Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 (+0.1%), Nasdaq Composite (+0.1%), and DJIA (flat) are off of their best levels of the session, sitting near their flatlines shortly after midday. 

AutoZone (AZO 3491.17, -275.79, -7.32%) is the worst-performing S&P 500 name today after reporting its Q1 (Nov) results this morning. The company missed EPS expectations, which declined 4.6% to $31.04 and now marks six consecutive quarters of falling short of estimates. Revenue increased 8.2% year-over-year to $4.63 billion, which was just in line with expectations.

The company's Q1 tells a familiar two-sided story. It delivered solid top-line growth and healthy comparable sales, which, while a bit lower than last quarter, were still respectable. On the other side, another EPS miss, driven by a sizable $98 million LIFO charge and higher growth-related expenses, extends a now-lengthy streak of falling short of estimates and keeps a cloud over margin visibility, even if LIFO remains more of an accounting and cost-timing headwind than a structural issue.