What happened
A clutch of analyst price-target raises was the fuel injection powering AutoZone's (AZO +0.32%) stock on Wednesday. With that positive sentiment at its back, the auto-parts retailer's shares accelerated more than 4% higher on the day. By contrast, the S&P 500 index sank by almost 1%.
So what
No less than four prognosticators adjusted their AutoZone fair-value estimations, with three of them raising those targets.
None of these moves was drastic. This was typified by Barclays' Matthew McClintock, who only added $21 to his level for a new figure of $2,742 per share. He maintained his overweight (buy) recommendation as he did so.
Scot Ciccarelli of Truist (TFC 0.11%) also went the incremental route, lifting his price target to $3,006 from the preceding $2,886. Like McClintock, he kept his buy tag on the stock. D.A. Davidson's Michael Baker hiked his estimation to $2,500; previously, he felt AutoZone was worth $2,425. He's a bit less bullish than his peers with a neutral recommendation, which he maintained.
The lone dissenter was Simeon Gutman from Morgan Stanley, who sliced his price target to $2,750, down from his former $2,835. He still believes in the retailer's potential, though, leaving his overweight recommendation unchanged.
NYSE: AZO
Key Data Points
Now what
As often happens, those adjustments came in the wake of AutoZone's latest quarterly earnings release. Tuesday morning before market open, the company reported fourth-quarter results that beat the average analyst estimates for both revenue and profitability.
