Group 1 Automotive vs CarMax
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The short version
- CarMax is the larger business, with $25.9B of revenue in fiscal 2026 against $22.6B for Group 1 Automotive.
- Group 1 Automotive grew revenue faster (13.2%, against −1.8%).
- CarMax turned more of its sales into free cash flow (4.8% FCF margin, against 1.9%).
- Group 1 Automotive earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (8.6%, against 1.3%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of CarMax’s earnings: a P/E of 24.3x against 10.1x for Group 1 Automotive.
| Latest fiscal year | GPI · FY25 | KMX · FY26 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $2.9B | $7.3B |
| Revenue | $22.6B | $25.9B |
| Free cash flow | $425M | $1.2B |
| Net income | $325M | $247M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 13.2% | −1.8% |
| 5-year growth | 16.3% | 6.4% |
| Share count change | −3.9% | −5.4% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 16.1% | 10.8% |
| Operating margin | 3.3% | — |
| Net margin | 1.4% | 1.0% |
| FCF margin | 1.9% | 4.8% |
| Return on capital | 8.6% | 1.3% |
| Return on equity | 11.3% | 4.1% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $3.7B | $17.3B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | — | 20.6x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $580M | $643M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 10.1x | 24.3x |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 5 |
Revenue
FY17
GPI $11.1B
KMX $15.9B
FY18
GPI $11.6B
KMX $17.1B
FY19
GPI $11.6B
KMX $18.2B
FY20
GPI $10.6B
KMX $20.3B
FY21
GPI $13.5B
KMX $19.0B
FY22
GPI $16.2B
KMX $31.9B
FY23
GPI $17.9B
KMX $29.7B
FY24
GPI $19.9B
KMX $26.5B
FY25
GPI $22.6B
KMX $26.4B
FY26
GPI —
KMX $25.9B
GPI
KMX
Operating margin
FY17
GPI 3.1%
KMX —
FY18
GPI 2.9%
KMX —
FY19
GPI 3.1%
KMX —
FY20
GPI 4.7%
KMX —
FY21
GPI 6.6%
KMX —
FY22
GPI 6.7%
KMX —
FY23
GPI 5.4%
KMX —
FY24
GPI 4.6%
KMX —
FY25
GPI 3.3%
KMX —
FY26
GPI —
KMX —
GPI
KMX
Free cash flow
FY17
GPI −$19.3M
KMX −$873M
FY18
GPI $129M
KMX −$377M
FY19
GPI $179M
KMX −$142M
FY20
GPI $702M
KMX −$569M
FY21
GPI $1.1B
KMX $503M
FY22
GPI $430M
KMX −$2.9B
FY23
GPI $4.8M
KMX $861M
FY24
GPI $341M
KMX −$6.7M
FY25
GPI $425M
KMX $157M
FY26
GPI —
KMX $1.2B
GPI
KMX
Return on capital
FY17
GPI 14.3%
KMX 4.5%
FY18
GPI 10.7%
KMX 4.4%
FY19
GPI 10.5%
KMX 5.3%
FY20
GPI 14.2%
KMX 5.3%
FY21
GPI 21.0%
KMX 4.3%
FY22
GPI 20.6%
KMX 5.8%
FY23
GPI 16.2%
KMX 2.5%
FY24
GPI 13.0%
KMX 2.4%
FY25
GPI 8.6%
KMX 2.4%
FY26
GPI —
KMX 1.3%
GPI
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.