plan assets and benefit obligations as of the date of the fiscal year-end statement of financial position, and provide additional disclosures. The Company adopted the recognition and disclosure provisions of ASC Topic 715 on August 25, 2007 and adopted the measurement provisions of the standard on August 31, 2008.

The Company has recognized the unfunded status of the defined pension plans in its Consolidated Balance Sheets, which represents the difference between the fair value of pension plan assets and the projected benefit obligations of its defined benefit pension plans. The net unrecognized actuarial losses and unrecognized prior service costs are recorded in accumulatedAccumulated other comprehensive loss. These amounts will be subsequently recognized as net periodic pension expense pursuant to the Company’s historical accounting policy for amortizing such amounts. Further, actuarial gains and losses that arise in subsequent periods and are not recognized as net periodic pension expense in the same periods will be recognized as a component of other comprehensive income. Those amounts will be subsequently recognized as a component of net periodic pension expense on the same basis as the amounts previously recognized in accumulatedAccumulated other comprehensive loss.

The Company’s investment strategy for pension plan assets is to utilize a diversified mix of domestic and international equity and fixed income portfolios to earn a long-term investment return that meets the Company’s pension plan obligations. The pension plan assets are invested primarily in listed securities, and the pension plans hold only a minimal investment in AutoZone common stock that is entirely at the discretion of third-party pension fund investment managers. The Company’s largest holding classes, U.S. equities and fixed income bonds, are each invested with multiple managers, each holdinga fund manager that holds diversified portfolios with complementary styles and holdings.portfolios. Accordingly, the Company does not have any significant concentrations of risk in particular securities, issuers, sectors, industries or geographic regions. Alternative investment strategies including private real estate, are in the process of being liquidated and constitute less than 10%2% of the pension plan assets. The Company’s investment managers are prohibited from using derivatives for speculative purposes and are not permitted to use derivatives to leverage a portfolio.

Following

The following is a description of the valuation methodologies used for the Company’s investments measured at fair value:

U.S., international, emerging, and high yield equities These investments are commingled funds and are valued using the net asset values, which are determined by valuing investments at the closing price or last trade reported on the major market on which the individual securities are traded. These investments are subject to annual audits.

Alternative investments This category represents a hedge fund of funds made up of 1716 different hedge fund managers diversified over 9 different hedge strategies. The fair value of the hedge fund of funds is determined using valuations provided by the third party administrator for each of the underlying funds.

Real estate The valuation of these investments requires significant judgment due to the absence of quoted market prices, the inherent lack of liquidity and the long-term nature of such assets. These investments are valued based upon recommendations of our investment manager incorporating factors such as contributions and distributions, market transactions, and market comparables.

55


Fixed income securities The fair values of corporate, U.S. government securities and other fixed income securities are estimated by using bid evaluation pricing models or quoted prices of securities with similar characteristics.

Cash and cash equivalents These investments include cash equivalents valued using exchange rates provided by an industry pricing vendor and commingled funds valued using the net asset value. These investments also include cash.

The fair values of investments by level and asset category and the weighted-average asset allocations of the Company’s pension plans at the measurement date are presented in the following table:

                         
August 28, 2010 
  Fair  Asset Allocation  Fair Value Hierarchy 
(in thousands) Value  Actual  Target  Level 1  Level 2  Level 3 
                         
U.S. equities $33,445   28.5%  35.0% $33,445  $  $ 
International equities  24,049   20.5   25.0   24,049       
Emerging equities  10,431   8.9   10.0   10,431       
High yield equities  10,604   9.0   10.0   10,604       
Alternative investments  4,348   3.7            4,348 
Real estate  7,348   6.3            7,348 
Fixed income securities  22,131   18.9   20.0   22,131       
Cash and cash equivalents  4,887   4.2      4,887       
                   
  $117,243   100.0%  100.0% $105,547  $  $11,696 
                   
                         
August 29, 2009 
  Fair  Asset Allocation  Fair Value Hierarchy 
(in thousands) Value  Actual  Target  Level 1  Level 2  Level 3 
                         
U.S. equities $20,321   17.6%  22.5% $20,321  $  $ 
International equities  41,959   36.4   28.0   28,678   13,281    
Emerging equities  6,765   5.9   6.0   6,765       
High yield equities                  
Alternative investments  27,314   23.7   30.5         27,314 
Real estate  9,457   8.2   11.0         9,457 
Fixed income securities                  
Cash and cash equivalents  9,497   8.2   2.0   9,497       
                   
  $115,313   100.0%  100.0% $65,261  $13,281  $36,771 
                   

   August 25, 2012            
   Fair
Value
   Asset Allocation  Fair Value Hierarchy 

(in thousands)

    Actual  Target  Level 1   Level 2   Level 3 

U.S. equities

  $51,101     28.2  30.0 $—      $51,101    $—    

International equities

   31,767     17.5    20.0    —       31,767     —    

Emerging equities

   16,471     9.1    10.0    —       16,471     —    

High yield equities

   17,378     9.6    10.0    —       17,378     —    

Alternative investments

   2,404     1.3    —      —       —       2,404  

Fixed income securities

   47,667     26.3    30.0    —       47,667     —    

Cash and cash equivalents

   14,621     8.0    —      —       14,621     —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
  $181,409     100.0  100.0 $—      $179,005    $2,404  
  

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

   August 27, 2011            
   Fair
Value
   Asset Allocation  Fair Value Hierarchy 

(in thousands)

    Actual  Target  Level 1   Level 2   Level 3 

U.S. equities

  $40,092     25.5  30.0 $—      $40,092    $—    

International equities

   28,378     18.1    20.0    —       28,378     —    

Emerging equities

   12,086     7.7    10.0    —       12,086     —    

High yield equities

   12,547     8.0    10.0    —       12,547     —    

Alternative investments

   2,807     1.8    —      —       —       2,807  

Real estate

   2,474     1.6    —      —       —       2,474  

Fixed income securities

   27,321     17.4    30.0    —       27,321     —    

Cash and cash equivalents

   31,178     19.9    —      —       31,178     —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 
  $156,883     100.0  100.0 $—      $151,602    $5,281  
  

 

 

   

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

   

 

 

 

The August 25, 2012 actual asset allocation in the chart above includes an $8.7 million cash contribution made prior to August 25, 2012. Subsequent to August 25, 2012, this cash contribution was allocated to the pension plan investments in accordance with the targeted asset allocation.

In August 2011, the Company’s Investment Committee approved a revised asset allocation target for the investments held by the pension plan. Based on the revised asset allocation target, the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets changed from 8.0% in fiscal 2011 to 7.5% for the year ending August 25, 2012. The August 27, 2011 actual asset allocation in the chart above includes a $28.3 million cash contribution made prior to August 27, 2011. Subsequent to August 27, 2011, this cash contribution was allocated to the pension plan investments to achieve the revised asset allocation target.

The change in fair value of Level 3 assets that use significant unobservable inputs is presented in the following table:

     
  Level 3 
(in thousands) Assets 
     
Beginning balance — August 29, 2009 $36,771 
Actual return on plan assets:    
Assets held at August 28, 2010  367 
Assets sold during the year  1,446 
Sales and settlements  (26,888)
    
Ending balance — August 28, 2010 $11,696 
    

 

(in thousands)

  Level 3
Assets
 

Beginning balance – August 27, 2011

  $5,281  

Actual return on plan assets:

  

Assets held at August 25, 2012

   55  

Assets sold during the year

   168  

Sales and settlements

   (3,100
  

 

 

 

Ending balance – August 25, 2012

  $2,404  
  

 

 

 

56


The following table sets forth the plans’ funded status and amounts recognized in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheets:
         
  August 28,  August 29, 
(in thousands) 2010  2009 
         
Change in Projected Benefit Obligation:
        
Projected benefit obligation at beginning of year $185,590  $156,674 
Interest cost  11,315   10,647 
Actuarial losses  18,986   23,637 
Benefits paid  (4,355)  (5,368)
       
Benefit obligations at end of year $211,536  $185,590 
       
         
Change in Plan Assets:
        
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year $115,313  $160,898 
Actual return on plan assets  6,273   (40,235)
Employer contributions  12   18 
Benefits paid  (4,355)  (5,368)
       
Fair value of plan assets at end of year $117,243  $115,313 
       
         
Amount Recognized in the Statement of Financial Position:
        
Current liabilities $(12) $(17)
Long-term liabilities  (94,281)  (70,260)
       
Net amount recognized $(94,293) $(70,277)
       
         
Amount Recognized in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss and not yet reflected in Net Periodic Benefit Cost:
        
Net actuarial loss $(94,293) $(70,277)
       
Accumulated other comprehensive loss $(94,293) $(70,277)
       
         
Amount Recognized in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss and not yet reflected in Net Periodic Benefit Cost and expected to be amortized in next year’s Net Periodic Benefit Cost:
        
Net actuarial loss $(10,252) $(8,354)
       
Amount recognized $(10,252) $(8,354)
       

(in thousands)

  August 25,
2012
  August 27,
2011
 

Change in Projected Benefit Obligation:

   

Projected benefit obligation at beginning of year

  $241,645   $211,536  

Interest cost

   12,214    11,135  

Actuarial losses

   56,749    23,746  

Benefits paid

   (5,402  (4,772
  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Benefit obligations at end of year

  $305,206   $241,645  
  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Change in Plan Assets:

   

Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year

  $156,883   $117,243  

Actual return on plan assets

   14,505    10,336  

Employer contributions

   15,423    34,076  

Benefits paid

   (5,402  (4,772
  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Fair value of plan assets at end of year

  $181,409   $156,883  
  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Amount Recognized in the Statement of Financial Position:

   

Current liabilities

  $(30 $(27

Long-term liabilities

   (123,767  (84,736
  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Net amount recognized

  $(123,797 $(84,763
  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Amount Recognized in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss and not yet reflected in Net Periodic Benefit Cost:

   

Net actuarial loss

  $(154,678 $(106,972
  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Accumulated other comprehensive loss

  $(154,678 $(106,972
  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Amount Recognized in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss and not yet reflected in Net Periodic Benefit Cost and expected to be amortized in next year’s Net Periodic Benefit Cost:

   

Net actuarial loss

  $(14,721 $(9,795
  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Amount recognized

  $(14,721 $(9,795
  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Net periodic benefit expense (income) consisted of the following:

             
  Year Ended 
  August 28,  August 29,  August 30, 
(in thousands) 2010  2009  2008 
             
Interest cost $11,315  $10,647  $9,962 
Expected return on plan assets  (9,045)  (12,683)  (13,036)
Amortization of prior service cost     60   99 
Recognized net actuarial losses  8,135   73   97 
          
Net periodic benefit expense (income) $10,405  $(1,903) $(2,878)
          

   Year Ended 

(in thousands)

  August 25,
2012
  August 27,
2011
  August 28,
2010
 

Interest cost

  $12,214   $11,135   $11,315  

Expected return on plan assets

   (11,718  (9,326  (9,045

Amortization of prior service cost

   —      —      —    

Recognized net actuarial losses

   9,795    9,405    8,135  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Net periodic benefit expense

  $10,291   $11,214   $10,405  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

The actuarial assumptions used in determining the projected benefit obligation include the following:

             
  Year Ended 
  August 28,  August 29,  August 30, 
  2010  2009  2008 
             
Weighted average discount rate  5.25%  6.24%  6.90%
          
Expected long-term rate of return on plan assets  8.00%  8.00%  8.00%
          

 

   Year Ended 
   August 25,
2012
  August 27,
2011
  August 28,
2010
 

Weighted average discount rate

   3.90  5.13  5.25

Expected long-term rate of return on plan assets

   7.50  8.00  8.00

57


As the plan benefits are frozen, increases in future compensation levels no longer impact the calculation and there is no service cost. The discount rate is determined as of the measurement date and is based on the calculated yield of a portfolio of high-grade corporate bonds with cash flows that generally match the Company’s expected benefit payments in future years. The expected long-term rate of return on plan assets is based on the historical relationships between the investment classes and the capital markets, updated for current conditions.

The Company makes annual contributions in amounts at least equal to the minimum funding requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. The Company contributed approximately$15.4 million to the plans in fiscal 2012, $34.1 million to the plans in fiscal 2011 and $12 thousand to the plans in fiscal 2010, $18 thousand2010. The Company expects to the plans in fiscal 2009 and $1.3contribute approximately $9 million to the plans in fiscal 2008. The Company expects to contribute approximately $3 million to the plan in fiscal 2011;2013; however, a change to the expected cash funding may be impacted by a change in interest rates or a change in the actual or expected return on plan assets.

Based on current assumptions about future events, benefit payments are expected to be paid as follows for each of the following fiscal years. Actual benefit payments may vary significantly from the following estimates:

     
  Benefit 
(in thousands) Payments 
    
2011 $5,907 
2012  6,581 
2013  7,281 
2014  7,910 
2015  8,544 
2016 – 2020  52,047 

(in thousands)

  Benefit
Payments
 

2013

  $7,438  

2014

   8,182  

2015

   8,867  

2016

   9,583  

2017

   10,164  

2018 – 2022

   60,567  

The Company has a 401(k) plan that covers all domestic employees who meet the plan’s participation requirements. The plan features include Company matching contributions, immediate 100% vesting of Company contributions and a savings option up to 25% of qualified earnings. The Company makes matching contributions, per pay period, up to a specified percentage of employees’ contributions as approved by the Board of Directors.Board. The Company made matching contributions to employee accounts in connection with the 401(k) plan of $14.4 million in fiscal 2012, $13.3 million in fiscal 2011 and $11.7 million in fiscal 2010, $11.0 million in fiscal 2009 and $10.8 million in fiscal 2008.

2010.

Note M Leases

The Company leases some of its retail stores, distribution centers, facilities, land and equipment, including vehicles. MostOther than vehicle leases, most of thesethe leases are operating leases, andwhich include renewal options made at the Company’s election, and some include options to purchase and provisions for percentage rent based on sales. Rental expense was $229.4 million in fiscal 2012, $213.8 million in fiscal 2011, and $195.6 million in fiscal 2010, $181.3 million in fiscal 2009, and $165.1 million in fiscal 2008.2010. Percentage rentals were insignificant.

The Company has a fleet of vehicles used for delivery to its commercial customers and stores and travel for members of field management. The majority of these vehicles are held under capital lease. At August 28, 2010,25, 2012, the Company had capital lease assets of $85.8$104.2 million, net of accumulated amortization of $20.4$36.4 million, and capital lease obligations of $88.3$102.3 million, of which $21.9$29.8 million is classified as accruedAccrued expenses and other as it represents the current portion of these obligations. At August 29, 2009,27, 2011, the Company had capital lease assets of $53.9$86.6 million, net of accumulated amortization of $25.4$30.2 million, and capital lease obligations of $54.8$86.7 million, of which $16.7$25.3 million was classified as accruedAccrued expenses and other.

The Company records rent for all operating leases on a straight-line basis over the lease term, including any reasonably assured renewal periods and the period of time prior to the lease term that the Company is in possession of the leased space for the purpose of installing leasehold improvements. Differences between recorded rent expense and cash payments are recorded as a liability in accruedAccrued expenses and other and otherOther long-term liabilities in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets.Sheets, based on the terms of the lease. The deferred rent approximated $67.6$86.9 million on August 28, 2010,25, 2012, and $59.5$77.6 million on August 29, 2009.

27, 2011.

58


Future minimum annual rental commitments under non-cancelable operating leases and capital leases were as follows at the end of fiscal 2010:
         
  Operating  Capital 
(in thousands) Leases  Leases 
         
2011 $196,291  $21,947 
2012  187,085   24,013 
2013  170,858   20,819 
2014  151,287   16,971 
2015  133,549   8,995 
Thereafter  900,977    
       
Total minimum payments required $1,740,047   92,745 
       
Less: Interest      (4,465)
        
Present value of minimum capital lease payments     $88,280 
        
2012:

(in thousands)

  Operating
Leases
   Capital
Leases
 

2013

  $217,844    $29,842  

2014

   209,300     28,859  

2015

   192,296     24,520  

2016

   174,844     17,181  

2017

   157,691     5,002  

Thereafter

   958,435     —    
  

 

 

   

 

 

 

Total minimum payments required

  $1,910,410     105,404  
  

 

 

   

Less: Interest

     (3,148
    

 

 

 

Present value of minimum capital lease payments

    $102,256  
    

 

 

 

In connection with the Company’s December 2001 sale of the TruckPro business, the Company subleased some properties to the purchaser for an initial term of not less than 20 years. The Company’s remaining aggregate rental obligation at August 28, 201025, 2012 of $20.5$17.3 million is included in the above table, but the obligation is entirely offset by the sublease rental agreement.

Note N Commitments and Contingencies

Construction commitments, primarily for new stores, totaled approximately $15.8$25.6 million at August 28, 2010.

25, 2012.

The Company had $107.6$102.3 million in outstanding standby letters of credit and $23.7$33.1 million in surety bonds as of August 28, 2010,25, 2012, which all have expiration periods of less than one year. A substantial portion of the outstanding standby letters of credit (which are primarily renewed on an annual basis) and surety bonds are used to cover reimbursement obligations to our workers’ compensation carriers. There are no additional contingent liabilities associated with these instruments as the underlying liabilities are already reflected in the consolidated balance sheet. The standby letters of credit and surety bonds arrangements have automatic renewal clauses.

Note O Litigation

AutoZone, Inc. is

In 2004, the Company acquired a defendantstore site in Mount Ephraim, New Jersey that had previously been the site of a lawsuit entitled “Coalition forgasoline service station and contained evidence of groundwater contamination. Upon acquisition, the Company voluntarily reported the groundwater contamination issue to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and entered into a Level Playing Field, L.L.C., et al., v. AutoZone, Inc. et al.,” filed in the U.S. District CourtVoluntary Remediation Agreement providing for the Southern District of New York in October 2004. The case was filed by more than 200 plaintiffs, which are principally automotive aftermarket warehouse distributors and jobbers, against a number of defendants, including automotive aftermarket retailers and aftermarket automotive parts manufacturers. In the amended complaint, the plaintiffs allege,inter alia, that some or allremediation of the automotive aftermarket retailer defendants have knowingly received, in violationcontamination associated with the property. The Company has conducted and paid for (at an immaterial cost to the Company) remediation of the Robinson-Patman Act (the “Act”), from various of the manufacturer defendants benefits such as volume discounts, rebates, early buy allowances and other allowances, fees, inventory without payment, sham advertising and promotional payments, a share in the manufacturers’ profits, benefits of pay on scan purchases, implementation of radio frequency identification technology, and excessive payments for services purportedly performed for the manufacturers. Additionally, a subset of plaintiffs alleges a claim of fraud against the automotive aftermarket retailer defendants based on discovery issues in a prior litigation involving similar claims under the Act. In the prior litigation, the discovery dispute, as well as the underlying claims, was decided in favor of AutoZone and the other automotive aftermarket retailer defendants who proceeded to trial, pursuant to a unanimous jury verdict which was affirmed by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. In the current litigation, plaintiffs seek an unspecified amount of damages (including statutory trebling), attorneys’ fees, and a permanent injunction prohibiting the aftermarket retailer defendants from inducing and/or knowingly receiving discriminatory prices from any of the aftermarket manufacturer defendants and from opening up any further stores to compete with plaintiffs as long as defendants allegedly continue to violate the Act.

59


In an order dated September 7, 2010 and issued on September 16, 2010, the court granted motions to dismiss all claims against AutoZone and its co-defendant competitors and suppliers.  Basedcontamination on the record in the prior litigation, the court dismissed with prejudice all overlapping claims – that is, those covering the same time periods covered by the prior litigation and brought by the judgment plaintiffs in the prior litigation. The court also dismissed with prejudice the plaintiffs’ attempt to revisit discovery disputes from the prior litigation.  Further, with respect to the other claims under the Act, the Court found that the factual statements contained in the complaint fall short of what would be necessary to support a plausible inference of unlawful price discrimination.  Finally, the court held that the AutoZone pay-on-scan program is a difference in non-price terms that are not governed by the Act.  The court ordered the case closed, but also stated that “in an abundance of caution the Court [was] defer[ring] decision on whether to grant leave to amend to allow plaintiff an opportunity to propose curative amendments.” Without moving for leave to amend their complaint for a third time, four plaintiffs filed a Third Amended and Supplemental Complaint (the “Third Amended Complaint”) on October 18, 2010. The Third Amended Complaint repeats and expands certain allegations from previous complaints, asserting two claims under the Act, but states that all other plaintiffs have withdrawn their claims, and that,inter alia, Chief Auto Parts, Inc. has been dismissed as a defendant.  The court set no specific procedure for further response or motion by the defendants.  The Company anticipates that the defendants, including AutoZone, will request that the court reject the Third Amended Complaint and/or will seek to have it dismissed.
The Company believes this suit to be without merit and is vigorously defending against it.property. The Company is unablealso investigating, and will be addressing, potential vapor intrusion impacts in downgradient residences and businesses. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has indicated that it will assert that the Company is liable for the downgradient impacts under a joint and severable liability theory, and the Company intends to estimate a loss or possible rangecontest any such assertions due to the existence of loss.
other sources of contamination in the area of the property. Pursuant to the Voluntary Remediation Agreement, upon completion of all remediation required by the agreement, the Company believes it should be eligible to be reimbursed up to 75 percent of qualified remediation costs by the State of New Jersey. The Company has asked the state for clarification that the agreement applies to off-site work, and the state is considering the request. Although the aggregate amount of additional costs that the Company may incur pursuant to the remediation cannot currently and from timebe ascertained, the Company does not currently believe that fulfillment of its obligations under the agreement or otherwise will result in costs that are material to time,its financial condition, results of operations or cash flow.

The Company is involved in various other legal proceedings incidental to the conduct of its business. Althoughbusiness, including several lawsuits containing class-action allegations in which the amount of liability that may result from these other proceedings cannot be ascertained, theplaintiffs are current and former hourly and salaried employees who allege various wage and hour violations and unlawful termination practices. The Company does not currently believe that, either individually or in the aggregate, these matters will result in liabilities material to the Company’s financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

Note P Segment Reporting

The Company’s two operating segments (Domestic Auto Parts and Mexico) have been aggregated as one reportable segment: Auto Parts Stores. The criteria the Company used to identify the reportable segment are primarily the nature of the products the Company sells and the operating results that are regularly reviewed by the Company’s chief operating decision maker to make decisions about the resources to be allocated to the business units and to assess performance. The accounting policies of the Company’s reportable segment are the same as those described in Note A.

The Auto Parts Stores segment is a retailer and distributor of automotive parts and accessories through the Company’s 4,6275,006 stores in the United States, including Puerto Rico, and Mexico. Each 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.

The “Other” category reflects business activities that are not separately reportable, including ALLDATA which produces, sells and maintains diagnostic and repair information software used in the automotive repair industry, and e-Commerce, which includes direct sales to customers through www.autozone.com.

www.autozone.com.

The Company evaluates its reportable segment primarily on the basis of net sales and segment profit, which is defined as gross profit. During fiscal 2009, the Company reassessed and revised its reportable segment to exclude ALLDATA and e-Commerce from the newly designated Auto Parts Stores reporting segment. Previously, these immaterial business activities had been combined with Auto Parts Stores.

60


The following table shows segment results for the following fiscal years:
             
  Year Ended 
  August 28,  August 29,  August 30, 
(in thousands) 2010  2009  2008 
             
Net Sales:
            
Auto Parts Stores $7,213,753  $6,671,939  $6,383,697 
Other  148,865   144,885   139,009 
          
Total $7,362,618  $6,816,824  $6,522,706 
          
             
Segment Profit:
            
Auto Parts Stores $3,591,464  $3,296,777  $3,153,703 
Other  120,280   119,672   114,358 
          
Gross profit  3,711,744   3,416,449   3,268,061 
Operating, selling, general and administrative expenses  (2,392,330)  (2,240,387)  (2,143,927)
Interest expense, net  (158,909)  (142,316)  (116,745)
          
Income before income taxes $1,160,505  $1,033,746  $1,007,389 
          
             
Segment Assets:
            
Auto Parts Stores $5,531,955  $5,279,454  $5,239,782 
Other  39,639   38,951   17,330 
          
Total $5,571,594  $5,318,405  $5,257,112 
          
             
Capital Expenditures:
            
Auto Parts Stores $307,725  $260,448  $238,631 
Other  7,675   11,799   4,963 
          
Total $315,400  $272,247  $243,594 
          
             
Sales by Product Grouping:
            
Failure $3,145,528  $2,816,126  $2,707,296 
Maintenance items  2,792,610   2,655,113   2,462,923 
Discretionary  1,275,615   1,200,700   1,213,478 
          
Auto Parts Stores net sales $7,213,753  $6,671,939  $6,383,697 
          

 

61

   Year Ended 

(in thousands)

  August 25,
2012
  August 27,
2011
  August 28,
2010
 

Net Sales:

    

Auto Parts Stores

  $8,422,559   $7,906,692   $7,213,753  

Other

   181,304    166,281    148,865  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total

  $8,603,863   $8,072,973   $7,362,618  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Segment Profit:

    

Auto Parts Stores

  $4,292,474   $3,989,852   $3,591,464  

Other

   139,562    129,611    120,280  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Gross profit

   4,432,036    4,119,463    3,711,744  

Operating, selling, general and administrative expenses

   (2,803,145  (2,624,660  (2,392,330

Interest expense, net

   (175,905  (170,557  (158,909
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Income before income taxes

  $1,452,986   $1,324,246   $1,160,505  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Segment Assets:

    

Auto Parts Stores

  $6,214,688   $5,827,285   $5,531,955  

Other

   50,951    42,317    39,639  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total

  $6,265,639   $5,869,602   $5,571,594  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Capital Expenditures:

    

Auto Parts Stores

  $364,361   $316,074   $307,725  

Other

   13,693    5,530    7,675  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Total

  $378,054   $321,604   $315,400  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Auto Parts Stores Sales by Product Grouping:

    

Failure

  $3,793,963   $3,530,497   $3,145,528  

Maintenance items

   3,196,807    3,051,672    2,792,610  

Discretionary

   1,431,789    1,324,523    1,275,615  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Auto Parts Stores net sales

  $8,422,559   $7,906,692   $7,213,753  
  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

 


Note Q – Quarterly Summary(1)(1)

(Unaudited)

                 
              Sixteen 
  Twelve Weeks Ended  Weeks Ended 
  November 21,  February 13,  May 8,  August 28, 
(in thousands, except per share data) 2009  2010  2010  2010(2) 
                 
Net sales $1,589,244  $1,506,225  $1,821,990  $2,445,159 
Gross profit  799,924   753,736   923,121   1,234,963 
Operating profit  260,428   230,381   355,865   472,740 
Income before income taxes  224,088   194,072   319,032   423,313 
Net income  143,300   123,333   202,745   268,933 
Basic earnings per share  2.86   2.49   4.19   5.77 
Diluted earnings per share  2.82   2.46   4.12   5.66 
                 
              Sixteen 
  Twelve Weeks Ended  Weeks Ended 
  November 22,  February 14,  May 9,  August 29, 
(in thousands, except per share data) 2008  2009  2009  2009(2) 
                 
Net sales $1,478,292  $1,447,877  $1,658,160  $2,232,494 
Gross profit  741,191   719,298   832,907   1,123,053 
Operating profit  238,539   214,696   305,232   417,596 
Income before income taxes  207,373   182,789   273,750   369,834 
Net income  131,371   115,864   173,689   236,126 
Basic earnings per share  2.25   2.05   3.18   4.49 
Diluted earnings per share  2.23   2.03   3.13   4.43 

   Twelve Weeks Ended   Sixteen
Weeks Ended
 

(in thousands, except per share data)

  November 19,
2011
   February 11,
2012
   May 5,
2012
   August  25,
2012(2)
 

Net sales

  $1,924,341    $1,804,069    $2,111,866    $2,763,585  

Gross profit

   983,627     926,215     1,089,799     1,432,394  

Operating profit

   340,934     300,651     427,250     560,056  

Income before income taxes

   301,840     261,728     387,507     501,911  

Net income

   191,125     166,930     248,586     323,733  

Basic earnings per share

   4.79     4.25     6.43     8.65  

Diluted earnings per share

   4.68     4.15     6.28     8.46  

   Twelve Weeks Ended   Sixteen
Weeks Ended
 

(in thousands, except per share data)

  November 20,
2010
   February 12,
2011
   May 7,
2011
   August  27,
2011(2)
 

Net sales

  $1,791,662    $1,660,946    $1,978,369    $2,641,996  

Gross profit

   907,748     845,611     1,013,530     1,352,574  

Operating profit

   306,121     271,748     392,925     524,010  

Income before income taxes

   268,868     232,172     353,009     470,197  

Net income

   172,076     148,056     227,373     301,469  

Basic earnings per share

   3.85     3.41     5.42     7.35  

Diluted earnings per share

   3.77     3.34     5.29     7.18  

(1)The sum of quarterly amounts may not equal the annual amounts reported due to rounding and due torounding. In addition, the earnings per share amounts beingare computed independently for each quarter while the full year is based on the annual weighted average shares outstanding.
(2)The fourth quarter for fiscal 20102012 and fiscal 20092011 are based on a 16-week period. All other quarters presented are based on a 12-week period.

Item 9. Changes In and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure

Not applicable.

Item 9A. Controls and Procedures

As of August 28, 2010,25, 2012, an evaluation was performed under the supervision and with the participation of AutoZone’s management, including the Chief Executive Officer and the 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 the Chief Financial Officer, concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective. During our fiscal fourth quarter ended August 28, 2010,25, 2012, there were no changes in our internal controls that have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect internal controls over financial reporting.

Item 9B. Other Information

Not applicable.

62


PART III

Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance

The information set forth in Part I of this document in the section entitled “Executive Officers of the Registrant,” is incorporated herein by reference in response to this item. Additionally, the information contained in AutoZone, Inc.’s Proxy Statement dated October 25, 2010,22, 2012, in the sections entitled “Proposal 1 Election of Directors” and “Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance,” is incorporated herein by reference in response to this item.

The Company has adopted a Code of Ethical Conduct for Financial Executives that applies to its chief executive officer, chief financial officer, chief accounting officer and persons performing similar functions. The Company has filed a copy of this Code of Ethical Conduct as Exhibit 14.1 to this Form 10-K. The Company has also made the Code of Ethical Conduct available on its investor relations website at http://www.autozoneinc.com.

Item 11. Executive Compensation

The information contained in AutoZone, Inc.’s Proxy Statement dated October 25, 2010,22, 2012, in the section entitled “Executive Compensation,” is incorporated herein by reference in response to this item.

Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters

The information contained in AutoZone, Inc.’s Proxy Statement dated October 25, 2010,22, 2012, in the sections entitled “Security Ownership of Management”Management and Board of Directors” and “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners,” is incorporated herein by reference in response to this item.

Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence

Not applicable.

Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services

The information contained in AutoZone, Inc.’s Proxy Statement dated October 25, 2010,22, 2012, in the section entitled “Proposal 3 —2 – Ratification of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm,” is incorporated herein by reference in response to this item.

63


PART IV

Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules

The following information required under this item is filed as part of this report

report.

(a) Financial Statements

The following financial statements, related notes and reports of independent registered public accounting firm are filed with this Annual Report on Form 10-K in Part II, Item 8:

Reports of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

Consolidated Statements of Income for the fiscal years ended August 28, 2010,
25, 2012, August 29, 2009,27, 2011, and August 30, 2008

28, 2010

Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income for the fiscal years ended August 25, 2012, August 27, 2011, and August 28, 2010

Consolidated Balance Sheets as of August 28, 2010,25, 2012, and August 29, 2009

27, 2011

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the fiscal years ended August 28,
2010,25, 2012, August 29, 2009,27, 2011, and August 30, 2008

28, 2010

Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ (Deficit) EquityDeficit for the fiscal years ended August 28, 2010,25, 2012, August 29, 2009,27, 2011, and August 30, 2008

28, 2010

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

(b) Exhibits

The Exhibit Index following this document’s signature pages is incorporated herein by reference in response to this item.

(c) Financial Statement Schedules

Schedules are omitted because the information is not required or because the information required is included in the financial statements or notes thereto.

64

SIGNATURES


SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

AUTOZONE, INC.
By: 

/s/ WILLIAM C. RHODES, III

AUTOZONE, INC.
By:  /s/ William C. Rhodes, III  
 William C. Rhodes, III
 Chairman, President and
Chief Executive Officer
(Principal Executive Officer)

Dated: October 25, 2010

22, 2012

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the Registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated:

SIGNATURE

  

TITLE

 

DATE

SIGNATURETITLEDATE

/s/ WilliamWILLIAM C. Rhodes,RHODES, III

William C. Rhodes, III

  Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
October 22, 2012

William C. Rhodes, III

(Principal Executive Officer) October 25, 2010

/s/ WilliamWILLIAM T. Giles

William T. Giles
GILES

  Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice
October 22, 2012

William T. Giles

President Finance, Information Technology and
Store Development
ALLDATA

(Principal Financial Officer)

 October 25, 2010

/s/ Charlie Pleas,CHARLIE PLEAS, III

Charlie Pleas, III

  Senior Vice President and Controller
October 22, 2012

Charlie Pleas, III

(Principal Accounting Officer) 

/s/ WILLIAM C. CROWLEY

DirectorOctober 25, 201022, 2012

William C. Crowley

/s/ SUE E. GOVE

DirectorOctober 22, 2012

Sue E. Gove

/s/ EARL G. GRAVES, JR.

DirectorOctober 22, 2012

Earl G. Graves, Jr.

/s/ ROBERT R. GRUSKY

DirectorOctober 22, 2012

Robert R. Grusky

   
/s/ William C. Crowley
William C. Crowley
Director October 25, 201022, 2012

Enderson Guimaraes

   

/s/ Sue E. Gove

Sue E. GoveJ.R. HYDE, III

  Director October 25, 201022, 2012

J.R. Hyde, III

   

/s/ Earl G. Graves, Jr.

Earl G. Graves, Jr.W. ANDREW MCKENNA

  Director October 25, 201022, 2012

W. Andrew McKenna

   

/s/ RobertGEORGE R. Grusky

Robert R. GruskyMRKONIC, JR.

  Director October 25, 201022, 2012

George R. Mrkonic, Jr.

   

/s/ J.R. Hyde, III

J.R. Hyde, IIILUIS P. NIETO

  Director October 25, 201022, 2012

Luis P. Nieto

   
/s/ W. Andrew McKenna
W. Andrew McKenna
Director October 25, 2010
/s/ George R. Mrkonic, Jr.
George R. Mrkonic, Jr.
Director October 25, 2010
/s/ Luis P. Nieto
Luis P. Nieto
Director October 25, 2010
/s/ Theodore W. Ullyot
Theodore W. Ullyot
Director October 25, 2010

65


EXHIBIT INDEX

The following exhibits are filed as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K:

3.1  Restated Articles of Incorporation of AutoZone, Inc. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended February 13, 1999.
3.2  
FourthFifth Amended and Restated By-laws of AutoZone, Inc. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.23.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K dated September 28, 2007.
2011.
4.1  Senior Indenture, dated as of July 22, 1998, between AutoZone, Inc. and the First National Bank of Chicago. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K dated July 17, 1998.
4.2Fourth Amended and Restated AutoZone, Inc. Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.1 to the Form 8-K dated September 28, 2007.
4.3  Indenture dated as of August 8, 2003, between AutoZone, Inc. and Bank One Trust Company, N.A. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Registration Statement on Form S-3 (No. 333-107828) filed August 11, 2003.
4.44.3  Terms Agreement dated October 16, 2002, by and among AutoZone, Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, as representatives of the several underwriters named therein. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 1.2 to the Current Report on Form 8-K dated October 18, 2002.
4.54.4  Form of 5.875% Note due 2012. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K dated October 18, 2002.
4.64.5  Terms Agreement dated May 29, 2003, by and among AutoZone, Inc., Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and SunTrust Capital Markets, Inc., as representatives of the several underwriters named therein. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 1.2 to the Current Report on Form 8-K dated May 29, 2003.
4.74.6  Form of 4.375% Note due 2013. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K dated May 29, 2003.
4.8Terms Agreement dated November 3, 2003, by and among AutoZone, Inc., Banc of America Securities LLC and Wachovia Capital Markets, LLC, as representatives of the several underwriters named therein. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 1.2 to the Form 8-K dated November 3, 2003.
4.9Form of 4.75% Note due 2010. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Form 8-K dated November 3, 2003.
4.104.7  Form of 5.5% Note due 2015. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.2 to the Current Report on Form 8-K dated November 3, 2003.
4.114.8  Terms Agreement dated June 8, 2006, by and among AutoZone, Inc., Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated and J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., as representatives of the several underwriters named therein. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 1.2 to the Current Report on Form 8-K dated June 13, 2006.
4.124.9  Form of 6.95% Senior Note due 2016. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K dated June 13, 2006.
4.134.10  Officers’ Certificate dated August 4, 2008, pursuant to Section 3.2 of the Indenture dated August 11, 2003, setting forth the terms of the 6.5% Senior Notes due 2014. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K dated August 4, 2008.
4.144.11  Form of 6.5% Senior Note due 2014. Incorporated by reference from the Current Report on Form 8-K dated August 4, 20082008.
4.154.12  Officers’ Certificate dated August 4, 2008, pursuant to Section 3.2 of the Indenture dated August 11, 2003, setting forth the terms of the 7.125% Senior Notes due 2018. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.2 to the Current Report on Form 8-K dated August 4, 2008.

66


4.164.13  Form of 7.125% Senior Note due 2018. Incorporated by reference from the Form 8-K dated August 4, 20082008.

     
4.174.14    Officers’ Certificate dated July 2, 2009, pursuant to Section 3.2 of the Indenture dated August 11, 2003, setting forth the terms of the 5.75% Notes due 2015. Incorporated by reference to 4.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K dated July 2, 2009.
 4.18    4.15    Form of 5.75% Senior Note due 2015. Incorporated by reference from the Form 8-K dated July 2, 20092009.
    4.16    Officers’ Certificate dated November 15, 2010, pursuant to Section 3.2 of the Indenture dated August 8, 2003, setting forth the terms of the 4.000% Notes due 2020. Incorporated by reference to 4.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K dated November 15, 2010.
   4.17Form of 4.000% Senior Note due 2020. Incorporated by reference from the Form 8-K dated November 15, 2010.
   4.18Officers’ Certificate dated April 24, 2012, pursuant to section 3.2 of the indenture dated August 8, 2003, setting forth the terms of the 3.700% Senior Notes due 2022. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K dated April 24, 2012.
   4.19Form of 3.700% Senior Notes due 2022. Incorporated by reference from the Form 8-K dated April 24, 2012.
 *10.1    Fourth Amended and Restated Director Stock Option Plan. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended May 4, 2002.
 *10.2    Second Amended and Restated 1998 Director Compensation Plan. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 26, 2000.
 *10.3    Third Amended and Restated 1996 Stock Option Plan. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 30, 2003.
 *10.4    Form of Incentive Stock Option Agreement. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended November 23, 2002.
 *10.5    Form of Non-Qualified Stock Option Agreement. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended November 23, 2002.
 *10.6    AutoZone, Inc. 2003 Director Stock Option Plan. Incorporated by reference to Appendix C to the definitive proxy statement dated November 1, 2002, for the annual meetingAnnual Meeting of stockholdersStockholders held December 12, 2002.
 *10.7    AutoZone, Inc. 2003 Director Compensation Plan. Incorporated by reference to Appendix D to the definitive proxy statement dated November 1, 2002, for the annual meetingAnnual Meeting of stockholdersStockholders held December 12, 2002.
 *10.8    Amended and Restated AutoZone, Inc. Executive Deferred Compensation Plan. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended February 15, 2003.
 *10.9AutoZone, Inc. 2005 Executive Incentive Compensation Plan. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit A to the Company’s Proxy Statement dated October 27, 2004, for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders held December 16, 2004.
10.10Credit Agreement dated as of July 9, 2009, among AutoZone, Inc., as Borrower, The Several Lenders From Time To Time Party Hereto, and Bank of America, N.A., as Administrative Agent and Swingline Lender, and JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as Syndication Agent, and Banc of America Securities, LLC and J.P. Morgan Securities, as Joint Lead Arrangers, and Banc of America Securities, LLC, J.P. Morgan Securities, Inc., Suntrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc., and Wachovia Capital Markets, LLC, as Joint Book Runners, and Suntrust Bank, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Regions Bank, and US Bank National Association, as Documentation Agents. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.10 to the Form 10-K/A for the fiscal year ended August 29, 2009.
*10.11    AutoZone, Inc. 2006 Stock Option Plan. Incorporated by reference to Appendix A to the definitive proxy statement dated October 25, 2006, for the annual meetingAnnual Meeting of stockholdersStockholders held December 13, 2006.
 *10.1210.10    Form of Stock Option Agreement. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.26 to the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 25, 2007.
 *10.1310.11    AutoZone, Inc. FourthFifth Amended and Restated Executive Stock Purchase Plan. Incorporated by reference to Appendix B to the definitive proxy statement dated October 25, 2006, for the annual meeting of stockholders held December 13, 2006.
 *10.14AutoZone, Inc. Director Compensation Program. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.1 to the Form 8-K dated February 15, 2008.

67


*10.1510.12    Amended and Restated AutoZone, Inc. 2003 Director Compensation Plan. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.2 to the Current Report on Form 8-K dated January 4, 2008.

*10.1610.13  Amended and Restated AutoZone, Inc. 2003 Director Stock Option Plan. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.3 to the Current Report on Form 8-K dated January 4, 2008.
*10.1710.14  AutoZone, Inc. Enhanced Severance Pay Plan. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K dated February 15, 2008.
*10.1810.15  Form of non-compete and non-solicitation agreement signed by each of the following executive officers: Jon A. Bascom, Timothy W. Briggs, Mark A. Finestone, William T. Giles, William W. Graves, Ronald B. Griffin, Lisa R. Kranc, Thomas B. Newbern, Charlie Pleas, III, Larry M. Roesel, and JamesMike A. Shea;Womack; and by AutoZone, Inc., with an effective date of February 14, 2008, for each. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.2 to the Current Report on Form 8-K dated February 15, 2008.
*10.1910.16  Form of non-compete and non-solicitation agreement approved by AutoZone’s Compensation Committee for execution by non-executive officers. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.3 to the Current Report on Form 8-K dated February 15, 2008.
*10.2010.17  Agreement dated February 14, 2008, between AutoZone, Inc. and William C. Rhodes, III. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 99.399.4 to the Current Report on Form 8-K dated February 15, 2008.
*10.2110.18  Form of non-compete and non-solicitation agreement signed by each of the following officers: Rebecca W. Ballou, Dan Barzel, Craig Blackwell, Brian L. Campbell, Philip B. Daniele, III, Robert A. Durkin, Bill Edwards, Joseph Espinosa, Preston B. Frazer, Stephany L. Goodnight, David Goudge, James C. Griffith, William R. Hackney, Rodney Halsell, Diana H. Hull, Jeffery Lagges, Grantland E. McGee, Jr., Mitchell Major, Ann A. Morgan, J. Scott Murphy, Jeffrey H. Nix, Raymond A. Pohlman, Elizabeth Rabun, Juan A. Santiago, Joe L. Sellers, Jr., Brett Shanaman, Jamey Traywick, Solomon Woldeslassie, and Solomon Woldeslassie.Kristen C. Wright; and by AutoZone, Inc. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended May 3, 2008.
10.22Agreement, dated as of June 25, 2008 between AutoZone, Inc. and ESL Investments, Inc. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Form 8-K dated June 26, 2008.
*10.2310.19  Second Amended and Restated Employment and Non-Compete Agreement between AutoZone, Inc. and Harry L. Goldsmith dated December 29, 2008. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K dated December 30, 2008.
*10.2410.20  Amended and Restated Employment and Non-Compete Agreement between AutoZone, Inc. and Robert D. Olsen dated December 29, 2008. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Current Report on Form 8-K dated December 30, 2008.
*10.2510.21  First Amendment to Amended and Restated Employment Agreement between AutoZone, Inc. and Robert D. Olsen dated September 29, 2009. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Current Report on Form 8-K dated September 30, 2009.
*10.2610.22  AutoZone, Inc. 2010 Executive Incentive Compensation Plan, incorporated by reference to Exhibit A to the definitive proxy statement dated October 26, 2009, for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders held December 16, 2009.
*10.23  AutoZone, Inc. 2011 Equity Incentive Award Plan, incorporated by reference to Exhibit A to the definitive proxy statement dated October 25, 2010, for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders held December 15, 2010.
*10.24  Form of Stock Option Agreement under the 2006 Stock Option Plan, effective September 2010. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Quarterly Report of Form 10-Q dated December 16, 2010.

*10.25Form of Stock Option Agreement under the 2006 Stock Option Plan for certain executive officers, effective September 2010. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Quarterly Report of Form 10-Q dated December 16, 2010.
*10.26Form of Letter Agreement dated as of December 14, 2010, amending certain Stock Option Agreements of executive officers. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to the Quarterly Report of Form 10-Q dated December 16, 2010.
*10.27AutoZone, Inc. 2011 Director Compensation Program. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 to the Quarterly Report of Form 10-Q dated December 16, 2010.
*10.28Performance-Based Restricted Stock Units Award Agreement dated December 15, 2010, between AutoZone, Inc. and William C. Rhodes, III, incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Form 8-K dated December 15, 2010.
*10.29Restricted Stock Award Grant Notice and Restricted Stock Award Agreement between AutoZone, Inc. and Robert D. Olsen dated January 25, 2011. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Quarterly Report of Form 10-Q dated March 17, 2011.
*10.30Form of Stock Option Agreement under the 2011 Equity Incentive Award Plan. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Quarterly Report of Form 10-Q dated March 17, 2011.
*10.31Form of Stock Option Agreement under the 2011 Equity Incentive Award Plan for certain executive officers. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Quarterly Report of Form 10-Q dated March 17, 2011.
*10.32First Amended and Restated AutoZone, Inc. Enhanced Severance Pay Plan. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to the Quarterly Report of Form 10-Q dated March 17, 2011.
*10.33Form of Stock Option Agreement under the 2011 Equity Incentive Award Plan for officers effective September 27, 2011. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.37 to the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 27, 2011.
*10.34Form of Stock Option Agreement under the 2011 Equity Incentive Award Plan for certain executive officers effective September 27, 2011. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.38 to the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 27, 2011.
  12.110.35  Amended and Restated Credit Agreement dated as of September, 13, 2011 among AutoZone, Inc. as Borrower, the several Lenders from time to time party thereto, and Bank of America, N.A. as Administrative Agent and Swingline Lender, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. as Syndication Agent, arranged by Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC as Joint Lead Arrangers and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc., U.S. Bank National Association, Wells Fargo Securities, LLC and Barclays Capital as Joint Book Runners. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.39 to the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 27, 2011.
*10.36Sixth Amended and Restated AutoZone, Inc. Employee Stock Purchase Plan. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.40 to the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 27, 2011.
*10.37Second Amended AutoZone, Inc. Executive Deferred Compensation Plan. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 on Form 8-K filed December 14, 2011.
*10.38Offer letter dated May 23, 2012, to Mike A. Womack.
*10.39Offer letter dated April 26, 2012, to Ronald B. Griffin.
*10.40Amended Non-Compete Agreement between AutoZone, Inc. and Jon A. Bascom dated May 25, 2012.

12.1 Computation of Ratio of Earnings to Fixed Charges.
14.1 Code of Ethical Conduct. Incorporated by reference to Exhibit 14.1 of the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 30, 2003.
21.1 Subsidiaries of the Registrant.

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23.1 Consent of Ernst & Young LLP.
31.1 Certification of Principal Executive Officer Pursuant to Rules 13a-14(a) and 15d-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
31.2 Certification of Principal Financial Officer Pursuant to Rules 13a-14(a) and 15d-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
32.1 Certification of Principal Executive Officer Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350 as adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
32.2 Certification of Principal Financial Officer Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350 as adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
**101.INS XBRL Instance Document
**101.SCH XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document
**101.CAL XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Document
**101.LAB XBRL Taxonomy Extension Labels Document
**101.PRE XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Document
**101.DEF XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Document

*Management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.
**In accordance with Regulation S-T, the Interactive Data Files in Exhibit 101 to the Annual Report on Form 10-K shall be deemed “furnished” and not “filed.”

 

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