TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this annual report constitute forward-looking statements that are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements typically use words such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “should,” “intend,” “plan,” “will,” “expect,” “estimate,” “project,” “positioned,” “strategy,” “seek,” “may,” “could” 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: product demand;demand, due to changes in fuel prices, miles driven or otherwise; energy prices; weather; competition; credit market conditions; cash flows; access to available and feasible financing; future stock repurchases; the impact of recessionary conditions; consumer debt levels; changes in laws or regulations; risks associated with self-insurance; war and the prospect of war, including terrorist activity; the impact of public health issues, such as the ongoing global coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic; inflation; the ability to hire, train and retain qualified employees; construction delays; failure or interruption of our information technology systems; issues relating to the compromising of confidentiality, availabilityintegrity or integrityavailability of information, including due to cyber-attacks; historic growth rate sustainability; downgrade of our credit ratings; damage to our reputation; challenges in international markets; failure or interruption of our information technology systems; origin and raw material costs of suppliers; inventory availability; disruption in our supply chain; impact of tariffs; anticipated impact of new accounting standards; and business interruptions. Certain of these risks and uncertainties are discussed in more detail in the “Risk Factors” section contained in Item 1A under Part 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended August 28, 2021,27, 2022, 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 eventsstatements. Events described above and in the “Risk Factors” could materially and adversely affect our business. However, it should be understood that it is not possible to identify or predict all such risks and other factors that could affect these forward-looking statements. 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.

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PART I

Item 1. Business

Introduction

AutoZone, Inc. (“AutoZone,” the “Company,” “we,” “our” or “us”) is the leading retailer and a leading distributor of automotive replacement parts and accessories in the Americas. We began operations in 1979 and at August 28, 2021,27, 2022, operated 6,0516,168 stores in the United States (“U.S.”), 664703 stores in Mexico and 5272 stores in Brazil. 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. At August 28, 2021,27, 2022, in 5,1795,342 of our domestic stores we also 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. We also have commercial programs in all stores in Mexico and Brazil. We also sell the ALLDATA brand automotive diagnostic, repair and shop management software through www.alldata.com. Additionally, we sell automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories and non-automotive products through www.autozone.com, and our commercial customers can make purchases through www.autozonepro.com. We also provide product information on our Duralast branded products through www.duralastparts.com. We do not derive revenue from automotive repair or installation services.

Human Capital Resources

We believe the foundation of our success is our culture, which is rooted in our Pledge and Values and defines how our employees (“AutoZoners”) take care of customers.customers and fellow AutoZoners. Each AutoZoner works hard to Live the Pledge, share their passion for WOW! Customer Service and Go the Extra Mile every day to continue building and growing AutoZone for our customers.

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We seek to be the employer of choice as we compete for talent in our retail stores, field supervision, distribution centers, and store support functions. We focus heavily on retention by offering competitive compensation and benefits packages, extensive training and development opportunities and leveraging our business resource groups to support AutoZoners with common interests or backgrounds contribute their voices, time, and talent to helping AutoZoners succeed in their careers.

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As of August 28, 2021,27, 2022, we employed approximately 100,000112,000 AutoZoners, approximately 62 percent of whom were employed full-time and the remaining 38 percent were employed part-time. About 90 percent of our AutoZoners were employed in stores or in direct field supervision, approximately 6 percent in distribution centers and approximately 4 percent in store support and other functions. Included in the above numbers are approximately 12,00014,500 persons employed in our international operations. We have never experienced any material labor disruption, do not have any collective bargaining agreements and believe that relations with our AutoZoners are good.

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Training & Development

We have a number of different types of jobs and career opportunities. While many of our AutoZoners follow more traditional career paths (e.g., part-time to full-time sales, store manager, district manager, regional manager, vice president), we encourage cross-functional development and support of AutoZoners as they expand their career into other departments and fields of interest. Many members of our senior leadership team have held positions in two or more areas of the business. We also invest in advanced leadership training in order to deepen bench strength and support succession planning. For additional information, see “Store Operations—Store Personnel and Training” below. We believe these opportunities are important to attract, motivate and retain high quality AutoZoners.

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Recognition

The AutoZone Pledge and Values drive our success and foster a strong, unique culture of teamwork and customer service. We encourage the recognition of AutoZoners for a variety of accomplishments, such as going above and beyond to deliver Trustworthy Advice and WOW! Customer Service, taking initiative to prevent incidents and injuries, making contributions to help detect or report internal or external theft or providing significant service to

help others. Whether they work in our stores, distribution centers, support centers or travel to support our customers and business, we believe AutoZoners everywhere should be recognized for their efforts and outstanding performance. We also recognize AutoZoners for their years of service to the organization and our customers.

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Store Operations

At August 28, 2021,27, 2022, our stores were in the following locations:

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Store Formats

Substantially all stores are based on standard store formats, resulting in generally consistent appearance, merchandising and product mix. Approximately 90% to 99% of each store’s square footage is selling space. In our satellite stores, approximately 40% to 50% of our space is dedicated to hard parts inventory, while our hub stores and mega hubs have 70% to 85% of their space utilized for hard parts. 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 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.

Store Personnel and Training

We provide on-the-job training as well as formal training programs, including an annual national sales meeting with related cascading meetings at our distribution centers, regional offices and stores; store meetings on specific sales and product topics; standardized computer-based training to support culture, safety, salesmanship, compliance and product and job knowledge; and several specialist, vendor and third-party programs to support learning and development in areas requiring technical expertise and specific job knowledge. All domestic AutoZoners are encouraged to complete our in-house product knowledge program and Parts Expert certification, which is developed in partnership with our key suppliers. Training is supplemented with frequent store visits by management. Advanced leadership training is an additional area of investment that is used to deepen bench strength and support succession planning.

Store managers, commercial sales managers and managers at various levels across the organization 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.

Store Support Centers

All store support functions are centralized in our store support centers located in Memphis, Tennessee; Monterrey, Mexico; Chihuahua, Mexico and Sao Paulo, Brazil. 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.

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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.

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

Commercial

Our commercial sales program operates in a highly fragmented market, and we are a leading distributor of automotive parts and other products to local, regional and national repair garages, dealers, service stations and public sector accounts in the Americas. As a part of the domestic storeour program, we offer credit and delivery to our customers, as well as online ordering through www.autozonepro.com or through the AutoZone Pro smartphone application. Through our hub and mega hub stores, we offer a greater range of parts and products desired by professional technicians. We have dedicated sales teams focused on independent repair shops as well as national, regional and public sector commercial accounts.

Store Development

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

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We believe expansion opportunities exist in markets we do not currently serve, as well as in markets where we can achieve a larger presence. We undertake substantial research prior to entering new markets. The most important criteria for opening a new store are the projected future profitability and the ability to achieve our required investment hurdle rate. Key factors in selecting new site and market locations for stores 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”; these vehicles are generally no longer under the original manufacturers’ warranties and require more maintenance and repair than newer vehicles. We seek to open new stores in high visibility sites in high traffic locations 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 locations, we evaluate and may make strategic acquisitions.

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 should always put customers first by providing prompt, courteous service and trustworthy advice. Our electronic parts catalog assists in the selection of parts as well as identifying any associated warranties offered by us or our vendors. We sell automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories and non-automotive parts through www.autozone.com, for pick-up in store or to be shipped directly to a customer’s home or business, with next day or same day delivery covering approximately 82%programs in most of theour U.S. population.markets. Additionally, we offer a smartphone application that provides customers with store locations, driving directions, operating hours, product availability, the ability to purchase products and other information.

We also provide specialty tools through our suite of free services. 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 free diagnostic and related services, including check engine and anti-lock braking system light readings through our AutoZone Fix Finder service, testing of starters, alternators and batteries, battery charging and the collection of used oil for recycling.

Merchandising

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

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We believe customer satisfaction is often impacted by our ability to promptly provide specific automotive products as requested. Each store carries the same basic products, but we tailor our hard parts inventory to the makes and models of the vehicles in each store’s trade area, and our sales floor products are tailored to the local store’s demographics. Our hub stores (including mega hubs, which carry an even broader assortment) carry a larger assortment of products that are delivered to local satellite stores. We are constantly updating the products we offer to ensure our inventory matches the products our customers need or desire.

Pricing

We want to be the value leader in our industry, by consistently providing quality merchandise at the right price, backed by a satisfactory warranty and outstanding customer service. For 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 Duralast and the family of Duralast brands, ProElite, ShopPro,Shop Pro, SureBilt, TotalPro, TruGrade and Valucraft. We believe that our overall value compares favorably to that of our competitors.

Brand Marketing: Marketing and Loyalty

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 we can build long-lasting, loyal relationships. We utilize advertising, direct marketing, loyalty programs and promotions primarily to highlight our great value, the availability of high quality parts and develop a relationship with an expanding base of customers. Broadcast and digital media are our primary advertising methods of driving retail traffic, to our stores, while we leverage a dedicated sales force and our ProVantage loyalty program to drive commercial sales.

Store Design, Visual Merchandising and Promotional Execution

We design and build stores for high visual impact. The typical store utilizes colorful exterior and interior signage, exposed beams and ductwork and brightly lit 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. We utilize in-store signage, creative product placement and promotions to help educate customers about products that they need.

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Purchasing and Supply Chain

Merchandise is selected and purchased for all stores through our store support centers located in Memphis, Tennessee; Monterrey, Mexico and Sao Paulo, Brazil. Additionally, we have an office in Shanghai, China to support our sourcing efforts in Asia. In fiscal 2021,2022, one class of similar products accounted for approximately 13 percent of our total revenues, and one vendor supplied approximately 108 percent of our total purchases. No other class of similar products accounted for 10 percent or more of our total revenues, and no other individual vendor provided more than 10 percent of our total purchases. We believe alternative sources of supply exist, at similar costs, 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. The distribution centers replenish all stores up to multiple times per week depending on store sales volumes.

We ended fiscal 20212022 with 237272 total domestic hub stores, which have a larger assortment of products as well as regular replenishment items that can be delivered to a store in its network within 24 hours. Hub stores are generally replenished from distribution centers multiple times per week. Hub stores have increased our ability to distribute products on a timely basis to many of our stores and to expand our product assortment.

As a subset of our domestic hub stores, we ended fiscal 20212022 with 5878 domestic mega hubs, an increase of 1420 since the end of fiscal 2020.2021. Mega hubs work in concert with our hubs to drive customer satisfaction through improved local parts availability and expanded product assortments. A mega hub store carries inventory of 80,000 to 110,000 unique SKUs, approximately twice what a hub store carries. Mega hubs provide coverage to both surrounding stores and other hub stores multiple times a day or on an overnight basis. Currently, we have over 5,9006,000 domestic stores with access to mega hub inventory. A majority of these 5,900 stores currently receive theirmega hub service same day.

Competition

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

Our competitors include national, regional and local auto parts chains, independently owned parts stores, online automotive parts stores or marketplaces, wholesale distributors, jobbers, repair shops, car washes and auto dealers, in addition to discount and mass merchandise stores, hardware stores, supermarkets, drugstores, convenience stores, home stores and other retailers that sell aftermarket vehicle parts and supplies, chemicals, accessories, tools and maintenance parts. AutoZone competes on the basis of customer service, including the knowledge and expertise of our AutoZoners; merchandise quality, selection and availability; product warranty; store layouts, location and convenience; price; and the strength of our AutoZone brand name, trademarks and service marks.

Government Relations

We are subject to numerous federal, state, and local laws and regulations, many of which are complex, frequently revisedchanging and subject to varying interpretations. SomeThese laws and regulations relate to, among other things, the marketing and sale of the more significant regulations include, but are not limited to, regulations governing theproducts; proper handling and disposal of hazardous materials, environmental regulations and occupational health and safety laws. For example,particularly in connection with our used oil, oil filter and battery recycling programs, our customers may bring hazardous materials onto our propertyprograms; occupational health and our employees must abide by appropriate policiessafety; environmental matters; labor and procedures to ensure the safe handling of these materials before a third party takes possession for recycling or disposal. The terms of our contracts with third party vendors require that they are in compliance with all applicable lawsemployment; employee wages and regulations. Additionally, as an owner or operator ofbenefits; information security and data privacy; real property, we may be liable for the cost of removal or remediation of hazardous or toxic substances on, under or in such property.property; financial reporting and disclosure; antitrust and fair competition; international trade and transportation, logistics and delivery operations.

While compliance with applicablethe numerous laws and regulations applicable to our business, including environmental regulations, has not had a material adverse effect on capital expenditures, earnings or our competitive position to date, we can make no assurances as to the future costs of compliance. For more information, see the Risk FactorFactors titled “Our business, results of operations, financial conditionLegal and cash flows may be adversely affected by the adoption of new laws, changes to existing laws, increased enforcement activity or other governmental actions.”Regulatory Risks” and “Information Technology, Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Risks” in “Part I. Item 1A, Risk Factors” in this report.

Trademarks and Patents

We regard our trademarks, service marks, patents, domain names, trade dress, trade secrets and other intellectual property as critical to our success and important components of our marketing and merchandising strategies. We have registered several trademarks and service marks and trademarks in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as well as in certain other countries, including our service marks: “ALLDATA Collision,” “ALLDATA Diagnostics,” “ALLDATA Shop Manager,” “ALLDATA Tech-Assist,”without limitation: “AutoZone,” “AutoZone Rewards,” “Do-It-Yourself Doesn’t Mean You Have To Do It Alone,” “Get in the Zone,” “Parts Are Just Part of What We Do,” “ProVantage,” “The Best Parts in Auto Parts,” “Zone” and trademarks: “ALLDATA Manage,” “ALLDATA Mobile,” “ALLDATA Repair,” “AutoZone,” “AutoZone & Design,” “BatteryZone,” “Duralast,” “Duralast Aero Blade,” “Duralast Ceramic Blade,” “Duralast Elite,” “Duralast Flex Blade,” “Duralast Gold,” “Duralast Gold Cmax,” “Duralast GT,” “Duralast Platinum,” “Duralast ProPower,” “Duralast ProPower Plus,” “Duralast ProPower Ultra,” “Duralast ProPower AGM,” “Duralast Max,” “Econocraft,” “Loan-A-Tool,” “ProElite,” “ProElite & Design,” “Shop Pro,” “SureBilt,” “Tougher Through Technology,“TotalPro,” “TruGrade,” “Valucraft,” “V & Design” and “Z-net.“ALLDATA,” We believealong with variations of these trademarks. Our trademark registrations have various expiration dates; however, assuming that these service marks andthe trademarks are important components of our marketingproperly maintained and merchandising strategies.in use, such registrations may typically be renewed indefinitely.

Seasonality

Our business is somewhat seasonal in nature, with the highest sales typically occurring in the spring and summer months of February through September, and the lowest sales in the 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; thereby increasing sales of seasonal products. Mild or rainy weather tends to soften sales, as parts failure rates are lower in mild weather and elective maintenance is deferred during periods of rainy weather. Over the longer term, we believe the effects of weather balance out, as we have stores throughout the Americas.

AutoZone Websites

Our primary website is at www.autozone.com. We make available, free of charge, at www.autozone.com, by clicking “Investor Relations” located at the bottom of the page, our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current 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 SEC. Our websitewebsites and the information contained therein or linked thereto are not intended to be incorporated into this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Information about our Executive Officers

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

William C. Rhodes, III, 56—57—Chairman, 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. Rhodeshe served in various capacities within the Company since 1994. Prior to 1994, Mr. Rhodeshe was a manager with Ernst & Young LLP. Mr. Rhodes is a member of the Board of Directors for Dollar General Corporation.

Jamere Jackson, 52—Chief Financial Officer and 53—Executive Vice President, – FinanceChief Financial Officer and Store Development, Customer Satisfaction

Jamere Jackson was namedjoined AutoZone on September 13, 2020 as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer-Elect on September 13, 2020 and Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President – Finance and Store Development effective January 1, 2021.Officer. Prior to joining AutoZone, from 2018 to 2020, Mr. Jacksonhe served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Hertz Global Holdings, Inc., a worldwide rental company. From 2014 to 2018, Mr. Jacksonhe served as Chief Financial Officer of Nielsen Holdings plc, an information, data and measurement company. Prior to 2014, Mr. Jacksonhe held a variety of leadership roles at General Electric Company. Mr. Jackson serves on the Board of Directors for Eli Lilly & Co. and Hibbett, Inc.

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Philip B. Daniele, 52—53—Executive Vice President – —Merchandising, Supply Chain and Marketing, Customer Satisfaction

Philip B. Daniele was named Executive Vice President – Merchandising, Supply Chain and Marketing in June 2021. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President – Commercial from 2015 to 2021, Vice President – Commercial Support from 2013 to 2015 and Vice President – Merchandising from 2008 to 2013. He was also a Divisional Vice President – Store Operations from 2005 to 2008. Prior to 2005, Mr. Daniele held several other key management positions with the Company.

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Mark A. Finestone, 60—Executive Vice President – Strategy and Innovation, Customer Satisfaction

Mark A. Finestone was named Executive Vice President – Strategy and Innovation in June 2021. From 2015 to 2021, he was Executive Vice President – Merchandising Supply Chain and Marketing. From 2008 to 2015, he was Senior Vice President – Merchandising, and from 2002 to 2008, he was Vice President – Merchandising. 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.

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Preston B. Frazer, 45—46—Executive Vice President – Store Operations, Commercial and Loss Prevention, Customer Satisfaction

Preston B. Frazer was named Executive Vice President – Store Operations, Commercial and Loss Prevention in June 2021. From 2019 to 2021, he was Senior Vice President – Store Operations. Prior to that, he held the position of Divisional Vice President in addition to serving aswas Vice President – Store Operations Support. He began his career with AutoZone in 2006 in Finance and has held several key functional roles of increasing responsibility. Prior to joining AutoZone, Mr. Frazer was a senior manager with the accounting firm of KPMG, LLP.

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Thomas B. Newbern, 59—60—Executive Vice President – International, Information Technology and ALLDATA, Customer Satisfaction

Thomas B. Newbern was named Executive Vice President – International, Information Technology and ALLDATA in June 2021. From 2015 to 2021, he was Executive Vice President – Store Operations, Commercial, Loss Prevention and ALLDATA. From 2013 to 2015, he was Senior Vice President – Store Operations and Loss Prevention. From 2012 to 2013, he was Senior Vice President – Store Operations and Store Development. From 2007 to 2012, he was Senior Vice President – Store Operations, and from 1998 to 2007, he was Divisional Vice President –Store Operations. Prior to 1998, Mr. Newbern held several other key management positions with the Company.

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K. Michelle Borninkhof, 4748—Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Customer Satisfaction

K. Michelle Borninkhof was electednamed Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer during April 2021. Prior to that, she was Chief Information Officer and Vice President for U.S. Technology at McDonald’s since 2018. Prior to joining McDonald’s, Ms. Borninkhofshe spent 11 years with Walmart Stores holding various leadership roles including Vice President – International Technology Delivery. Throughout her career, Ms. Borninkhof held various roles in store retail, distribution center operations and process improvement.

Eric S. Gould, 52—53—Senior Vice President – Supply Chain, Customer Satisfaction

Eric S. Gould was named Senior Vice President, Supply Chain in February 2021. From 2017 to 2021, he served as Vice President, Supply Chain Replenishment and from 2013 to 2017 he served as Vice President – Commercial Sales. He was also Vice President – Replenishment from 2003 to 2013. Prior to 2003, Mr. Gould held several other key management positions within the Company.

Dennis W. LeRiche, 53—54—Senior Vice President – Store Operations, Customer Satisfaction

Dennis W. LeRiche was named Senior Vice President – Store Operations in June 2021. From 2015 to 2021, he was a Divisional Vice President – Store Operations. Prior to 2015, Mr. LeRiche held several other key management positions with the Company.

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Grant E. McGee, 59—60—Senior Vice President – Commercial, Customer Satisfaction

Grant E. McGee was named Senior Vice President – Commercial in June 2021. From 2007 to 2021, he was a Divisional Vice President – Store Operations. From 2004 to 2007, he was Vice President – Commercial. Prior to 2004, Mr. McGee held several other key positions with the Company.

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Seong K. Ohm,Charlie Pleas, III, 57—Senior Vice President – Merchandising,Accounting and Finance, Customer Satisfaction

Seong K. Ohm was named Senior Vice President – Merchandising on October 26, 2020. Previously, Ms. Ohm served as the Group Commercial Development Officer for the Dairy Farm Group. Ms. Ohm also was the Chief Commercial Officer for Home Plus, the second largest retailer in Korea. Prior to these roles, she was Senior Vice President – General Merchandise Manager for both Walmart and Sam’s Club and Vice President/Divisional Merchandise Manager – Technology for Walmart Stores, Inc. Ms. Ohm began her career with General Electric.

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Charlie Pleas, III, 56—became Senior Vice President, Finance and Controller, Customer Satisfaction

Charlie Pleas, III,Accounting in December, 2021. He was electednamed Senior Vice President and Controller during 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. Pleashe was a Division Controller with Fleming Companies, Inc. where he served in various capacities during his tenure from 1988 to 1996. Prior to 1988, he worked with Ernst & Young. Mr. Pleas is a member of the Board of Directors for Kirkland’s Inc.

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Albert Saltiel, 57—58—Senior Vice President – Marketing and E-Commerce, Customer Satisfaction

Albert Saltiel was named Senior Vice President – Marketing and E-Commerce during October 2014. Previously, he was Senior Vice President – Marketing since 2013. Prior to that, he was Chief Marketing Officer and a key member of the leadership team at Navistar International Corporation. Mr. Saltiel has also been with Sony Electronics as General Manager, Marketing, and Ford Motor Company where he held multiple marketing roles.

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Richard C. Smith, 57—58—Senior Vice President – Human Resources, Customer Satisfaction
Richard C. Smith was electednamed Senior Vice President – Human Resources in December 2015. HeMr. Smith has been an AutoZoner since 1985, previously holding the position of Divisional Vice President of Stores– Store Operations since 1997. Prior thereto, heMr. Smith served in various capacities within the Company.

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Kristen C. Wright, 45—46—Senior Vice President – General Counsel & Secretary, Customer Satisfaction

Kristen C. Wright was named Senior Vice President – General Counsel & Secretary effective January 2014. She previously held the title of Vice President – Assistant General Counsel & Assistant Secretary since January 2012. Before joining AutoZone, sheMs. Wright was a partner with the law firm of Bass, Berry & Sims PLC.

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William R. Hackney, 57—Senior Vice President – Merchandising, Customer Satisfaction
William R. Hackney was named Senior Vice President, Merchandising in October 2022.  He had previously served in this role from October 2015 until his retirement on December 31, 2020. His career with AutoZone began in 1983, and he has held several key management roles within the Company, including Vice President – Store Operations Support and Vice President – Merchandising, before returning to AutoZone.

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Item 1A. Risk Factors

Our business is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties. The risks and uncertainties described below could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, operating results, cash flows and stock price. The following information should be read in conjunction with the other information contained in this report and other filings that we make with the SEC. These risks and uncertainties 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.

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Strategic and Operational Risks

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The COVID-19 pandemic persists in the U.S. and many other parts of the world and may have a material adverse effect on our business operations, financial condition, liquidity and cash flow.

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The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact numerous aspects of our business, and the long-term impact to our business remains unknown. This is due to the numerous uncertainties that have risen from the pandemic, including the severity of the disease, the duration of the outbreak, the likelihood of resurgences of the outbreak, including due to the emergence and spread of variants, actions that may be taken by governmental authorities in response to the disease, the timing, distribution, efficacy and public acceptance of vaccines, and unintended consequences of the foregoing.

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In particular, it is unclear what near-term and long-term impact these factors will have on the number of vehicle miles driven, traffic to our stores, as well as demand for our products from our retail and commercial customers. While we have added safety measures to protect our employees and customers, continued business disruption caused by COVID-19 may require further significant actions to mitigate the impact, including but not limited to employee furloughs, reductions in store hours and store closings as well as ongoing increases in expenses. Conversely, if the unprecedented levels of customer demand we have experienced during the pandemic revert or subside, we may be unable to reduce expenses or otherwise react quickly and effectively to such changes.

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Further, the continuing pandemic and related economic uncertainty may result in prolonged disruption and volatility to our business, cause additional negative impacts of which we are not currently aware and also magnify other risks associated with our business and operations, including risks associated with sourcing quality merchandise domestically and outside the U.S.; our ability to promptly adjust inventory levels to meet fluctuations in customer demand; our ability to comply with complex and evolving laws and regulations related to customers’ and AutoZoners’ health and safety; our ability to open new store locations and expand or remodel existing stores; and our ability to hire and train qualified employees to address temporary or sustained labor shortages. Accordingly, the COVID-19 pandemic could have a material adverse effect on demand for our products, workforce availability and our results of operations, financial condition, liquidity and cash flows.

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

Demand for the products we sell may be affected by a number of factors we cannot control, including:

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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. See “Item 1. Business” above for additional information regarding our competitive and sales volumes are dependent on many factors, including name recognition, product availability, customer service, store location and price. Competitors are opening locations near our existing locations. AutoZone competes as a provider in both the DIY and DIFM auto parts and accessories markets.environment.

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Our competitors include national, regional and local auto parts chains, independently owned parts stores, online automotive parts stores or marketplaces, wholesale distributors, jobbers, repair shops, car washes and auto dealers, in addition to discount and mass merchandise stores, hardware stores, supermarkets, drugstores, convenience stores, home stores, and other retailers 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 of our competitors may gain competitive advantages, such ashave greater financial and marketing resources allowing them to sell automotive productsmerchandise at lower prices, larger stores with more merchandise, longer operating histories with deeper customer relationships, more frequent customer visits and more effective advertising. Online and multi-channel retailers often have lower operating costs and focus on delivery services, thereby offering customers faster, guaranteed delivery times and low-price or free shipping. Some online businesses have lower operating costs than we do. In addition, because our business strategy is based on offering superior levels of customer service to complement the products we offer, our cost structure is higher than some of our competitors, which also puts pressure on our margins.

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Consumers are embracing shopping online, andincluding through mobile commerce applications. With the increasing use of digital tools and social media, and our competitors’ increased focus on optimizing customers’ online experience, our customers are quickly able to compare prices, product assortment, product availability and feedback from other customers before purchasing our products either online, in the physical stores or through a combination of both offerings.products.

‌We believe that we compete effectively on the basis of merchandise availability as a result of investments in inventory available for immediate sale, the development of a robust hub and mega hub distribution network providing efficient access to obtain products required on-demand, options to order products online or by telephone and pick them up in stores and options for special orders directly from our vendors. We also offer hassle-free returns to our customers. In addition, we believe that customers value the personal interaction with a salesperson who is qualified to offer trustworthy advice and provide other free services such as parts testing.​

Our business depends upon hiring, training and retaining qualified employees.

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We believe much of our brand value lies in the quality of the approximately 100,000112,000 AutoZoners employed in our stores, distribution centers, store support centers and ALLDATA. Our workforce costs represent our largest operating expense, and our ability to meet our labor needs while controlling labor costs is subject to numerous external factors, including market pressures with respect to prevailing wage rates and unemployment levels. Our business is also subject to employment laws and regulations, including requirementsthose related to minimum wage, benefits and scheduling requirements. In addition, the implementation of potential regulatory changes relating to overtime exemptions and benefits for certain employees under federal and state laws could result in increased labor costs to our business and negatively impact our operating results.

We compete with other retail businesses for many of our associates in hourly positions, and these positions have historically had high turnover rates, which can lead to increased training and retention costs, particularly in a competitive labor market. We cannot be assured that we can continue to hire, train and retain qualified employees at current wage rates since we operate in a competitive labor market, and there are currently significant inflationary and other pressures on wages.

In the U.S., there has been an increase in workers exercising their right to form or join a union, both generally and in the retail industry. Although none of our employees are currently covered by collective bargaining agreements, there can be no assurance that our employees will not elect to be represented by labor unions in the future. If a significant portion of our work force were to become unionized, our culture and operating model could be challenged by inserting a third party between our current terrific relationships between our leaders and hourly AutoZoners. Further, our labor costs could increase and our business could be negatively affected by other requirements and expectations that could change our company culture, decrease our flexibility and disrupt our business. Further, our responses to any union organizing efforts could negatively impact how our brand is a risk of market increases in compensation.perceived by customers and AutoZoners and have adverse effects on our business and financial results.

If we experience transitions or changeover with any of our significant vendors, or if they experience financial difficulties or otherwise are 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.

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Disruptions in our supply chain and other factors affecting the distribution of our merchandise could adversely impact our business.

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A disruption to our supply chain and distribution network could adversely affect our ability to receive and distribute inventory in a timely manner, which could result in low inventory availability, lost sales, increased supply chain costs and loss of customer loyalty, among other things. Such disruptions may result from damage or destruction of our distribution centers or may be the result of macroeconomic conditions impacting the broader supply chain industry at large. For example, in recent years, ports, rails and domestic long-hauls in the U.S. and elsewhere have been negatively impacted by capacity constraints, congestion and delays, periodic labor disputes, security issues, weather-related events, and natural disasters, which have been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and other factors beyond our control. Our business and competitive position may be negatively impacted if we are unable to successfully mitigate the impacts of such disruption to our supply chain or if we are unable to manage such disruptions more effectively than our competitors.

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Risks associated with products sourced outside the U.S.

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We directly imported approximately 13%15% of our purchases in fiscal 2021,2022, but many of our domestic vendors directly import their products or components of their products. Changes to the price or flow of these goods for any reason, such as civil unrest or acts of war, currency fluctuations, disruptions in maritime lanes, port labor disputes , economic conditions and instability in the countries in which foreign suppliers are located, the financial instability of suppliers, suppliers’ failure to meet our standards, issues with labor practices of our suppliers or labor problems they may experience (such as strikes, stoppages or slowdowns, which could also increase labor costs during and following the disruption), the availability and cost of raw materials to suppliers, increased import duties or tariffs, merchandise quality or safety issues, shipping and transport availability and cost, increases in wage rates and taxes, transport security, inflation and other factors relating to the suppliers and the countries in which they are located or from which they import, often are beyond our control and could adversely affect our operations and profitability. In addition, the foreign trade policies, tariffs and other impositions on imported goods, trade sanctions imposed on certain countries, import limitations on certain types of goods or of goods containing certain materials from other countries and other factors relating to foreign trade and port labor agreements are beyond our control. These and other factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, affecting our suppliers and our access to products could adversely affect our business and financial performance. As we or our domestic vendors increase our imports of merchandise from foreign vendors, the risks associated with these imports will also increase.

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Our success in international operations is dependent on our ability to manage the unique challenges presented by international markets.

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The various risks we face in our U.S. operations generally also exist when conducting operations in and sourcing products and materials from outside of the U.S., in addition to the unique costs, risks and difficulties of managing international operations. Our expansion into international markets may be adversely affected by local laws and customs, U.S. laws applicable to foreign operations, and political and socio-economic conditions.

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Risks inherent in international operations also include potential adverse tax consequences, potential changes to trade policies and trade agreements, compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and local anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws, greater difficulty in enforcing intellectual property rights, challenges to identify and gain access to local suppliers, and possibly misjudging the response of consumers in foreign countries to our product assortment and marketing strategy.

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In addition, our operations in international markets are conducted primarily in the local currency of those countries. Since our Consolidated Financial Statements are denominated in U.S. dollars, amounts of assets, liabilities, net sales, and other revenues and expenses denominated in local currencies must be translated into U.S. dollars using exchange rates for the current period. As a result, foreign currency exchange rates and fluctuations in those rates may adversely impact our financial performance.

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Failure to comply with ethical, social, product, labor, environmental and anti-corruption standards could also jeopardize our reputation and potentially lead to various adverse actions by consumer or environmental groups, employees or regulatory bodies. Damage to our reputation or loss of consumer confidence for any of these or other reasons could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition, as well as require additional resources to rebuild our reputation.

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Cyber-securityInformation Technology, Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Risks

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‌We rely heavily on our information technology systems for our key business processes. Any damage to, failure of, or interruption in these systems could have a material adverse impact on our business.business and operating results.

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We rely extensively on our information technology systems, some of which are managed or provided by third-party service providers, to collect, analyze, process, store, manage, inventory, communicate with customers, processtransmit and protect key business processes, transactions and summarize results.data, such as sales data, customer data, employee data, demand forecasting, merchandise ordering, inventory replenishment, supply chain management, payment processing, order fulfillment and more. Delays in the maintenance, updates, upgrading, or patching of these systems, applications or processes could adversely impact their effectiveness or could expose us to security and other risks. Our systems and the third-party systems with which we rely oninteract are subject to damage, failure or interruption fromdue to various reasons such as: power or other critical infrastructure outages, facility damage, physical theft, telecommunications failures, computer viruses,malware, security breaches,incidents, malicious cyber-attacks, including the use of malicious codes, worms, phishing, spyware, denial of service attacks and ransomware, natural disasters and catastrophic events, inadequate or ineffective redundancy measures; and design or usage errors by our AutoZoners, contractors or third-party service providers. Although we seek to effectively maintain and safeguard our systems and our data and we seek to ensure our third-party service providers work diligentlyeffectively maintain and safeguard their systems and our data, such efforts are not always successful. As a result, we or our service providers could experience, and on occasion have experienced, one or more errors, interruptions, delays or cessations of service impacting the integrity or availability of our information technology infrastructure. While such incidents have not been material to maintaindate, any future incident could significantly disrupt our respective systems, we may not be successfuloperations and key business processes, result in doing so.

If our systems are damagedthe impairment or fail to function properly, we may incur substantial costs to repair or replace them, and we may experience loss of critical data, be costly and interruptionsresource-intensive to remedy; harm our reputation and relationship with customers, AutoZoners, vendors and other stakeholders; and have a material adverse impact on our business and operating results.

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In addition, our information technology systems, infrastructure and personnel require substantial investments, such as replacing existing systems, some of which are older, legacy systems that are less flexible and efficient, with successor systems; making changes to existing systems, including the migration of applications to the cloud; maintaining or delays in our ability to manage inventoriesenhancing legacy systems that are not currently being replaced; or process transactions, which coulddesigning or cost-effectively acquiring new systems with new functionality. These efforts can result in lost sales, inabilitysignificant potential risks, including failure of the systems to process purchase orders and/or aoperate as designed, potential loss or corruption of customer loyalty, whichdata, cost overruns, or implementation delays or errors, and may result in operational challenges, security control failures, reputational harm, and increased costs that could adversely affect our business operations and results of operations.

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Failure to maintain the security of sensitive personal information or other confidential information in our possession could subject us to litigation or regulatory enforcement action, cause reputational harm and cause us to incur substantial costs or have a material adverse impact on our business and financial condition.

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Our business, like that of most retailers, involves the collection, processing, storage and transmission of personal information relating to our customers, suppliers and AutoZoners and confidential business information relating to AutoZone or other parties with which we do business. This information is handled by us as well as third-party service providers and vendors that provide us with various technology, systems, services and other resources that we use in connection with the handling of this information and in furtherance of our business objectives. Furthermore, we accept payments using a variety of methods, including credit, debit, electronic payments and gift cards, which present information security risks, and we may offer new payment options in the future presenting new risks of which we are currently unaware.

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We are inWhile addressing vulnerabilities is a priority for us, the process of developing and implementing various information systems, as well as modifying existing systems. These technological changes will require significant investment of human and financial resources, and we may experience significant delays, cost increases and other obstacles with these projects. Although we have invested significant resources during our planning, project management and training, implementation issues may arise which may disrupt our operations and negatively impact our business operations, financial condition and cash flows.

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Failure to protect or effectively respond to a breach of the privacy and security of customers’, suppliers’, AutoZoners’ or Company information could damage our reputation, subject us to litigation and cause us to incur substantial costs.

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Our business, like that of most retailers and distributors, involves the receipt, storage and transmission of personal information about our customers, suppliers and AutoZoners, some of which is entrusted to third-party service providers and vendors. Failure to protect the security of our customers’, suppliers’, AutoZoners’ and Company information could subject us to costly regulatory enforcement actions, expose us to litigation and impair our reputation, which may have a negative impact on our sales. We consider information security to be a top priority and undertake cyber-security planning and activities throughout the Company. Senior management and the Board of Directors are actively engaged in cyber-security risk management. While we and our third-party service providers and vendors take significant steps to protect customer, supplier, employee and other confidential information, including maintaining compliance with payment card industry standards and a security program that includes updating technology and security policies, employee training and monitoring and routine testing of our systems, these security measures may be breached in the future due to cyber-attack, employee error, system compromises, fraud, trickery, hacking or other intentional or unintentional acts, and unauthorized parties may obtain access to this data. We believe our preventative actions provide adequate measures of protection against security breaches and generally reduce our cyber-security risks. However, our business or our third party providers, with which we share sensitive information, may not discover a security breach or loss of information for a significant period after the security breach occurs. Failure to effectively respond to system compromises may undermine our security measures. The methods used to obtain unauthorized access are constantly evolving, increasing in frequency and sophistication, and may be difficult to anticipate or detect for long periods of time. To date,There can be no assurance that the security measures we or our third-party service providers and vendors have in place today or introduce in the future in an effort to keep up with growing and evolving risks will prevent or mitigate the impact of a cyber incident or provide us with sufficient visibility to determine if a cyber incident has occurred. Failure to maintain the security of the personal and other confidential information to which we have access could lead to private litigation, regulatory enforcement actions and reputational harm, all of which would require extensive time and financial resources to resolve and could have a material adverse impact our business and financial condition.

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While we have not experienced a material breach of cyber-security; however, our computerinformation systems or data to date, unauthorized parties have been,in the past attempted, and will likely continue to be, subjectedattempt, to unauthorizedgain access to, or disrupt the effectiveness of, these systems and data as the result of a cyber-attack, employee misconduct, employee error, system compromises, fraud, hacking, phishing attempts, computer viruses, malware, ransomware, other malicious codes or other malicious codes. In particular,intentional or unintentional acts. Furthermore, hardware, software or other IT applications that we or a third party develop for our use may contain exploitable vulnerabilities, bugs or design defects or may involve other problems that could unexpectedly compromise information security. For example, in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, public reports indicated there has beenwas a spike in cyber-securitycybersecurity attacks as shelter in placeshelter-in-place orders and work from homework-from-home measures have led businesses to increase reliance on virtual environments and communications systems, which havehad been subjected tothe subject of increasing third-party vulnerabilities and security risks. As the regulatory environment related to information security, data collection and use, and privacy becomes increasingly rigorous and complex, compliance with these requirements could also result in significant additional costs. There can be no assurance that our security measures will prevent or limit the impact of a future incident.

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The cost to remediate damagesand respond to oura cyber incident involving unauthorized use, access, damage or loss of systems, suffered as a result of a cyber-attackdata or other information could be significant.

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We accept payments using a variety of methods, including cash, checks, credit, debit, electronic payments (such as PayPal, Apple Pay, etc.) and gift cards, and we may offer new payment options over time, which may have information security risk implications. As a retailer accepting debit and credit cards for payment, we are subject to various industry data protection standards and protocols, such as the American National Standards Institute encryption standards and payment network security operating guidelines and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. Even though we comply with these standards and protocols and other information security measures, we cannot be certain that the security measures we maintain to protect all of our information technology systems are able to prevent, contain or detect any cyber-attacks, cyber terrorism, or security breaches from known cyber-attacks or malware that may be developed in the future. We maintain insurance coverage that may protect us from certain cyber-attack claims; however, our insurance coverage may not be sufficient to cover significant losses in any particular situation.

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Indebtedness, Financial and Market Risks

We are self-insured for certain costs associated with our operations and an increase in our insurance claims and expenses may have a material negative impact on us.

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We are self-insured up to certain limits for workers’ compensation, employee group medical, general liability, product liability, property and automobile. The types and amounts of insurance may vary from time to time based on our decisions with respect to risk retention and regulatory requirements. Our reserves are established using historical trends and, where appropriate, using a third partythird-party actuary to estimate costs to settle reported claims and claims incurred but not yet reported. Estimated costs are subject to a variety of assumptions and other factors including the severity, duration and frequency of claims, legal costs associated with claims, healthcare trends and projected inflation of related factors. Material increases in the number of insurance claims, changes to healthcare costs, accident frequency and severity, legal expenses and other factors could result in unfavorable difference between actual self-insurance costs and our reserve estimates. As a result, our self-insurance costs could increase which may adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

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A downgrade in our credit ratings or a general disruption in the credit markets could make it more difficult for us to access funds, refinance our debt, obtain new funding or issue debt securities.

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Our short-term and long-term debt is rated investment grade by the major rating agencies. These investment-grade credit ratings have historically allowed us to take advantage of lower interest rates and other favorable terms on our short-term credit lines, in our senior debt offerings and in the commercial paper markets. To maintain our investment-grade ratings, we are required to meet certain financial performance ratios. A change by the rating agencies in these ratios, an increase in our debt, and/or a decline in our earnings could result in downgrades in our credit ratings. A downgrade in our credit ratings could limit our access to public debt markets, limit the institutions willing to provide credit facilities to us, result in more restrictive financial and other covenants in our public and private debt and would likely significantly increase our overall borrowing costs and adversely affect our earnings.

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Moreover, significant deterioration in the financial condition of large financial institutions during the Great Recession resulted in a severe loss of liquidity and availability of credit in global credit markets and in more stringent borrowing terms. We can provide no assurance that such similar events that occurred during the Great Recession will not occur again in the foreseeable future. Conditions and events in the global credit markets could have a material adverse effect on our access to short-term and long-term debt and the terms and cost of that debt.

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We may be adversely affected by legal, regulatory or market responses to global climate change.

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Climate change resulting from increased concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere could present risks to our operations. For example, we have significant operations in California, where serious drought has made water less available and more costly and has increased the risk of wildfires. Changes in climate patterns leading to extreme heat waves or unusual cold weather at some of our locations can lead to increased energy usage and costs, or otherwise adversely impact our facilities and operations and disrupt our supply chains and distribution systems. Growing concern over climate change has led policy makers in the U.S. to consider the enactment of legislative and regulatory proposals that would impose mandatory requirements on greenhouse gas emissions. Such laws, if enacted, are likely to impact our business in a number of ways. For example, significant increases in fuel economy requirements, new federal or state restrictions on emissions of carbon dioxide or new federal or state incentive programs that may be imposed on vehicles and automobile fuels could adversely affect demand for vehicles, annual miles driven or the products we sell. We may not be able to accurately predict, prepare for and respond to new kinds of technological innovations with respect to electric vehicles and other technologies that minimize emissions. Compliance with any new or more stringent laws or regulations, or stricter interpretations of existing laws, could require additional expenditures by us or our suppliers. Our inability to appropriately respond to such changes could adversely impact our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

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Our reputation may be adversely affected if we are not able to achieve our Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals.

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Increasing governmental and societal attention to ESG matters, including expanding mandatory and voluntary reporting, and disclosure topics such as climate change, sustainability (including with respect to our supply chain), natural resources, waste reduction, energy, human capital, and risk oversight could expand the nature, scope, and complexity of matters that we are required to control, assess, and report. We strive to deliver shared value through our business and our diverse stakeholders expect us to make progress in certain ESG priority issue areas. A failure or perceived failure to meet these expectations could adversely affect public perception of our business, employee morale or customer or shareholder support.

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Our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows may be affected by litigation.

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We are involved in lawsuits, regulatory investigations, governmental and other legal proceedings arising out of the ordinary course of business. Such matters involve significant expense and divert management’s attention and resources from other matters. The damages sought against us in these proceedings may be material and may adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

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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, 2021:27, 2022:

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We have approximately 5.96.4 million square feet in distribution centers servicing our stores, of which approximately 1.81.5 million square feet is leased and the remainder is owned. Our 1213 distribution centers are located in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and two in Mexico.Mexico and one in Brazil. Our primary store support center is located in Memphis, Tennessee, and consists of approximately 320,000 square feet. We also have three additional store support centers located in Monterrey, Mexico; Chihuahua, Mexico and Sao Paulo, Brazil. Our primary International Sourcing Office is located in Shanghai, China. The ALLDATA headquarters in Elk Grove, California is leased, and we also own or lease other properties which are not material in the aggregate.

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PART II

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

The principal market on which our common stock is traded is the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “AZO.” On October 18, 2021,17, 2022, there were 1,9361,829 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 would be dependent upon our financial condition, capital requirements, earnings and cash flow.

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 October 5, 2021,4, 2022, to increase the repurchase authorization by $1.5$2.5 billion, bringing the total value of authorized share repurchases to $27.65$33.7 billion.

Beginning in the first quarter of fiscal 2021, we restarted our share repurchases under our share repurchase program, which had been temporarily suspended during fiscal 2020 in response to the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. We will continue to evaluate current and expected business conditions and adjust the level of share repurchases under our share repurchase program as we deem appropriate.

Shares of common stock repurchased by the Company during the quarter ended August 28, 202127, 2022 were as follows:

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

We are the leading retailer and a leading distributor of automotive replacement parts and accessories in the Americas. We began operations in 1979 and at August 28, 2021,27, 2022, operated 6,0516,168 stores in the U.S., 664703 stores in Mexico and 5272 stores in Brazil. 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. At August 28, 2021,27, 2022, in 5,1795,342 of our domestic stores, we also 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. We also have commercial programs in all stores in Mexico and Brazil. We also sell the ALLDATA brand automotive diagnostic, repair and shop management software through www.alldata.com. Additionally, we sell automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories and non-automotive products through www.autozone.com, and our commercial customers can make purchases through www.autozonepro.com. We also provide product information on our Duralast branded products through www.duralastparts.com. We do not derive revenue from automotive repair or installation services.

COVID-19 Impact

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COVID-19 continues to impact numerous aspects of our business. Our sales remain at record levels as we have experienced unprecedented customer demand for our products during the COVID-19 pandemic, as we believe that many of our customers have benefitted from pandemic-related government stimulus and benefits. Our main priority continues to be the health, safety and well-being of our customers and AutoZoners. We continue to invest in supplies for the protection of our employees and customers and increased the frequency of cleaning and disinfecting our stores. For fiscal 2021, we incurred approximately $43.0 million in pandemic related expenses, including Emergency Time-Off benefit enhancements for both full-time and part-time employees as compared to approximately $83.9 million in the comparable prior year period.

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The long-term impact to our business remains unknown as we are unable to accurately predict the impact that COVID-19 will have due to numerous uncertainties, including the severity of the disease, the duration of the outbreak, the likelihood of additional variants and resurgences of the outbreak, actions that may be taken by governmental authorities in response to the disease, the timing, distribution, efficacy and public acceptance of vaccines, and unintended consequences of the foregoing. Furthermore, the continuing pandemic and related economic uncertainty may result in prolonged disruption and volatility to our business and magnify certain risks, including risks associated with sourcing quality merchandise domestically and outside the U.S.; our ability to promptly adjust inventory levels to meet fluctuations in customer demand; our ability to comply with complex and evolving laws and regulations related to customers’ and AutoZoners’ health and safety; our ability to open new store locations and expand or remodel existing stores; and our ability to hire and train qualified employees to address temporary or sustained labor shortages.

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Executive Summary

For fiscal 2021,2022, we achieved record net income of $2.170$2.4 billion, a 25.2%an 11.9% increase over the prior year, and sales growth of $1.998$1.6 billion, a 15.8%an 11.1% increase over the prior year. Domestic commercial sales increased 22.6%26.5%, which represents approximately 23%28.8% of our totaldomestic auto parts sales. Both our retail sales and commercial sales grew this past year as we continue to experience unprecedented demand for our products during the COVID-19 pandemic and makemade progress on our initiatives aimed at improving our ability to say “Yes” to our customers more frequently drive traffic to our stores and accelerateaccelerating our commercial growth.

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Our business is impacted by various factors within the economy that affect both our consumer and our industry, including but not limited to inflation, fuel costs, wage rates, supply chain disruptions, hiring and other economic conditions, including for fiscal 2021 and 2020, the effects of, and responses to, COVID-19.conditions. Given the nature of these macroeconomic factors, we cannot predict whether or for how long certain trends will continue, nor can we predict to what degree these trends will impact us in the future.

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Miles Driven

We believe 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. While over the long-term we have seen a close correlation between our net sales and the number of miles driven, we have also seen certain time frames of minimal correlation in sales performance and miles driven. During the periods of minimal correlation between net sales and miles driven, we believe net sales have been positively impacted by other factors, including macroeconomic factors and the number of seven year old or older vehicles on the road. Since the beginning of the fiscal year and through July 20212022 (latest publicly available information), miles driven in the U.S. decreasedincreased by 5.2%4.6% compared to the same period in the prior year. We believe this decreaseincrease is a result ofdue to the pandemic,nation returning to pre-pandemic levels, but we are unable to predict if this declineincrease will continue, and are uncertaindue to rising fuel prices, general macroeconomic conditions, or otherwise, or the extent of the impact it will have toon our business.

Seven Year Old or Older Vehicles

According toAs the latest data provided bynumber of seven year old or older vehicles on the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, new light vehicle salesroad increases, we expect an increase in demand for the year ended August 2021products we sell. We expect the aging vehicle population to continue to increase as consumers keep their cars longer in an effort to save money. Additionally, there is increased 11.5%demand for used vehicles as compared to the comparable prior year period. a result of new vehicle inventory shortages.

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 the latest data provided by the Auto Care Association, as of January 1, 2021,2022, the average age of light vehicles on the road was 12.1 years.12.2 years and these vehicles account for more than 40% of U.S. vehicles. The average age of light vehicles has exceeded 11 years since 2012.

We expect the aging vehicle population to continue to increase as consumers keep their cars longer in an effort to save money. Additionally, there is increased demand for used vehicles as a result of new vehicle inventory shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic. As the number of seven year old or older vehicles on the road increases, we expect an increase in demand for the products we sell.

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Results of Operations

The following table highlights selected financial information over the lastpast 5 years: