LAD vs KMX Stock Comparison

Lithia Motors and Carmax Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
LAD Lithia Motors Inc
$290.64 -8.1% 1M -9.7% 1Y
Market cap
$6.46B
P/E
9.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$38.21B
Div. yield
–
Auto Dealerships Consumer Discretionary
4 wins
KMX Carmax Inc
$53.91 -5.7% 1M +19.6% 1Y
Market cap
$7.64B
P/E
26.1x
Revenue (TTM)
$27.63B
Div. yield
–
Auto Dealerships Consumer Discretionary
4 wins

Head to Head

8 decided of 12

Carmax leads on 4 of the 12 questions below (Carmax 4, Lithia Motors 4). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionLADKMXLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $6.46B $7.64B KMX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 9.1x 26.1x LAD
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 8.5x 17.6x LAD
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +1.6% +4.8% KMX
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 1.1% –
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 1.1% –
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 20.4x –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -9.7% +19.6% KMX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -1.8%/yr -16.9%/yr LAD
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 41.3% 54.7% LAD
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 36/100 48/100 KMX

Percentile Scorecard

LADKMX

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

AxisLADKMX
Valuation 63 #39 of 104 70 #32 of 104
Growth 39 #61 of 99 40 #60 of 99
Profitability 30 #69 of 98 35 #64 of 98
Financial Health 29 #80 of 112 21 #89 of 112
Shareholder Returns 17 #60 of 72 73 #20 of 72
Overall 36 48
  • LAD ranked among 115 companies in Retail
  • KMX ranked among 115 companies in Retail

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodLADKMXSPY
1 month -8.1%-5.7% -0.2%
3 months -18.9%-8.4% +3.9%
6 months +4.8%+39.5% +8.2%
Year to date -12.5%+39.5% +12.9%
1 year -9.7%+19.6% +12.3%
3 years +22.7%-10.9% +87.4%
3 years, per year +7.0%-3.8% +23.3%
5 years -8.5%-60.4% +67.9%
5 years, per year -1.8%-16.9% +10.9%
10 years +240.2%+6.6% +261.1%
10 years, per year +13.0%+0.6% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureLADKMXSPY
Volatility, 1Y 41.3%54.7% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 39.9%65.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.531.24 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.230.36 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -47.1%-80.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -32.0%-16.1% -1.2%
52-week high $427.48$64.22 $779.14
52-week low $243.00$30.88 $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.

MultipleLADKMX
P/E now vs peer median 9.1xmedian 16.7x 26.2xmedian 16.7x
P/S now vs peer median 0.2xmedian 0.5x 0.3xmedian 0.5x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 9.0x 30.4xmedian 9.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median -12.6xmedian 16.5x 6.7xmedian 16.5x
P/B now vs peer median 1.0xmedian 1.7x 1.2xmedian 1.7x
PEG now vs peer median —median 0.72 -2.53median 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 monthsLADKMX
Revenue $38.21B $27.63B
Gross profit $5.79B $2.85B
Operating income $1.55B $392.76M
Net income $794.40M $292.45M
Free cash flow – $1.15B
EPS (diluted) – $2.05
Cash & equivalents $374.00M $170.53M
Total debt – $15.71B
Shares (diluted) 22.50M 142.45M
Enterprise value $6.46B $7.01B

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
MetricLADKMX
P/E 9.1x 26.2x
P/FCF -12.6x 6.7x
P/Operating cash flow -78.7x 4.8x
P/S 0.2x 0.3x
P/B 1.0x 1.2x
P/Tangible book 1.0x 1.2x
EV/EBITDA – 30.4x
EV/EBIT – 59.1x
EV/Revenue 0.2x 0.8x
EV/FCF – 20.2x
EV/Operating cash flow -78.7x 14.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – -2.53

Growth

14 metrics
MetricLADKMX
Revenue growth (1Y) 1.6% 4.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 8.0% 0.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 0.9% -3.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 3.8% 1.8%
Operating income growth (1Y) -7.2% -23.0%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) -3.5% 0.1%
Net income growth (1Y) -11.9% -43.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) -8.7% -13.6%
EPS growth (1Y) – -41.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – -10.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -127.5% 32.4%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 33.0% 29.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 67.3%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – 53.9%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricLADKMX
Gross margin – 10.3%
EBITDA margin – 2.8%
Operating margin – 1.4%
Pretax margin – 1.6%
Net margin – 1.1%
FCF margin – 4.1%
Operating cash flow margin -0.2% 5.8%
Return on equity 12.2% 4.7%
Return on assets 3.0% 1.1%
Return on invested capital – 1.1%
Return on capital employed – 1.6%
Asset turnover 1.4x 1.0x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) -0.1x 5.5x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricLADKMX
Debt / assets – 60.3%
Debt / equity – 2.5x
Net debt / EBITDA – 20.4x
Debt / FCF – 13.7x
Liabilities / assets 75.3% 75.8%
Equity / assets 24.7% 24.2%
Interest coverage – 3.3x
Current ratio 1.0x 2.3x
Quick ratio – 0.2x
Cash ratio – 0.1x
Altman Z-score – 1.71

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricLADKMX
Dividend yield 0.8% –
Net buyback yield – 3.4%
Shareholder yield 0.8% 3.4%
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.

ConsensusLADKMX
Forward P/E 8.5xFY2026 17.6xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $34.04FY2026 $3.06FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +1.7%FY2026 +5.2%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +15.7% +21.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year $37.52BFY2026 $29.97BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY -0.3%FY2026 +15.8%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +8.1% +0.4%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersLADKMX
Held by institutions 100.0% 100.0%
Institutions holding 445 557
Change in shares held, QoQ +0.2% -2.9%
Institutions buying 223 232
Institutions selling 160 251
Buyers to sellers 1.39 0.92

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.

LADKMX
LAD 1.00 0.42
KMX 0.42 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, LAD and KMX?

Carmax (KMX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Lithia Motors (LAD) $6.46B, Carmax (KMX) $7.64B.

Which stock is cheaper, LAD and KMX?

Lithia Motors (LAD) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Lithia Motors (LAD) 9.1x, Carmax (KMX) 26.1x). On next year's consensus earnings, Lithia Motors (LAD) is cheapest (Lithia Motors (LAD) 8.5x, Carmax (KMX) 17.6x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Carmax (KMX) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Lithia Motors (LAD) +1.6%, Carmax (KMX) +4.8%.

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Carmax (KMX) returned the most: Lithia Motors (LAD) -9.7%, Carmax (KMX) +19.6%. Over five years, Lithia Motors (LAD) compounded fastest (Lithia Motors (LAD) -1.8%/yr, Carmax (KMX) -16.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Lithia Motors (LAD) has been the steadiest (Lithia Motors (LAD) 41.3%, Carmax (KMX) 54.7%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do LAD and KMX move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.42, a moderate positive relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, LAD and KMX?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Carmax (KMX) leads on 4. 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.