William Blair Has Optimistic Outlook of CarMax Q1 Earnings

CarMax, Inc. (NYSE:KMX) – Stock analysts at William Blair raised their Q1 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for CarMax in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, May 20th. William Blair analyst S. Zackfia now expects that the company will post earnings per share of $1.27 for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $1.17. The consensus estimate for CarMax’s current full-year earnings is $3.23 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for CarMax’s Q2 2026 earnings at $1.11 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.75 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $0.65 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $4.48 EPS.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of CarMax from $101.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of CarMax from $107.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Stephens raised CarMax from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $86.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Cfra Research upgraded CarMax to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of CarMax in a report on Monday, May 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CarMax currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $87.73.

CarMax Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMX opened at $62.32 on Friday. CarMax has a twelve month low of $61.34 and a twelve month high of $91.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.30, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.92. The company has a market cap of $9.51 billion, a PE ratio of 21.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s 50 day moving average is $69.43 and its 200 day moving average is $77.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mitchell D. Steenrod acquired 1,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $65.49 per share, for a total transaction of $85,137.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 33,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,198,957.73. This represents a 4.03% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMX. Norges Bank purchased a new position in CarMax in the 4th quarter worth approximately $423,187,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in shares of CarMax by 348.0% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 6,595,067 shares of the company’s stock valued at $539,213,000 after purchasing an additional 5,122,850 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CarMax by 626.1% in the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 903,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,364,000 after purchasing an additional 778,652 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of CarMax by 82.9% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,400,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,465,000 after purchasing an additional 634,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in CarMax by 8,675.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 515,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,193,000 after buying an additional 509,952 shares in the last quarter.

CarMax Company Profile

CarMax, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates as a retailer of used vehicles and related products in the United States. It operates in two segments: CarMax Sales Operations and CarMax Auto Finance. The CarMax Sales Operations segment offers customers a range of makes and models of used vehicles, including domestic, imported, and luxury vehicles, as well as hybrid and electric vehicles; used vehicle auctions; extended protection plans to customers at the time of sale; and reconditioning and vehicle repair services.