CluenexCarMax KMX
CarMax scores weak on business quality (2.2 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.
Why it matters
- What CarMax does
CarMax sells used vehicles through its national store footprint and online platform, generating revenue from vehicle sales and consumer financing. The firm is navigating a multi-year revenue contraction while working to stabilize retail volumes.
- What it does best
CarMax operates the largest used vehicle retailer network in the US, but its revenue growth ranks in just the 11th percentile of its sector. Peer Carvana grew revenue 48.6%, leaving CarMax struggling to match online momentum.
- The main risk
Heavy debt loads threaten financial stability with total debt of $18.0B against a cash pile of just $123M. High leverage severely limits flexibility if used car pricing trends deteriorate further.
Quality, check by check
Scored against its own industry, from company filings.
Operating margins hover at 0.0% with net margins at 1.1%, reflecting severe compression from thin gross margins of 10.3%. This business struggles to generate meaningful profit as it scales.
Scale and physical footprint form its primary moat, locking in retail car buyers through nationwide inventory access. Yet gross margins sit in the sector's 6th percentile at 10.3%, showing limited pricing power.
Revenue fell 1.8% to $27.6B, continuing a multi-year downward trend from $31.9B in 2022 as top-line contraction worsens.
Debt-to-equity sits high at 3.1x alongside net debt of $17.9B, while free cash flow reached $1.1B: getting softer on balance-sheet risk.
Insiders
Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.
No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.
Our sealed record on KMX
Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.
The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.
Questions
CarMax scores weak on the Cluenex quality check (2.2 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is weak, moat weak, growth slow and financial health weak.
In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: No open market buys or unplanned sales by executives or directors.
Dec 16, 2026.
See KMX today
- Today's verdict on KMX, and why
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- Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
Cite this page: Cluenex, “CarMax (KMX)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/kmx/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.