AutoZone vs Sonic Automotive
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The short version
- AutoZone is the larger business, with $18.9B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $15.2B for Sonic Automotive.
- Sonic Automotive grew revenue faster (6.5%, against 2.4%).
- AutoZone kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (19.1% operating margin, against 2.4%).
- AutoZone turned more of its sales into free cash flow (9.5% FCF margin, against 2.8%).
- AutoZone earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (58.2%, against 12.2%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of AutoZone’s earnings: a P/E of 22.0x against 9.8x for Sonic Automotive.
| Latest fiscal year | AZO · FY25 | SAH · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $54.1B | $2.0B |
| Revenue | $18.9B | $15.2B |
| Free cash flow | $1.8B | $418M |
| Net income | $2.5B | $119M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 2.4% | 6.5% |
| 5-year growth | 8.4% | 9.2% |
| Share count change | −3.1% | −0.9% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 52.6% | 15.7% |
| Operating margin | 19.1% | 2.4% |
| Net margin | 13.2% | 0.8% |
| FCF margin | 9.5% | 2.8% |
| Return on capital | 58.2% | 12.2% |
| Return on equity | — | 11.1% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $8.9B | $2.0B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.1x | 3.7x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $1.6B | $131M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 22.0x | 9.8x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
AZO $10.6B
SAH $9.7B
FY17
AZO $10.9B
SAH $9.9B
FY18
AZO $11.2B
SAH $10.0B
FY19
AZO $11.9B
SAH $10.5B
FY20
AZO $12.6B
SAH $9.8B
FY21
AZO $14.6B
SAH $12.4B
FY22
AZO $16.3B
SAH $14.0B
FY23
AZO $17.5B
SAH $14.4B
FY24
AZO $18.5B
SAH $14.2B
FY25
AZO $18.9B
SAH $15.2B
AZO
SAH
Operating margin
FY16
AZO 19.4%
SAH 2.4%
FY17
AZO 19.1%
SAH 2.1%
FY18
AZO 16.1%
SAH 1.8%
FY19
AZO 18.7%
SAH 2.9%
FY20
AZO 19.1%
SAH 0.4%
FY21
AZO 20.1%
SAH 4.3%
FY22
AZO 20.1%
SAH 2.2%
FY23
AZO 19.9%
SAH 3.0%
FY24
AZO 20.5%
SAH 3.2%
FY25
AZO 19.1%
SAH 2.4%
AZO
SAH
Free cash flow
FY16
AZO $1.2B
SAH $10.1M
FY17
AZO $1.0B
SAH −$71.4M
FY18
AZO $1.6B
SAH −$19.9M
FY19
AZO $1.6B
SAH $45.2M
FY20
AZO $2.3B
SAH $154M
FY21
AZO $2.9B
SAH $8.1M
FY22
AZO $2.5B
SAH $179M
FY23
AZO $2.1B
SAH −$219M
FY24
AZO $1.9B
SAH −$78.1M
FY25
AZO $1.8B
SAH $418M
AZO
SAH
Return on capital
FY16
AZO —
SAH 9.0%
FY17
AZO 43.9%
SAH 10.8%
FY18
AZO 44.7%
SAH 6.9%
FY19
AZO 53.7%
SAH 13.0%
FY20
AZO 58.9%
SAH 1.7%
FY21
AZO 81.8%
SAH 20.7%
FY22
AZO 99.2%
SAH 6.1%
FY23
AZO 93.1%
SAH 11.4%
FY24
AZO 78.5%
SAH 13.5%
FY25
AZO 58.2%
SAH 12.2%
AZO
SAH
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.