Start here if you're new
what it is
Sonic sells new and used vehicles through 141 dealerships, plus a separate used-car chain and a small Texas powersports business.
how it gets paid
Last year Sonic Automotive made $15.2B in revenue. Franchised Dealerships was the main engine at $12.75B, or 84% of sales.
why it's growing
Revenue grew 6.5% last year. Key assumptions include acquisition-aided revenues of $15.15 billion and modest expansion in the net profit margin.
what just happened
Q4 adjusted EPS came in at $1.52, missing the $1.57 consensus by 3.18%.
At a glance
B+ balance sheet — decent shape, but not bulletproof
55/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
9.5x trailing p/e — the market's not buying it — or you found a deal
2.4% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
9.0% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 57/100 — below average
What they do
Sonic sells new and used vehicles through 141 dealerships, plus a separate used-car chain and a small Texas powersports business.
This is a scale business. Sonic has 141 locations across 21 states, so it can move inventory and spread fixed costs better than a single-store dealer. Franchised dealerships made 83.9% of 2024 revenue, which means the core store base still does the heavy lifting when used-car demand gets weird.
How they make money
$15.2B
annual revenue · their business grew +6.5% last year
Franchised Dealerships
$12.75B
+6.5%
EchoPark
$2.28B
+6.5%
Powersports
$0.17B
+6.5%
Corporate and Other
$0.00B
0.0%
The products that matter
new and used vehicle retailing
Vehicle Sales
$15.2B revenue
it is the whole story in the data shown here. sonic produced $15.2B of revenue, but only a 1.6% net margin, so small changes in pricing and inventory mix carry a lot of weight.
core business
used-vehicle retail platform
echoPark
segment detail not broken out here
echoPark matters to the story, but this snapshot does not give you segment revenue or profit. that is its own clue: right now, the stock lives or dies on consolidated margin, not a tidy segment breakout.
data thin
Key numbers
$1.8B
long-term debt
Long-term debt is $1.8 billion, or 45% of capital. Plain English: nearly half the balance sheet is funded with debt. So what: a weak car cycle would hurt faster than the stock's low P/E suggests.
9.5x
trailing p/e
Jargon: P/E → price versus last year's earnings → so what: you are paying a low multiple for a cyclical business with average risk rank of 3.
1.7%
net margin
Sonic keeps just 1.7 cents of profit from each $1 of sales. That is the whole story in one number.
9.0%
return on capital
Jargon: return on capital → profit from money invested in the business → so what: 9% is decent, not elite, especially next to 45% debt to capital.
Financial health
B+
strength
- balance sheet grade B+ — solid but not elite
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 40 / 100
- long-term debt $1.8B (45% of capital)
- net profit margin 1.7% — keeps 2 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 16% — $0.16 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B+ — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in SAH 3 years ago → it's now worth $14,180.
The index would have given you $14,770.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
missed estimates
Q4 adjusted EPS came in at $1.52, missing the $1.57 consensus by 3.18%.
Revenue for the quarter was $3.87 billion, down 0.7% vs. prior year, while gross margin was 15.8%. The quieter issue was per-vehicle gross profit falling to $3,001 from $3,391 in the June interim.
$3.87B
revenue
$1.52
eps
15.8%
gross margin
the number that mattered
Gross profit per vehicle fell 12% to $3,001. Plain English: Sonic made less money on each car. So what: with a 1.7% net margin, that drop matters fast.
-
we have lowered our 2025 shareearnings estimate for sonic automotive by $0.45.
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at $6.65, our new call represents an increase of 19% over the adjusted $5.60 a share that the north carolina-based auto dealer tallied in 2024.
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key assumptions include acquisition-aided revenues of $15.15 billion (up 6.5%, vs. prior year) and modest expansion in the net profit margin. (note: the company should release its results for the year in late february.) our slightly less-positive stance reflects, in part, greater-than-initiallyanticipated margin pressure within the new car business during the third quarter.
-
to wit, gross profit per vehicle sold came in at $3,001, down 12% sequentially from $3,391 in the june interim.
-
the decline coincided with surging demand for battery-electric vehicles (bevs), as buyers sought to lock in a sizable bev tax credit before its september 30th expiration and as auto makers, in general, sought to clear bev inventories.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is gross profit per vehicle staying under pressure in sonic's dealership business.
high
per-vehicle gross profit keeps sliding
gross profit per vehicle fell to $3,001 from $3,391 in the prior quarter. that is a 12% sequential drop in one of the few numbers that directly tells you whether a dealer is winning on price and mix.
if that number does not recover, the low multiple stops looking cheap and starts looking accurate.
med
thin margins meet real leverage
Sonic carries $1.8B of long-term debt, equal to 45% of capital. Against a 1.6% net margin, that leaves less room to absorb weaker demand or aggressive discounting.
scale helps, but it does not change the math: a small hit to profit matters more when you only keep about 2 cents on each revenue dollar.
med
the whole business rides the auto cycle
this page shows a single consolidated revenue stream of $15.2B tied to vehicle retailing. if financing gets tighter or consumer demand slows, there is no separate high-margin engine here to offset it.
that exposes essentially the full $15.2B revenue base to the same cycle at the same time.
$15.2B of revenue sounds comforting. a 1.6% net margin and $1.8B of long-term debt do not. this is a scale business with very little slack.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
metric
gross profit per vehicle
$3,001 is the number to watch. If it stays closer to $3,001 than $3,391, the earnings recovery story gets thinner fast.
trend
eps catch-up to the $7.10 estimate
full-year 2025 EPS was $6.65. the next leg of the bull case is simple: can management bridge the gap to the $7.10 fiscal 2026 estimate without better unit economics.
risk
margin staying stuck near 1.6%
a 1.6% net margin on $15.2B of revenue leaves little room for mistakes. if discounting sticks, the low multiple does not save you.
calendar
the next results release
management needs to show whether the $4.0B quarter reflected durable demand or a temporary mix shift helped by incentive timing.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
average
momentum score 3 — in human-speak, analysts do not see a strong short-term edge here.
risk profile
average
stability score 3 — this sits near the middle of the pack, which fits a cyclical dealer with some debt and thin margins.
chart momentum
top 20%
technical score 2 — the shares have held up better than most lately, even while the business questions stay unresolved.
earnings predictability
55 / 100
that score says earnings are only moderately predictable. when gross profit per vehicle swings, your forecast does too.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net buying for 2 consecutive quarters — 127 buyers vs. 89 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 15.7M shares. net buying for 2 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$46
$100
$63
current price
$73
target midpoint · +16% from current · 3-5yr high: $90 (+45% · 11% ann'l return)
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