CarMax Inc. (KMX) scored on five pillars from its reported financial statements, and ranked against 179 Consumer Discretionary companies.
CarMax Inc. (KMX) scores 4.3 out of 10 as of , computed from its reported financial statements. That reads as mixed quality. The reading rests on solvency, and growth is what holds it back.
One pillar, efficiency, is unscored because the filings behind it carry too little to judge. It is shown as a dash rather than a zero, and the overall score is the weighted average of what could be scored.
Data provided by Twelve Data. Scores are computed by Lemma Analysis from reported financials.
We cannot judge CarMax Inc. yet, because fewer than five years had both a return on capital and a cost of capital we could measure. This is not a “no”.
Quantitative signs of a moat, read from the filed statements. This is not a judgement of where it comes from (brand, network effects, switching costs). How Lemma measures a moat →
CarMax Inc. (KMX) has a Lemma Quality Score of 4.3 out of 10 as of October 17, 2026, which reads as mixed quality. A mixed reading means the strengths and weaknesses roughly cancel out, and the case for the business depends on which pillars you care about most. Five pillars feed it, and every one of them is computed from what the company reported rather than from its share price.
Ranked with the 179 Consumer Discretionary companies Lemma publishes, the score sits at the 31st percentile, just below the middle of the group. A typical company in the group scores 5.0, and the best quarter starts from 6.1. CarMax Inc. is below that typical reading.
On profitability, CarMax Inc. scores 2.3, a weak reading. Its peers have a median of 5.1 across 176 Consumer Discretionary companies, which places it well below them, at the 18th percentile. Low margins and returns leave little cushion, so a downturn or a cost increase reaches the bottom line quickly.
On solvency, CarMax Inc. scores 9.5, a strong reading. Its peers have a median of 5.9 across 141 Consumer Discretionary companies, which places it well above them, at the 96th percentile. Balance sheet strength like this rarely makes headlines, but it is what lets a company keep investing when credit gets expensive.
CarMax Inc.’s growth score is 0.7 out of 10 (weak). Against a median of 4.0 among 149 Consumer Discretionary companies, that is well below the group and the 8th percentile. When growth is this low the question is whether it is a pause or a trend, and the history behind the filings is the place to look.
There is no efficiency score for CarMax Inc.: too little of the pillar could be measured from the filings to give an honest reading. The overall is therefore the weighted average of the other pillars. Across 170 Consumer Discretionary companies the median for this pillar is 6.2. Without it the overall cannot say how well reported profit turns into cash.
CarMax Inc.’s predictability score is 4.9 out of 10 (average). Against a median of 5.0 among 178 Consumer Discretionary companies, that is in line with the group and the 45th percentile. Middling predictability suggests some volatility in the record, enough to read the other pillars with a little caution.
This is a lopsided profile. Solvency scores 9.5 but growth only 0.7, a gap of 8.8 points, so the overall hides a business that is excellent in one respect and weak in another. A solvency lead means the balance sheet is the company’s strongest asset, a cushion that buys time when trading gets harder. A growth shortfall often comes with size or a maturing market, and is less of a concern if the other pillars are strong.
Closing the gap on profitability would do the most for the overall. At the median of Consumer Discretionary companies, 5.1, CarMax Inc. would score about 5.1 instead of 4.3. Only four of the five pillars could be scored. Together they carry 85 of the 100 weight points (the full set is profitability 25, solvency 20, growth 20, efficiency 15, predictability 20), and the overall is the weighted average of those alone.
These are the Consumer Discretionary companies closest to CarMax Inc. in market value. Each has its own page scored on the same five pillars, so the comparison is like for like.
How much profit the company generates from its capital and sales.
The company’s ability to service debt and meet its obligations.
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are compounding.
How well assets and earnings convert into cash and output.
How stable and consistent results have been over time.
Each metric is scored from 0 to 10 against sector-aware benchmarks, where higher is better. Metrics roll up into five pillars, and the pillars combine into the overall score using the weights shown. Sector-sensitive metrics are judged relative to peers in the same sector.
This score is a systematic, backward-looking read of reported fundamentals. It does not judge valuation, management quality, competitive moat, or future prospects, and can be distorted by one-off items or unusual accounting. Treat it as a starting point, not a recommendation.
Educational only. Not investment advice.
On this reading CarMax Inc. scores 4.3 out of 10, which reads as mixed quality. Its strongest pillar is solvency, its weakest is growth. Quality is not the same as a good investment: the score says nothing about the price you would pay.
CarMax Inc. ranks at the 31st percentile of the 179 Consumer Discretionary companies Lemma publishes a score for. The median there is 5.0 and the top quarter starts at 6.1, against CarMax Inc.’s 4.3.
Five pillars, each scored from 0 to 10 against sector-aware benchmarks and then weighted into one overall reading: profitability, solvency, growth, efficiency and predictability. Everything comes from reported financials, and nothing comes from price, sentiment or forecasts.
This page last changed on October 17, 2026. The score moves with the financial statements, so the page changes when a new filing moves the reading rather than on a schedule. Live figures for KMX are in the app.
No. Quality and valuation are separate questions, and a good business at the wrong price is still a bad purchase. Score the business here, then price it with a DCF you control.
Inside Lemma Analysis the same five pillars run on every company we cover, with the metrics behind each one, current fundamentals, a DCF you control and a watchlist that tells you when the price catches up.
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