Sonic Automotive

SAH

Auto - Dealerships · Consumer Cyclical

Winston Score

Winston is serious

Mixed quality — meaningful strengths and weaknesses.

Data as of Aug 23, 2026 · filings through Jun 30, 2026

How the score breaks down

Quality

Weak

Growth

Good

Cash Flow

Mixed

Stability

Weak

Valuation

Good

Dividends

Good

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Winston Score History

The full picture

Sonic Automotive is one of the largest car dealership groups in the United States. It sells new and used cars, trucks, and SUVs from brands like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, and Ford at roughly 100 dealership locations across the country. The company also owns EchoPark, a separate chain of used-car stores aimed at budget-conscious buyers.

Sonic makes money by selling vehicles, arranging financing and insurance for customers, and servicing cars in its repair shops. Those finance, insurance, and service departments tend to carry higher margins than vehicle sales alone, which helps offset the thin profits on new car deals. The company operates mainly in the Sun Belt and Southeast regions of the U.S. Its biggest growth bet is expanding EchoPark into a national used-car brand, though that effort has faced losses and execution challenges that remain a key risk to watch.

Growth Profile

For growth stock investors

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+7.6% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Slow revenue growth

EPS Growth

+235.8% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

EPS growth accelerating

Insider Activity

41.4%ownership

→ Flat

Insider ownership roughly steady over the past year

Cash Runway

~0 months

$19M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↓ Burn rate worsening

Short runway — potential dilution ahead through share issuance

Cash watch

Sonic Automotive has less than a year of cash at its current burn rate. Growth investors should watch for potential share dilution from future fundraising — that directly reduces your ownership.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

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Quality

Profit per sale

Gross Margin

15.7%

Thin — 15.7% gross margin

Profit after running costs

Operating Margin

3.3%

Thin — 3.3% operating margin

Return on the money invested

ROCE

10.0%

Below par — 10.0% return on capital

ROIC between 5% and 15%. They earn 5 to 15 cents back per year on every dollar invested.

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Growth

Sales growth

Sales YoY

+5.3%

Slow sales growth (+5.3% YoY)

Profit growth

EPS YoY

+37.2%

Earnings growing fast (+37.2% YoY)

Earnings growing 25%+ a year. The compounder zone.

How steady the profit is

EPS Consistency

4/8 quarters

Earnings inconsistent quarter-to-quarter

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Cash Flow

Profit that turns into cash

Cash Conversion

80%

Modest — 80% of profit becomes cash

Spare cash per sale

FCF Margin

-0.4%

Burning cash (-0.4%)

Free cash flow is negative. They are burning cash, not generating it.

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Stability

What it owes vs what it owns

Debt / Equity

3.96

Heavy debt load (3.96)

Covers its interest

Interest Cover

2.57x

Tight — interest eats into profit (2.6x)

Interest coverage between 1 and 3. Profits cover interest, but with little room to spare.

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Valuation

Price vs profit

P/E Ratio (TTM)

12.1x

no trend

Attractive valuation — P/E 12.1

P/E in the normal range. Price is roughly $15 for every $1 of yearly profit.

Cheaper or dearer next year

P/E vs Forward

+0.6

GROWING

Earnings roughly flat

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Dividends

Dividend

Dividend Yield

1.92%

no trend

Small dividend — 1.92% yield

Modest yield. The bulk of any return needs to come from price appreciation.

Dividend record

Dividend Growth

+10.5%

no trend

Dividend growing fast (10.5% YoY)

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