LAD vs AN Stock Comparison

Lithia Motors and Autonation Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
LAD Lithia Motors Inc
$290.64 -8.1% 1M -9.7% 1Y
Market cap
$6.39B
P/E
9.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$38.21B
Div. yield
0.82%
Auto Dealerships Consumer Discretionary
3 wins
AN Autonation, Inc.
$164.81 -1.2% 1M -15.5% 1Y
Market cap
$5.46B
P/E
7.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$27.45B
Div. yield
–
Auto Dealerships Consumer Discretionary
5 wins

Head to Head

8 decided of 12

Autonation leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Autonation 5, Lithia Motors 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionLADANLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $6.39B $5.46B LAD
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 9.1x 7.1x AN
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 8.5x 8.3x AN
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +1.6% -0.1% LAD
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 2.8% –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 14.6% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 2.8x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.82% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -9.7% -15.5% LAD
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -1.8%/yr +6.4%/yr AN
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 41.3% 35.1% AN
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 36/100 51/100 AN

Percentile Scorecard

LADAN

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisLADAN
Valuation 63 #39 of 104 58 #44 of 104
Growth 39 #61 of 99 28 #72 of 99
Profitability 30 #69 of 98 56 #44 of 98
Financial Health 29 #80 of 112 17 #93 of 112
Shareholder Returns 17 #60 of 72 99 #2 of 72
Overall 36 51
  • LAD ranked among 115 companies in Retail
  • AN ranked among 115 companies in Retail

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodLADANSPY
1 month -8.1%-1.2% -0.2%
3 months -18.9%-25.2% +3.9%
6 months +4.8%-18.0% +8.2%
Year to date -12.5%-20.2% +12.9%
1 year -9.7%-15.5% +12.3%
3 years +22.7%+26.3% +87.4%
3 years, per year +7.0%+8.1% +23.3%
5 years -8.5%+36.4% +67.9%
5 years, per year -1.8%+6.4% +10.9%
10 years +240.2%+257.9% +261.1%
10 years, per year +13.0%+13.6% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureLADANSPY
Volatility, 1Y 41.3%35.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 39.9%38.7% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.530.53 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.23-0.44 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -47.1%-33.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -32.0%-28.4% -1.2%
52-week high $427.48$230.09 $779.14
52-week low $243.00$153.07 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleLADAN
P/E now vs peer median 9.1xmedian 16.7x 7.1xmedian 16.7x
P/S now vs peer median 0.2xmedian 0.5x 0.2xmedian 0.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 9.0x 6.2xmedian 9.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median -12.6xmedian 16.5x 450.8xmedian 16.5x
P/B now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 1.7x 2.4xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.72 -1.51median 0.72

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsLADAN
Revenue $38.21B $27.45B
Gross profit $5.79B $4.90B
Operating income $1.55B $1.32B
Net income $794.40M $774.70M
Free cash flow – $12.10M
EPS (diluted) – $22.92
Cash & equivalents $374.00M $53.30M
Total debt – $4.44B
Shares (diluted) 22.50M 33.80M
Enterprise value $6.39B $5.18B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricLADAN
P/E 9.1x 7.1x
P/FCF -12.6x 450.8x
P/Operating cash flow -78.7x 18.6x
P/S 0.2x 0.2x
P/B 1.0x 2.4x
P/Tangible book 1.0x 5.4x
EV/EBITDA – 6.2x
EV/EBIT – 7.5x
EV/Revenue 0.2x 0.4x
EV/FCF – 813.0x
EV/Operating cash flow -78.7x 33.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – -1.51

Growth

14 metrics
MetricLADAN
Revenue growth (1Y) 1.6% -0.1%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 8.0% 1.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 0.9% -0.5%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 3.8% -2.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) -7.2% 6.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -3.5% -10.3%
Net income growth (1Y) -11.9% 22.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -8.7% -13.6%
EPS growth (1Y) – 38.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – -4.7%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -127.5% 294.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 33.0% -38.8%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 102.7%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -76.3%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricLADAN
Gross margin – 17.8%
EBITDA margin – 5.8%
Operating margin – 4.8%
Pretax margin – 3.8%
Net margin – 2.8%
FCF margin – 0.0%
Operating cash flow margin -0.2% 1.1%
Return on equity 12.2% 34.5%
Return on assets 3.0% 5.1%
Return on invested capital – 14.6%
Return on capital employed – 14.9%
Asset turnover 1.4x 1.8x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -0.1x 0.4x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.2%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricLADAN
Debt / assets – 28.6%
Debt / equity – 2.0x
Net debt / EBITDA – 2.8x
Debt / FCF – 366.6x
Liabilities / assets 75.3% 85.4%
Equity / assets 24.7% 14.6%
Interest coverage – 13.7x
Current ratio 1.0x 0.8x
Quick ratio – 0.1x
Cash ratio – 0.0x
Altman Z-score – 2.77

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricLADAN
Dividend yield 0.8% –
Net buyback yield – 18.5%
Shareholder yield 0.8% 18.5%
Payout ratio (earnings) – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusLADAN
Forward P/E 8.5xFY2026 8.3xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $34.04FY2026 $19.82FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +1.7%FY2026 -2.0%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +15.7% +15.6%
Revenue, next fiscal year $37.52BFY2026 $28.30BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -0.3%FY2026 +2.4%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.1% -6.5%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersLADAN
Held by institutions 100.0% 72.2%
Institutions holding 445 509
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.2% +0.5%
Institutions buying 223 222
Institutions selling 160 196
Buyers to sellers 1.39 1.13

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

LADAN
LAD 1.00 0.76
AN 0.76 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, LAD and AN?

Lithia Motors (LAD) is the largest by market capitalisation: Lithia Motors (LAD) $6.39B, Autonation (AN) $5.46B.

Which stock is cheaper, LAD and AN?

Autonation (AN) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Lithia Motors (LAD) 9.1x, Autonation (AN) 7.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Autonation (AN) is cheapest (Lithia Motors (LAD) 8.5x, Autonation (AN) 8.3x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Lithia Motors (LAD) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Lithia Motors (LAD) +1.6%, Autonation (AN) -0.1%.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Lithia Motors (LAD) returned the most: Lithia Motors (LAD) -9.7%, Autonation (AN) -15.5%. Over five years, Autonation (AN) compounded fastest (Lithia Motors (LAD) -1.8%/yr, Autonation (AN) +6.4%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Lithia Motors (LAD) 0.82%, Autonation (AN) 0.00%. Autonation (AN) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Autonation (AN) has been the steadiest (Lithia Motors (LAD) 41.3%, Autonation (AN) 35.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do LAD and AN move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.76, a strong positive relationship. Holding both adds little diversification.

Which is the better stock, LAD and AN?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Autonation (AN) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.