CarMax vs Penske Automotive Group
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The short version
- Penske Automotive Group is the larger business, with $31.8B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $25.9B for CarMax.
- Penske Automotive Group grew revenue faster (−0.2%, against −1.8%).
- CarMax turned more of its sales into free cash flow (4.8% FCF margin, against 2.1%).
- Penske Automotive Group earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (12.8%, against 1.3%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of CarMax’s earnings: a P/E of 24.3x against 15.4x for Penske Automotive Group.
| Latest fiscal year | KMX · FY26 | PAG · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $7.3B | $14.0B |
| Revenue | $25.9B | $31.8B |
| Free cash flow | $1.2B | $651M |
| Net income | $247M | $935M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −1.8% | −0.2% |
| 5-year growth | 6.4% | 9.2% |
| Share count change | −5.4% | −1.0% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 10.8% | 16.4% |
| Operating margin | — | 4.0% |
| Net margin | 1.0% | 2.9% |
| FCF margin | 4.8% | 2.1% |
| Return on capital | 1.3% | 12.8% |
| Return on equity | 4.1% | 17.1% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $17.3B | $2.1B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 20.6x | 1.5x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $643M | $503M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 24.3x | 15.4x |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 6 |
Revenue
FY17
KMX $15.9B
PAG $21.4B
FY18
KMX $17.1B
PAG $22.8B
FY19
KMX $18.2B
PAG $23.2B
FY20
KMX $20.3B
PAG $20.4B
FY21
KMX $19.0B
PAG $25.6B
FY22
KMX $31.9B
PAG $27.8B
FY23
KMX $29.7B
PAG $30.9B
FY24
KMX $26.5B
PAG $31.9B
FY25
KMX $26.4B
PAG $31.8B
FY26
KMX $25.9B
PAG —
KMX
PAG
Operating margin
FY17
KMX —
PAG 2.9%
FY18
KMX —
PAG 2.9%
FY19
KMX —
PAG 2.8%
FY20
KMX —
PAG 3.5%
FY21
KMX —
PAG 5.3%
FY22
KMX —
PAG 5.4%
FY23
KMX —
PAG 4.6%
FY24
KMX —
PAG 4.3%
FY25
KMX —
PAG 4.0%
FY26
KMX —
PAG —
KMX
PAG
Free cash flow
FY17
KMX −$873M
PAG $376M
FY18
KMX −$377M
PAG $309M
FY19
KMX −$142M
PAG $273M
FY20
KMX −$569M
PAG $1.0B
FY21
KMX $503M
PAG $1.0B
FY22
KMX −$2.9B
PAG $1.2B
FY23
KMX $861M
PAG $759M
FY24
KMX −$6.7M
PAG $853M
FY25
KMX $157M
PAG $651M
FY26
KMX $1.2B
PAG —
KMX
PAG
Return on capital
FY17
KMX 4.5%
PAG 15.0%
FY18
KMX 4.4%
PAG 11.1%
FY19
KMX 5.3%
PAG 9.6%
FY20
KMX 5.3%
PAG 10.7%
FY21
KMX 4.3%
PAG 19.3%
FY22
KMX 5.8%
PAG 19.6%
FY23
KMX 2.5%
PAG 17.3%
FY24
KMX 2.4%
PAG 15.2%
FY25
KMX 2.4%
PAG 12.8%
FY26
KMX 1.3%
PAG —
KMX
PAG
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.