[X]       Quarterly report pursuant to section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

        Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter periods that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.  Yes  [X]  No  [  ]

        Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer's classes of common stock, as of the latest practical date.

        Common Stock, $.01 Par Value -- 101,322,769 shares as of June 1, 2002.
 
 

Note A-Basis of Presentation

        The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for interim financial information and with instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X.  Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by generally accepted accounting principles for complete financial statements.  In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included.  Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to the fiscal 2002 presentation.  Operating results for the thirty-six weeks ended May 4, 2002, are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the fiscal year ending August 31, 2002.  For further information, refer to the financial statements and footnotes included in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended August 25, 2001.

Note I-Contingencies

        AutoZone, Inc., is a defendant in a lawsuit entitled "Coalition for a Level Playing Field, L.L.C., et al., v. AutoZone, Inc., Wal-mart Stores, Inc., Advance Auto Parts, Inc., The Pep Boys -- Manny, Moe and Jack, O'Reilly Automotive, Inc., and Keystone Automotive Operations, Inc.," filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in February 2000. The case was filed by over 100 plaintiffs, which are principally automotive aftermarket warehouse distributors and jobbers. The plaintiffs claim in the Complaint that the defendants have knowingly received volume discounts, rebates, slotting and other allowances, fees, free inventory, sham advertising and promotional payments, a share in the manufacturers' profits, and excessive payments for services purportedly performed for the manufacturers in violation of the Robinson-Patman Act. The plaintiffs, in an amended Complaint, stated that they seek substantially more than $1 billion in damages (including statutory trebling) and a permanent injunction prohibiting defendants from committing further violations of the Robinson-Patman Act and from opening any further stores to compete with plaintiffs as long as defendants continue to violate the Act.  AutoZone, Inc., answered the complaint on February 15, 2002, denying the plaintiff's allegations. The parties will enter into a period of discovery related to the merits of the case.  The Company will vigorously defend against this case, and believes the suit to be without merit and that the Company will ultimately prevail.  The Company currently believes that this matter will not likely result in liabilities material to the Company's financial condition or results of operations.

        The Company currently, and from time to time, is involved in various other legal proceedings incidental to the conduct of its business.  Although the amount of liability that may result from these proceedings cannot be ascertained, the Company does not currently believe that, in the aggregate, these other matters will result in liabilities material to the Company's financial condition or results of operations.

Note J-Sale of TruckPro Business

        In December 2001, the Company's heavy-duty truck parts business was sold to a group of investors in exchange for cash and a six-year note. The Company has deferred a preliminary gain of $4.5 million related to the sale due to uncertainties associated with the realization of the gain.  The transaction is still subject to a final working capital adjustment based on the closing balance sheet that will occur during the fourth quarter.  The Company has agreed to assist the purchaser of the business by providing certain corporate services that had been provided by the Company prior to the sale for a period of six months at the Company's incremental cost of providing the services. In addition, we have subleased some of the TruckPro store properties to the purchaser of the TruckPro business for an initial term of not less than twenty years.

Item 2.     Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

Critical Accounting Policies

Product Warranties

        We provide our customers limited warranties on certain products that may range from 30 days to lifetime warranties. We provide for a reserve for warranty obligations at the time of a product's sale based on that product's historical return rate. Our product vendors pay a portion of our warranty expense. However, at times, the vendors may not cover all of the warranty expense.  If we materially underestimate our warranty expense on products that are not fully warranted to us by our vendors, we may experience a material adverse impact on our reported financial position and results of operations. If we overestimate our warranty expense, we will recognize any excess in income at the time the excess is determined.

LIFO Inventory Method

        Our inventories are stated at the lower of cost or market using the last-in, first out (LIFO) method. An actual valuation of inventory under the LIFO method can be made only at the end of each year based on the inventory levels and costs at that time. Accordingly, interim LIFO calculations must necessarily be based on management's estimates of expected year-end inventory levels and costs.

Litigation and Other Contingent Liabilities

        We have received claims related to and been notified that we are a defendant in a number of legal proceedings resulting from our business, such as employment matters, product liability, general liability related to our store premises and alleged violation of the Robinson-Patman Act (as specifically described in Note I to the Financial Statements). We accrue reserves using our best estimate of our probable and reasonably estimable contingent liabilities, such as lawsuits and our retained liability for insured claims.  We do not believe that any of these contingent liabilities, individually or in the aggregate, will have a material adverse effect upon our consolidated financial position or results of operations. However, if our estimates related to these contingent liabilities are incorrect, the future results of operations for any particular fiscal quarter or year could be materially adversely affected. Some of our litigation is being conducted before juries in states where past jury awards have been significant, and we are unable to predict the results of any jury verdict. If we overestimate our contingent liabilities, we will recognize any excess in income at the time the excess is determined.

Vendor Allowances

        We receive various payments and allowances from our vendors based on volume of purchases and in payment for services that AutoZone provides to the vendors.  Monies received from vendors include rebates, allowances and cooperative advertising funds.  Typically these funds are determined periodically and are, at times, dependent on projected purchase volumes and advertising plans.  Certain vendor allowances are used exclusively for advertising and other direct expenses and are recognized as a reduction to selling, general and administrative expenses when earned.  Rebates and other miscellaneous incentives are earned based on purchases and/or the sale of the product.  These monies are treated as a reduction of inventories and are recognized as a reduction to cost of sales as the inventories are sold.  The amounts to be received are subject to changes in market conditions or marketing strategies for the vendors, and changes in profitability or sell-through of the related merchandise for AutoZone.

Restructuring and Impairment Charges

        In the third and fourth quarters of fiscal 2001, we incurred pre-tax restructuring and impairment charges of $156.8 million as more fully described in Note B to the financial statements. A substantial portion of the charges related to the closure of 51 domestic auto parts stores and the writedown of various real estate projects in process and excess properties.  The accrual for net lease obligations related to leased properties included estimates and assumptions regarding the following:  the probability that properties could be subleased and the amounts and timing of such subleases which were estimated on a property-by-property basis, the long-term borrowing rate used to discount the lease obligations to present value and estimates of future upkeep costs.  The fair value of owned properties was determined using the following estimates and assumptions:  the amount of assets in stores to be closed that can be redeployed to other stores was estimated to be 40% of the carrying value of fixtures and selling prices for properties were based on estimates received from brokers and recent sales prices of similar properties assuming sales in an orderly fashion over a twelve-month period.  The fair value of the TruckPro business was determined based on the purchase price specified in preliminary offers received from third parties.  The inventory rationalization charge included the following estimates and assumptions:  all inventory initiatives should be completed by the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2002 (but in no case would exceed one year), no consideration would be received for the discontinued inventory and some sell-through of the inventory on-hand at year end 2001 may occur before the inventory initiatives are complete.  When actual results differ from the estimates, we record the impact in income from operations in the period the related disposal transactions occur.  In addition, the estimates are reviewed on a quarterly basis and any adjustments are made as deemed necessary based on the most recent information.

Twelve Weeks Ended May 4, 2002, Compared to

        The following table shows AutoZone's obligations and commitments to make future payments under contractual obligations (in thousands):
 
 

Item 3.    Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

        AutoZone is exposed to market risk from changes in foreign exchange and interest rates.  To minimize interest rate risks, we periodically use various financial instruments.  All hedging transactions are authorized and executed pursuant to policies and procedures established by our Board of Directors.  We do not buy or sell financial instruments for trading purposes.

        We adopted Statements of Financial Accounting Standards Nos. 133, 137 and 138 (collectively "SFAS 133") pertaining to the accounting for derivatives and hedging activities at the beginning of fiscal 2001.  SFAS 133 requires us to recognize all derivative instruments in the balance sheet at fair value.  The adoption of SFAS 133 impacts the accounting for our interest rate hedging program.  AutoZone reduces its exposure to increases in interest rates by entering into interest rate swap contracts.  All of our interest rate swaps are designated as cash flow hedges.  At May 4, 2002, and August 25, 2001, we held interest rate swap contracts related to $190 million of variable-rate debt.  Of the $190 million, $50 million matures in fiscal 2003 and $140 million matures in fiscal 2004.

        Upon the adoption of SFAS 133, we recorded the fair value of the interest rate swaps in our consolidated balance sheet.  Thereafter, we have adjusted the carrying value of the interest rate swaps to reflect their current fair value.  The related gains or losses on the swaps are deferred in stockholders' equity (as a component of comprehensive income).  These deferred gains and losses are recognized in income in the period in which the related interest rate payments being hedged have been recognized in expense.  However, to the extent that the change in value of an interest rate swap contract does not perfectly offset the change in the interest rate payments being hedged, that ineffective portion is immediately recognized in income.  The fair values of the interest rate swaps were a liability of $7.0 million at May 4, 2002, and a liability of $5.6 million at August 25, 2001.

        The fair value of AutoZone's debt was estimated at $1.24 billion at May 4, 2002, and $1.21 billion at August 25, 2001, based on the market value of the debt at those dates.  Such fair value is less than the carrying value of debt at May 4, 2002, by $7.8 million and at August 25, 2001, by $17.3 million.  We had $756.4 million of variable-rate debt outstanding at May 4, 2002, and $730.4 million at August 25, 2001.  At these borrowing levels, a one percentage point increase in interest rates would have an unfavorable annual impact on our pre-tax earnings and cash flows of $6.8 million and $6.6 million, respectively.  The primary interest rate exposure on variable-rate debt is based on LIBOR.

PART II.    OTHER INFORMATION
 
 

Item 5.    Other Information

We may not be able to increase sales by the same historic growth rates.

        We have significantly increased our domestic store count in the past five fiscal years, growing from 1,423 stores at August 31, 1996, to 3,019 stores at August 25, 2001, an average store count increase per year of 16%. We do not plan to continue our store count growth rate at the historic pace. In addition, a portion of our total sales increases each year results from increases in sales at existing stores. We cannot provide any assurance that we can continue to increase same store sales as our stores mature in their markets.

We have an ever-increasing need for qualified employees.

       In fiscal year 2001, our consolidated employee count increased from approximately 43,200 at the beginning of the year to about 44,600, a 3% increase in the year. We do not know if we can continue to hire and retain qualified employees at current wage rates. In the event of increasing wage rates, if we do not increase our wages competitively, our customer service could suffer by reason of a declining quality of our workforce or, alternatively, our earnings would decrease if we increase our wage rates.

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

        Demand for products sold by our stores depends on many factors. In the short term, it may depend upon:

• the weather, as vehicle maintenance may be deferred during periods of inclement weather. However, as AutoZone stores are geographically disbursed, isolated instances of inclement weather will generally not have a material effect upon our aggregate sales.

• the economy, as during periods of good economic conditions, more of our do-it-yourself customers may pay others to repair and maintain their cars instead of working on their own vehicles, or they may purchase new vehicles. This factor is tempered by our commercial parts sales program that sells parts to installers. In periods of declining economic conditions, both do-it-yourself and do-it-for-me customers may defer vehicle maintenance or repair.

        In the event of war, acts of terrorism, or either are threatened, it may have a negative impact on our ability to obtain merchandise available for sale in our stores. Some of our merchandise is imported from other countries. If imported goods become difficult or impossible to bring into the United States, and if we cannot obtain such merchandise from other sources at similar costs, our sales and profit margins may be negatively affected. In addition, a significant amount of the merchandise sold in our Mexico stores is exported from the United States. If we cannot export this merchandise in a timely manner, sales in our Mexico stores may be adversely affected.  In the event that commercial transportation is curtailed or substantially delayed, our business may be adversely impacted, as we may have difficulty shipping merchandise to our distribution centers and stores.
 

Item 6.    Exhibits and Reports on Form 8-K

        (a)        The following exhibits are filed as part of this report:
 
 

(b)        (1)        We filed a Current Report on Form 8-K dated February 26, 2002, attaching a press release that

                         reported earnings for the quarter ended February 9, 2002.

        Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
 
 

                                                                                By:/s/ MICHAEL G. ARCHBOLD

                                                                                By:/s/ TRICIA K. GREENBERGER

The following exhibits are filed as part of this report: