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Sonic Automotive (Sonic Automotive) Piotroski F-Score : 5 (As of Apr. 28, 2024)


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What is Sonic Automotive Piotroski F-Score?

The zones of discrimination were as such:

Good or high score = 7, 8, 9
Bad or low score = 0, 1, 2, 3

Sonic Automotive has an F-score of 5 indicating the company's financial situation is typical for a stable company.

The historical rank and industry rank for Sonic Automotive's Piotroski F-Score or its related term are showing as below:

SAH' s Piotroski F-Score Range Over the Past 10 Years
Min: 2   Med: 6   Max: 8
Current: 5

During the past 13 years, the highest Piotroski F-Score of Sonic Automotive was 8. The lowest was 2. And the median was 6.


Sonic Automotive Piotroski F-Score Historical Data

The historical data trend for Sonic Automotive's Piotroski F-Score can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

* Premium members only.

Sonic Automotive Piotroski F-Score Chart

Sonic Automotive Annual Data
Trend Dec14 Dec15 Dec16 Dec17 Dec18 Dec19 Dec20 Dec21 Dec22 Dec23
Piotroski F-Score
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 7.00 5.00 6.00 7.00 5.00

Sonic Automotive Quarterly Data
Jun19 Sep19 Dec19 Mar20 Jun20 Sep20 Dec20 Mar21 Jun21 Sep21 Dec21 Mar22 Jun22 Sep22 Dec22 Mar23 Jun23 Sep23 Dec23 Mar24
Piotroski F-Score Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only 7.00 5.00 2.00 5.00 5.00

Competitive Comparison of Sonic Automotive's Piotroski F-Score

For the Auto & Truck Dealerships subindustry, Sonic Automotive's Piotroski F-Score, along with its competitors' market caps and Piotroski F-Score data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.


Sonic Automotive's Piotroski F-Score Distribution in the Vehicles & Parts Industry

For the Vehicles & Parts industry and Consumer Cyclical sector, Sonic Automotive's Piotroski F-Score distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where Sonic Automotive's Piotroski F-Score falls into.


How is the Piotroski F-Score calculated?

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

This Year (Mar24) TTM:Last Year (Mar23) TTM:
Net Income was 23.4 + 68.4 + 38.7 + 42 = $173 Mil.
Cash Flow from Operations was 15.1 + 123.1 + -119.9 + 70.1 = $88 Mil.
Revenue was 3652.9 + 3643.5 + 3584.8 + 3384 = $14,265 Mil.
Gross Profit was 568.9 + 582.2 + 541.1 + 536.2 = $2,228 Mil.
Average Total Assets from the begining of this year (Mar23)
to the end of this year (Mar24) was
(5148 + 5081.6 + 5050.3 + 5364.6 + 5407.6) / 5 = $5210.42 Mil.
Total Assets at the begining of this year (Mar23) was $5,148 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was $2,115 Mil.
Total Current Assets was $2,511 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was $2,300 Mil.
Net Income was 94.8 + 87.3 + -190.9 + 47.7 = $39 Mil.

Revenue was 3506.2 + 3448.1 + 3590.6 + 3491.2 = $14,036 Mil.
Gross Profit was 588.8 + 580.7 + 576.1 + 553.5 = $2,299 Mil.
Average Total Assets from the begining of last year (Mar22)
to the end of last year (Mar23) was
(5006.2 + 5023.5 + 4828.3 + 4978.3 + 5148) / 5 = $4996.86 Mil.
Total Assets at the begining of last year (Mar22) was $5,006 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was $2,122 Mil.
Total Current Assets was $2,302 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was $2,057 Mil.

*Note: If the latest quarterly/semi-annual/annual total assets data is 0, then we will use previous quarterly/semi-annual/annual data for all the items in the balance sheet.

Profitability

Question 1. Return on Assets (ROA)

Net income before extraordinary items for the year divided by Total Assets at the beginning of the year.

Score 1 if positive, 0 if negative.

Sonic Automotive's current Net Income (TTM) was 173. ==> Positive ==> Score 1.

Question 2. Cash Flow Return on Assets (CFROA)

Net cash flow from operating activities (operating cash flow) divided by Total Assets at the beginning of the year.

Score 1 if positive, 0 if negative.

Sonic Automotive's current Cash Flow from Operations (TTM) was 88. ==> Positive ==> Score 1.

Question 3. Change in Return on Assets

Compare this year's return on assets (1) to last year's return on assets.

Score 1 if it's higher, 0 if it's lower.

ROA (This Year)=Net Income/Total Assets (Mar23)
=172.5/5148
=0.03350816

ROA (Last Year)=Net Income/Total Assets (Mar22)
=38.9/5006.2
=0.00777036

Sonic Automotive's return on assets of this year was 0.03350816. Sonic Automotive's return on assets of last year was 0.00777036. ==> This year is higher. ==> Score 1.

Question 4. Quality of Earnings (Accrual)

Compare Cash flow return on assets (2) to return on assets (1)

Score 1 if CFROA > ROA, 0 if CFROA <= ROA.

Sonic Automotive's current Net Income (TTM) was 173. Sonic Automotive's current Cash Flow from Operations (TTM) was 88. ==> 88 <= 173 ==> CFROA <= ROA ==> Score 0.

Funding

Question 5. Change in Gearing or Leverage

Compare this year's gearing (long-term debt divided by average total assets) to last year's gearing.

Score 0 if this year's gearing is higher, 1 otherwise.

Gearing (This Year: Mar24)=Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation/Average Total Assets from Mar23 to Mar24
=2114.6/5210.42
=0.4058406

Gearing (Last Year: Mar23)=Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation/Average Total Assets from Mar22 to Mar23
=2121.6/4996.86
=0.42458664

Sonic Automotive's gearing of this year was 0.4058406. Sonic Automotive's gearing of last year was 0.42458664. ==> This year is lower or equal to last year. ==> Score 1.

Question 6. Change in Working Capital (Liquidity)

Compare this year's current ratio (current assets divided by current liabilities) to last year's current ratio.

Score 1 if this year's current ratio is higher, 0 if it's lower

Current Ratio (This Year: Mar24)=Total Current Assets/Total Current Liabilities
=2511/2299.7
=1.09188155

Current Ratio (Last Year: Mar23)=Total Current Assets/Total Current Liabilities
=2301.8/2057
=1.11900826

Sonic Automotive's current ratio of this year was 1.09188155. Sonic Automotive's current ratio of last year was 1.11900826. ==> Last year's current ratio is higher ==> Score 0.

Question 7. Change in Shares in Issue

Compare the number of shares in issue this year, to the number in issue last year.

Score 0 if there is larger number of shares in issue this year, 1 otherwise.

Sonic Automotive's number of shares in issue this year was 34.9. Sonic Automotive's number of shares in issue last year was 36.9. ==> There is smaller number of shares in issue this year, or the same. ==> Score 1.

Efficiency

Question 8. Change in Gross Margin

Compare this year's gross margin (Gross Profit divided by sales) to last year's.

Score 1 if this year's gross margin is higher, 0 if it's lower.

Gross Margin (This Year: TTM)=Gross Profit/Revenue
=2228.4/14265.2
=0.15621232

Gross Margin (Last Year: TTM)=Gross Profit/Revenue
=2299.1/14036.1
=0.16379906

Sonic Automotive's gross margin of this year was 0.15621232. Sonic Automotive's gross margin of last year was 0.16379906. ==> Last year's gross margin is higher ==> Score 0.

Question 9. Change in asset turnover

Compare this year's asset turnover (total sales for the year divided by total assets at the beginning of the year) to last year's asset turnover ratio.

Score 1 if this year's asset turnover ratio is higher, 0 if it's lower

Asset Turnover (This Year)=Revenue/Total Assets at the Beginning of This Year (Mar23)
=14265.2/5148
=2.77101787

Asset Turnover (Last Year)=Revenue/Total Assets at the Beginning of Last Year (Mar22)
=14036.1/5006.2
=2.80374336

Sonic Automotive's asset turnover of this year was 2.77101787. Sonic Automotive's asset turnover of last year was 2.80374336. ==> Last year's asset turnover is higher ==> Score 0.

Evaluation

Piotroski F-Score= Que. 1+ Que. 2+ Que. 3+Que. 4+Que. 5+Que. 6+Que. 7+Que. 8+Que. 9
=1+1+1+0+1+0+1+0+0
=5

Good or high score = 7, 8, 9
Bad or low score = 0, 1, 2, 3

Sonic Automotive has an F-score of 5 indicating the company's financial situation is typical for a stable company.

Sonic Automotive  (NYSE:SAH) Piotroski F-Score Explanation

The developer of the system is Joseph D. Piotroski is relatively unknown accounting professor who shuns publicity and rarely gives interviews.

He graduated from the University of Illinois with a B.S. in accounting in 1989, received an M.B.A. from Indiana University in 1994. Five years later, in 1999, after earning a Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Michigan, he became an associate professor of accounting at the University of Chicago.

In 2000, he wrote a research paper called "Value Investing: The Use of Historical Financial Statement Information to Separate Winners from Losers" (pdf).

He wanted to see if he can develop a system (using a simple nine-point scoring system) that can increase the returns of a strategy of investing in low price to book (referred to in the paper as high book to market) value companies.

What he found was something that exceeded his most optimistic expectations.

Buying only those companies that scored highest (8 or 9) on his nine-point scale, or F-Score as he called it, over the 20 year period from 1976 to 1996 led to an average out-performance over the market of 13.4%.

Even more impressive were the results of a strategy of investing in the highest F-Score companies (8 or 9) and shorting companies with the lowest F-Score (0 or 1).

Over the same period from 1976 to 1996 (20 years) this strategy led to an average yearly return of 23%, substantially outperforming the average S&P 500 index return of 15.83% over the same period.


Sonic Automotive Piotroski F-Score Related Terms

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Sonic Automotive (Sonic Automotive) Business Description

Traded in Other Exchanges
Address
4401 Colwick Road, Charlotte, NC, USA, 28211
Sonic Automotive is one of the largest auto dealership groups in the United States. The company has 108 franchised stores in 18 states, primarily in metropolitan areas in California, Texas, and the Southeast, plus 18 EchoPark and 7 Northwest Motorsports used-vehicle stores, and 16 collision centers. The company derives revenue from new and used vehicles plus parts and collision repair, finance, insurance, and wholesale auctions. Luxury and import dealerships make up about 83% of franchise new-vehicle revenue, while Honda, BMW, Mercedes, and Toyota constitute about 56% of new-vehicle revenue. BMW is the largest brand at about 26%. 2022's revenue was $14 billion, with EchoPark's portion totaling $2.5 billion. Sonic bought RFJ Auto in December 2021, which added $3.2 billion in sales.
Executives
Heath Byrd officer: EVP and CFO 4401 COLWICK ROAD, CHARLOTTE NC 28211
Jeff Dyke officer: EVP of Operations C/O SONIC AUTOMOTIVE, INC., 6415 IDLEWILD ROAD, SUITE 109, CHARLOTTE NC 28212
David Bruton Smith director, officer: Executive Vice President C/O SONIC AUTOMOTIVE, INC., 6415 IDLEWILD ROAD, SUITE 109, CHARLOTTE NC 28212
Paul P. Rusnak 10 percent owner 325 W. COLORADO BLVD.,, PO BOX 70489, PASADENA CA 91117-7489
Michael Edward Hodge director 4401 COLWICK ROAD, CHARLOTTE NC 28211
Keri A Kaiser director 14902 PRESTON ROAD, SUITE 404, #384, DALLAS TX 75254
Victor H Doolan director 35 VIA MONARCA, DANA POINT CA 92629
Marcus G Smith 10 percent owner 5555 CONCORD PARKWAY SOUTH, CONCORD NC 28027
Sonic Financial Corp 10 percent owner 5401 E INDEPENDENCE BLVD, CHARLOTTE NC 28212
O Bruton Smith director, 10 percent owner, officer: Chairman and CEO 5401 E INDEPENDENCE BLVD, CHARLOTTE NC 28212
R Eugene Taylor director BANK OF AMERICA CORP, 100 NORTH TRYON ST NC1-007-57-01, CHARLOTTE NC 28255
Bryan Scott Smith director, officer: Vice Chairman and CSO 5401 E INDEPENDENCE BLVD, CHARLOTTE NC 28212
Harris John W. Iii director 4725 PIEDMONT ROW DRIVE, SUITE 800, CHARLOTTE NC 28210
Byrd Bernard Clinton Jr director 4401 COLWICK ROAD, CHARLOTTE NC 28211
William I Belk director 6100 FAIRVIEW RD #640, CHARLOTTE NC 28210