Sonic Automotive vs Valvoline
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KIRA’s take AI analyst
I put Sonic Automotive and Valvoline 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 $1.7B for Valvoline, about 8.9 times as much.
- Sonic Automotive grew revenue faster (6.5%, against 5.6%).
- Valvoline kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (22.8% operating margin, against 2.4%).
- Sonic Automotive turned more of its sales into free cash flow (2.8% FCF margin, against 2.2%).
- Valvoline earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (18.9%, against 12.2%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Valvoline’s earnings: a P/E of 39.5x 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.
Sonic Automotive
SAH
2/11
Revenue growthFCF margin
Valvoline
VVV
9/11
5-year growthGross marginOperating marginNet marginReturn on capitalReturn on equityPiotroski F-scoreNet debt / EBITDAShare count change
Side by side
Best in the row
| Latest fiscal year | SAH FY25 | VVV FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $2.0B | $4.1B |
| Revenue | $15.2B | $1.7B |
| Free cash flow | $418M | $38.0M |
| Net income | $119M | $211M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 6.5% | 5.6% |
| 5-year growth | 9.2% | 18.7% |
| Share count change | −0.9% | −1.8% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 15.7% | 38.5% |
| Operating margin | 2.4% | 22.8% |
| Net margin | 0.8% | 12.3% |
| FCF margin | 2.8% | 2.2% |
| Return on capital | 12.2% | 18.9% |
| Return on equity | 11.1% | 80.4% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $2.0B | $1.3B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 3.7x | 2.5x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $131M | $76.8M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 9.8x | 39.5x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 7 |
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.