CarMax vs Sonic Automotive
KMX and SAH side by side, both in retail-auto dealers & gasoline stations. Figures are trailing twelve months unless noted, from SEC filings and end-of-day prices.
How KMX and SAH compare
CarMax is the larger company, worth 3.9 times as much as Sonic Automotive ($7.9B against $2.0B).
On earnings, Sonic Automotive is cheaper: it trades at 10.2× trailing earnings, against 27.1× for CarMax.
CarMax grew revenue faster over the last twelve months (4.8% versus 2.0% for Sonic Automotive).
Sonic Automotive keeps more of each dollar of sales as profit, with a net margin of 1.3% compared with 1.1% at CarMax.
Sonic Automotive pays a dividend yielding 2.5%; CarMax does not pay one.
Sonic Automotive scores higher on the StockData Score (14 against 4 for CarMax), which adds up 30 checks on valuation, growth, past performance, financial health and dividends.
Key numbers
A dot marks the better figure where higher or lower is clearly better.
| Metric | KMX | SAH |
|---|---|---|
| Size and price | ||
| Market cap | $7.9B | $2.0B |
| Share price | $55.58 | $63.23 |
| Change, 1 year | 30.9% | 0.41% |
| Change, 5 years | −64.1% | 22.5% |
| Beta (5Y) | 1.15 | 0.95 |
| Employees | 24K | 11K |
| StockData Score | ||
| Total score | 4 | 14 (better) |
| Valuation score | 0 | 6 (better) |
| Growth score | 2 | 3 (better) |
| Performance score | 0 | 3 (better) |
| Health score | 2 (better) | 1 |
| Dividend score | 0 | 1 (better) |
| Valuation | ||
| P/E | 27.1× | 10.2× (better) |
| P/S | 0.3× | 0.1× (better) |
| P/B | – | 1.9× |
| EV/EBITDA | – | 5.7× |
| P/FCF | 6.9× (better) | 21.9× |
| PEG | – | 0.66 |
| FCF yield | 14.5% (better) | 4.6% |
| Fair value | $37.52 | $82.55 |
| Margin of safety | −48.1% | 23.4% (better) |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth (TTM) | 4.8% (better) | 2.0% |
| Revenue growth, 5Y average | 6.4% | 9.2% (better) |
| Net income growth (TTM) | −43.9% | 58.1% (better) |
| EPS growth (TTM) | −39.9% | 69.0% (better) |
| EPS growth, 5Y average | −18.0% | – |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 10.3% | 15.7% (better) |
| Operating margin | – | 3.2% |
| Net margin | 1.1% | 1.3% (better) |
| FCF margin | 4.1% (better) | 0.59% |
| Return on equity | – | 19.4% |
| Return on invested capital | – | 19.0% |
| Financial health | ||
| Debt / equity | – | 1.65 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | – | 2.64 |
| Current ratio | 2.33 (better) | 0.95 |
| Altman Z-score | 1.67 | 3.17 (better) |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 5 |
| Dividends and buybacks | ||
| Dividend yield | – | 2.5% |
| Payout ratio | – | −22.5% |
| Buyback yield | 3.3% (better) | 0.78% |
| Shareholder yield | 3.3% (better) | 3.3% |
| Ownership | ||
| Held by institutions | 104% | 46.1% |
| Held by insiders | 0.64% | 73.9% |
| Insider net buying, 12 months | $1.3M (better) | −$3.7M |
| Superinvestors holding | 2 | – |
| Short interest, % of float | 7.6% | 28.6% |
Go deeper
- KMX stock overview
- KMX income statement
- KMX valuation and score
- SAH stock overview
- SAH income statement
- SAH valuation and score
Other comparisons
For information only, not investment advice. Check the source filings before relying on any figure.