General

3 Months Ended

Feb. 15, 2020

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

General

Note A – General

The accompanying unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with United States (“U.S.”) generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial information and are presented in accordance with the requirements of Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (the “SEC”) rules and regulations. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments, including normal recurring accruals, considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. For further information, refer to the consolidated financial statements and related notes included in the AutoZone, Inc. (“AutoZone” or the “Company”) Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended August 31, 2019.

Operating results for the twelve and twenty-four weeks ended February 15, 2020 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full fiscal year ending August 29, 2020. Each of the first three quarters of AutoZone’s fiscal year consists of 12 weeks, and the fourth quarter consists of 16 or 17 weeks. The fourth quarter of fiscal 2020 has 16 weeks and fiscal 2019 had 17 weeks.​​​​​​​

Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements:

In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842), and subsequently amended this update by issuing additional ASU’s that provided clarification and further guidance for areas identified as potential implementation issues. ASU 2016-02 requires a two-fold approach for lessee accounting, under which a lessee will account for leases as finance leases or operating leases. For all leases with original terms greater than 12 months, both lease classifications will result in the lessee recognizing a right-of-use asset and a corresponding lease liability on its balance sheet, with differing methodologies for income statement recognition. This guidance also requires certain quantitative and qualitative disclosures about leasing arrangements. ASU 2016-02 and its amendments were effective for interim and annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018, and early adoption was permitted. The ASU’s transition provisions could be applied under a modified retrospective approach to each prior reporting period presented in the financial statements or only at the beginning of the period of adoption using the alternative transition method.

The Company adopted this standard and its amendments as of September 1, 2019, using the modified retrospective transition method. Under this method, existing leases were recorded at the adoption date, comparative periods were not restated and prior period amounts were not adjusted and continue to be reported under the accounting standards in effect for the prior periods. In addition, the Company elected the package of practical expedients permitted under the transition guidance within the new standard, which among other things, allowed the carry forward of prior lease identification under Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 840. The Company made the accounting policy election for short-term leases resulting in lease payments being recorded as an expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term. The Company also elected the practical expedient to not separate lease components from the non-lease components (typically fixed common-area maintenance costs at its retail store locations) for all classes of leased assets, except vehicles. The Company chose not to elect the hindsight practical expedient to determine the reasonably certain lease term for existing leases. Adoption of the leasing standard resulted in operating lease right-of-use assets of approximately $2.5 billion and operating lease liabilities of approximately $2.7 billion as of September 1, 2019. Existing prepaid and deferred rent were netted and recorded as an offset to our gross operating lease right-of-use assets. There was no adjustment to the opening balance of retained earnings upon adoption. The standard did not have a material impact on the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income, Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows or covenant compliance under its existing credit agreement. Refer to “Note L – Leases”.

In June 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-07, Compensation – Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Nonemployee Share-Based Payment Accounting. ASU 2018-07 aims to simplify the accounting for share-based payments to nonemployees by aligning it with the accounting for share-based payments to employees, with certain exceptions. The Company adopted this standard beginning with its first quarter ending November 23, 2019. The Company determined that the provisions of ASU 2018-07 did not have an impact on its Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income, Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets or Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements:

In August 2018, the FASB issued ASU 2018-15, Intangibles – Goodwill and Other Internal Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Customer’s Accounting for Implementation Costs Incurred in a Cloud Computing Arrangement That Is a Service Contract. The amendments in this update align the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred in a hosting arrangement that is a service contract with the requirements for capitalizing implementation costs incurred to develop or obtain internal-use software. ASU 2018-15 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, including interim periods within those fiscal years. Early adoption is permitted. The Company will adopt this standard beginning with its first quarter ending November 21, 2020. The Company is currently evaluating the new guidance to determine the impact the adoption will have on its Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income, Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets or Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments which was subsequently amended in November 2018 through ASU 2018-19, Codification Improvements to Topic 326, Financial Instruments Credit Losses. ASU 2016-13 will require entities to estimate lifetime expected credit losses for trade and other receivables, net investments in leases, financial receivables, debt securities, and other instruments, which will result in earlier recognition of credit losses.

Further, the new credit loss model will affect how entities estimate their allowance for loss receivables that are current with respect to their payment terms. ASU 2016-13 will be effective for the Company at the beginning of its fiscal 2021 year. The Company will adopt this standard beginning with its first quarter ending November 21, 2020. The Company is currently evaluating the new guidance to determine the impact the adoption will have on the Company’s Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income, Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets or Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.