AutoNation vs CarMax
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The short version
- AutoNation is the larger business, with $27.6B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $25.9B for CarMax.
- AutoNation grew revenue faster (3.2%, against −1.8%).
- CarMax turned more of its sales into free cash flow (4.8% FCF margin, against −0.7%).
- AutoNation earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (14.7%, against 1.3%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of CarMax’s earnings: a P/E of 24.3x against 7.5x for AutoNation.
| Latest fiscal year | AN · FY25 | KMX · FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $5.4B | $7.3B |
| Revenue | $27.6B | $25.9B |
| Free cash flow | −$198M | $1.2B |
| Net income | $649M | $247M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 3.2% | −1.8% |
| 5-year growth | 6.3% | 6.4% |
| Share count change | −6.9% | −5.4% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 17.9% | 10.8% |
| Operating margin | 4.5% | — |
| Net margin | 2.4% | 1.0% |
| FCF margin | −0.7% | 4.8% |
| Return on capital | 14.7% | 1.3% |
| Return on equity | 27.1% | 4.1% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $3.9B | $17.3B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | — | 20.6x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $792M | $643M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 7.5x | 24.3x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 5 |
Revenue
FY17
AN $21.5B
KMX $15.9B
FY18
AN $21.4B
KMX $17.1B
FY19
AN $21.3B
KMX $18.2B
FY20
AN $20.4B
KMX $20.3B
FY21
AN $25.8B
KMX $19.0B
FY22
AN $27.0B
KMX $31.9B
FY23
AN $26.9B
KMX $29.7B
FY24
AN $26.8B
KMX $26.5B
FY25
AN $27.6B
KMX $26.4B
FY26
AN —
KMX $25.9B
AN
KMX
Operating margin
FY17
AN 3.9%
KMX —
FY18
AN 3.6%
KMX —
FY19
AN 3.9%
KMX —
FY20
AN 2.8%
KMX —
FY21
AN 7.4%
KMX —
FY22
AN 7.5%
KMX —
FY23
AN 6.1%
KMX —
FY24
AN 4.9%
KMX —
FY25
AN 4.5%
KMX —
FY26
AN —
KMX —
AN
KMX
Free cash flow
FY17
AN $227M
KMX −$873M
FY18
AN $110M
KMX −$377M
FY19
AN $500M
KMX −$142M
FY20
AN $1.1B
KMX −$569M
FY21
AN $1.4B
KMX $503M
FY22
AN $1.3B
KMX −$2.9B
FY23
AN $314M
KMX $861M
FY24
AN −$13.8M
KMX −$6.7M
FY25
AN −$198M
KMX $157M
FY26
AN —
KMX $1.2B
AN
KMX
Return on capital
FY17
AN 11.5%
KMX 4.5%
FY18
AN 11.3%
KMX 4.4%
FY19
AN 11.5%
KMX 5.3%
FY20
AN 7.8%
KMX 5.3%
FY21
AN 28.0%
KMX 4.3%
FY22
AN 27.3%
KMX 5.8%
FY23
AN 21.2%
KMX 2.5%
FY24
AN 16.0%
KMX 2.4%
FY25
AN 14.7%
KMX 2.4%
FY26
AN —
KMX 1.3%
AN
KMX
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.