Advance Auto Parts vs Sonic Automotive
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put Advance Auto Parts and Sonic Automotive side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:
- Sonic Automotive is the larger business, with $15.2B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $8.6B for Advance Auto Parts, about 1.8 times as much.
- Sonic Automotive grew revenue faster (6.5%, against −5.4%).
- Sonic Automotive kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (2.4% operating margin, against −0.5%).
- Sonic Automotive turned more of its sales into free cash flow (2.8% FCF margin, against −3.5%).
- Sonic Automotive earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (12.2%, against −1.5%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Advance Auto Parts’s earnings: a P/E of 34.0x against 9.8x for Sonic Automotive.
Who comes out ahead
Of the 11 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.
Advance Auto Parts
AAP
2/11
Gross marginNet debt / EBITDA
Sonic Automotive
SAH
9/11
Revenue growth5-year growthOperating marginNet marginFCF marginReturn on capitalReturn on equityPiotroski F-scoreShare count change
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | AAP FY25 | SAH FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $2.8B | $2.0B |
| Revenue | $8.6B | $15.2B |
| Free cash flow | −$298M | $418M |
| Net income | $44.0M | $119M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −5.4% | 6.5% |
| 5-year growth | −3.2% | 9.2% |
| Share count change | 1.2% | −0.9% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 43.4% | 15.7% |
| Operating margin | −0.5% | 2.4% |
| Net margin | 0.5% | 0.8% |
| FCF margin | −3.5% | 2.8% |
| Return on capital | −1.5% | 12.2% |
| Return on equity | 2.0% | 11.1% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $289M | $2.0B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.3x | 3.7x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $60.0M | $131M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 34.0x | 9.8x |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 6 |
Ten years
Revenue
Operating margin
Free cash flow
Return on capital
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.