AutoNation vs Lithia Motors
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The short version
- Lithia Motors is the larger business, with $37.6B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $27.6B for AutoNation.
- Lithia Motors grew revenue faster (4.0%, against 3.2%).
- Lithia Motors turned more of its sales into free cash flow (0.0% FCF margin, against −0.7%).
- AutoNation earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (14.7%, against 7.8%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Lithia Motors’s earnings: a P/E of 9.7x against 7.5x for AutoNation.
| Latest fiscal year | AN · FY25 | LAD · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $5.4B | $6.7B |
| Revenue | $27.6B | $37.6B |
| Free cash flow | −$198M | $5.8M |
| Net income | $649M | $820M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 3.2% | 4.0% |
| 5-year growth | 6.3% | 23.5% |
| Share count change | −6.9% | −6.3% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 17.9% | 15.2% |
| Operating margin | 4.5% | 4.2% |
| Net margin | 2.4% | 2.2% |
| FCF margin | −0.7% | 0.0% |
| Return on capital | 14.7% | 7.8% |
| Return on equity | 27.1% | 12.4% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $3.9B | $9.4B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | — | 4.9x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $792M | $1.0B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 7.5x | 9.7x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 3 |
Revenue
FY16
AN $21.6B
LAD $8.7B
FY17
AN $21.5B
LAD $10.1B
FY18
AN $21.4B
LAD $11.8B
FY19
AN $21.3B
LAD $12.7B
FY20
AN $20.4B
LAD $13.1B
FY21
AN $25.8B
LAD $22.8B
FY22
AN $27.0B
LAD $28.2B
FY23
AN $26.9B
LAD $31.0B
FY24
AN $26.8B
LAD $36.2B
FY25
AN $27.6B
LAD $37.6B
AN
LAD
Operating margin
FY16
AN 4.1%
LAD 3.9%
FY17
AN 3.9%
LAD 4.1%
FY18
AN 3.6%
LAD 3.8%
FY19
AN 3.9%
LAD 3.9%
FY20
AN 2.8%
LAD 5.3%
FY21
AN 7.4%
LAD 7.3%
FY22
AN 7.5%
LAD 6.9%
FY23
AN 6.1%
LAD 5.5%
FY24
AN 4.9%
LAD 4.3%
FY25
AN 4.5%
LAD 4.2%
AN
LAD
Free cash flow
FY16
AN $272M
LAD −$9.9M
FY17
AN $227M
LAD $43.5M
FY18
AN $110M
LAD $362M
FY19
AN $500M
LAD $400M
FY20
AN $1.1B
LAD $377M
FY21
AN $1.4B
LAD $1.5B
FY22
AN $1.3B
LAD −$913M
FY23
AN $314M
LAD −$703M
FY24
AN −$13.8M
LAD $73.7M
FY25
AN −$198M
LAD $5.8M
AN
LAD
Return on capital
FY16
AN 11.4%
LAD 18.9%
FY17
AN 11.5%
LAD 18.6%
FY18
AN 11.3%
LAD 17.9%
FY19
AN 11.5%
LAD 14.7%
FY20
AN 7.8%
LAD 13.2%
FY21
AN 28.0%
LAD 20.2%
FY22
AN 27.3%
LAD 16.3%
FY23
AN 21.2%
LAD 10.9%
FY24
AN 16.0%
LAD 8.8%
FY25
AN 14.7%
LAD 7.8%
AN
LAD
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.