CarMax Inc KMX

Competitive advantage analysis · consumer-cyclical

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
48/100
Developing

Ranked against 30 peers in Auto & Truck Dealerships

About CarMax Inc

CarMax, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as a retailer of used vehicles and related products in the United States. The company operates in two segments: CarMax Sales Operations and CarMax Auto Finance. The CarMax Sales Operations segment offers customers a range of makes and models of used vehicles, including domestic, imported, and luxury vehicles, as well as hybrid and electric … Full KMX analysis →

Key strengths

  • Consistent Cash Generation Cash generation is strong and consistent (score 0.71).
  • Cash Generation Consistent Cash generation is consistent (score 0.71), indicating reliable business model.

Key risks

  • ROIC Below WACC or Peers ROIC at 29.6th percentile suggests inefficient capital deployment.
  • Scale Without Profitability Despite scale, profitability lags peers (score 0.29), suggesting limited competitive advantage.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Pricing Power

Developing
43
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Signals, strengths and risks for Pricing Power

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Signals, strengths and risks for Cost Advantage

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Signals, strengths and risks for Customer Stickiness

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Signals, strengths and risks for Capital Efficiency

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Signals, strengths and risks for Resilience

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Signals, strengths and risks for Scale & Market Position

Where KMX ranks in Auto & Truck Dealerships

CarMax Inc ranks #16 of 31 scored companies in Auto & Truck Dealerships by moat score — the top 52%. The widest moat in the group is CarGurus, Inc. (CARG) at 77/100.

# Company Moat score Rating
12 AutoNation, Inc. AN 59/100 Moderate
13 Group 1 Automotive, Inc. GPI 56/100 Moderate
14 Lithia Motors, Inc. LAD 55/100 Moderate
15 Sonic Automotive, Inc. SAH 55/100 Moderate
16 CarMax Inc KMX 48/100 Developing
17 ACV Auctions Inc. ACVA 46/100 Developing
18 America's Car-Mart, Inc. CRMT 46/100 Developing
19 SunCar Technology Group Inc. SDA 41/100 Developing
20 Camping World Holdings, Inc. CWH 41/100 Developing

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How KMX scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 43 · 20% of the moat score

Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.

Cost Advantage

Score 62 · 15% of the moat score

A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.

Customer Stickiness

Score 58 · 15% of the moat score

Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.

Capital Efficiency

Score 36 · 18% of the moat score

Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.

Resilience

Score 53 · 17% of the moat score

Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.

Scale & Market Position

Score 40 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding KMX's moat

What is CarMax Inc's moat score?

CarMax Inc (KMX) scores 48 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as developing. It ranks #16 of 31 scored companies in Auto & Truck Dealerships, the top 52%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 30 companies in Auto & Truck Dealerships. Its strongest defense is Cost Advantage (62/100) and its weakest is Capital Efficiency (36/100).

How does CarMax Inc compare with other Auto & Truck Dealerships companies?

CarMax Inc ranks #16 of 31 scored companies in Auto & Truck Dealerships by moat score. The widest moat in Auto & Truck Dealerships is CarGurus, Inc. (CARG) at 77/100. The companies ranked closest are Sonic Automotive, Inc. (SAH) at 55 just above it and ACV Auctions Inc. (ACVA) at 46 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 30 companies in Auto & Truck Dealerships. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is CarMax Inc scored with the Corporate Default template?

Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.

Which competitive defenses are measured for CarMax Inc?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and KMX scores: Pricing Power (43), Cost Advantage (62), Customer Stickiness (58), Capital Efficiency (36), Resilience (53), Scale & Market Position (40). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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