AutoZone, Inc.
Thesis
AutoZone has demonstrated stable and defensive business characteristics, with intrinsic value growing by 16% per annum over the past 11 years. The company has high returns on assets and invested capital, and it effectively uses free cash flow for share buybacks, significantly increasing shareholder wealth over time.
Did it work?
The pitch is a quality-compounder long thesis (stable defensive business, ~16% intrinsic value growth, high returns on capital, accretive buybacks) with no stated catalyst, price target, or horizon. No price performance is available and time elapsed is unknown, so there is neither a return to weigh against the long direction nor a thesis event that can be confirmed or invalidated. The historical claims underpinning the thesis were presumably true at pitch time, but whether the investment subsequently worked cannot be determined.