Rush Enterprises, Inc. RUSHA

Competitive advantage analysis · consumer-cyclical

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
77/100
Strong

About Rush Enterprises, Inc.

Rush Enterprises, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated retailer of commercial vehicles and related services in the United States and Canada. The company operates a network of commercial vehicle dealerships under the Rush Truck Centers name. Its Rush Truck Centers primarily sell commercial vehicles manufactured by Peterbilt, International, Hino, Ford, Isuzu, IC Bus, Blue Bird, Blue Arc and … Full RUSHA analysis →

Competitive advantage assessment

Key strengths

  • Margins Stable Across Cycles Operating margin volatility is low (stability score 0.96), demonstrating pricing resilience across cycles.
  • ROIC Sustainably Above Peers ROIC at 88.9th percentile exceeds peers and WACC, demonstrating superior capital allocation.

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

Strong
79

Where RUSHA ranks in Auto & Truck Dealerships

Rush Enterprises, Inc. ranks #2 of 31 scored companies in Auto & Truck Dealerships by moat score — the top 6%. The widest moat in the group is CarGurus, Inc. (CARG) at 77/100.

Moat scores for companies ranked near RUSHA in Auto & Truck Dealerships
# Company Moat score Rating
1 CarGurus, Inc. CARG 77/100 Strong
2 Rush Enterprises, Inc. RUSHA 77/100 Strong
3 Mister Car Wash, Inc. MCW 75/100 Moderate
4 Rush Enterprises, Inc. RUSHB 75/100 Moderate
5 Cars.com Inc. CARS 71/100 Moderate
6 OPENLANE, Inc. KAR 70/100 Moderate
7 Valvoline Inc. VVV 69/100 Moderate
8 Carvana Co. CVNA 65/100 Moderate
9 Penske Automotive Group, Inc. PAG 65/100 Moderate

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How RUSHA scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 79 · 20% of the moat score

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

Cost Advantage

Score 69 · 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 77 · 15% of the moat score

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

Capital Efficiency

Score 83 · 18% of the moat score

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

Resilience

Score 80 · 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 68 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding RUSHA's moat

What is Rush Enterprises, Inc.'s moat score?

Rush Enterprises, Inc. (RUSHA) scores 76 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as strong. It ranks #2 of 31 scored companies in Auto & Truck Dealerships, the top 6%. 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 Capital Efficiency (83/100) and its weakest is Scale & Market Position (68/100).

How does Rush Enterprises, Inc. compare with other Auto & Truck Dealerships companies?

Rush Enterprises, Inc. ranks #2 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 CarGurus, Inc. (CARG) at 77 just above it and Mister Car Wash, Inc. (MCW) at 75 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 Rush Enterprises, 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 Rush Enterprises, Inc.?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and RUSHA scores: Pricing Power (79), Cost Advantage (69), Customer Stickiness (77), Capital Efficiency (83), Resilience (80), Scale & Market Position (68). 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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