NYSE · Consumer Cyclical · Auto - Dealerships · US
Research · Sep 3, 2026
Carvana FY25 (Dec 31, 2025) at $20.32B revenue (+49%). NI $1.41B; EPS $8.45 (+431%). Retail units sold 596,641 (+43%). Adj EBITDA margin 11% full year, 9.1% Q4. Total debt cut from $6.05B to $633M (-90%). FY26 mgmt: significant growth in both retail units and adj EBITDA, sequential Q1 growth. Long-term targets 3M units / 13.5% adj EBITDA.
Research · Mar 12, 2026
Keith Barr's first CarMax earnings call in April 2026 is a proxy fight inflection point. With Starboard Value nominating two board directors and Q3 FY2026 EPS down 47% year-over-year to $0.43, Barr must deliver specific margin recovery targets, a credible digital strategy to close the 10x market cap gap with Carvana, and a disciplined capital allocation framework — or risk handing Starboard the shareholder mandate for board-level change.
Research · Mar 12, 2026
Starboard Value has nominated two directors to CarMax's board, targeting the company's 2.5% EBIT margin that trails peers AutoNation (4.5%) and Lithia (4.1%) by 160-200 basis points. The activist's cost-cutting playbook faces a core tension: CarMax's $150M SG&A savings initiative may not close the margin gap, but deeper cuts risk undermining the omnichannel platform that differentiates the company from both franchise dealers and Carvana.
Research · Mar 12, 2026
Starboard Value's proxy fight at CarMax targets a company with 2.5% EBIT margins and -41% one-year stock returns, significantly trailing peers Carvana (9.3% EBIT margin), Lithia Motors (4.1%), and Group 1 Automotive (4.2%). While Carvana's turnaround from near-bankruptcy shows dramatic margin improvement is possible in auto retail, CarMax's $19.4B debt load and declining quarterly earnings present a more complex challenge for activist-driven transformation.
Research · Mar 11, 2026
CarMax's $150M+ SG&A savings target by FY2027 exit rate faces a credibility challenge: SG&A rose $149M year-over-year in FY2025 to $2.44B, even as revenue held flat at $28.2B. Sequential improvement in FY2026 quarterly SG&A is encouraging, but achieving the target without cutting technology investment—the foundation of CarMax's omnichannel differentiation against Carvana—requires operational efficiency gains that the company has yet to demonstrate at scale.
Research · Mar 11, 2026
CarMax's Q4 FY2026 earnings call in April will mark new CEO Keith Barr's first public strategic roadmap, arriving after three years of severe GPU compression that cut diluted EPS from $6.97 to $3.21 and sent the stock down 42% over the past year. The key questions are whether Barr validates the $150M SG&A savings target, commits to a GPU reset floor, and frames a multi-year earnings recovery algorithm that can close the widening gap with Carvana.
Research · Mar 11, 2026
CarMax faces a widening competitive gap with Carvana, with a 9-percentage-point gross margin deficit (11.3% vs. 20.2%), flat revenue growth versus Carvana's 49% surge, and a market cap gap of $60 billion. Incoming CEO Keith Barr's Q4 FY2026 strategic roadmap must prioritize end-to-end digital transactions, AI-driven inventory pricing, and CarMax Auto Finance digital modernization to deliver a credible margin expansion thesis and close the valuation discount.
Research · Mar 11, 2026
Starboard Value's proxy campaign at CarMax targets board seats that could catalyze a formal strategic review, most plausibly a separation of CarMax Auto Finance from retail operations rather than a full company sale. While board composition change is a necessary precondition for strategic action, minority representation alone does not guarantee a transaction given CarMax's $19.4B debt load and the structural complexity of its captive lending business. The most credible value-unlock path is a CAF spinoff that lets each segment trade at appropriate multiples.
