No. of Recommendations: 6
I admit to being not entirely clear on Mr Market's reasoning. (worst performer in the S&P today)
Carmax is primarily a "flow" business. They buy used cars, market them up a relatively constant amount, and sell them. Duds are sold at auction to other dealers, so there is a slight reputation for dependable cars. Profits are primarily a factor of turnover, not price levels---the price of cars is not that big a factor in their business success.
So, with that in mind, presumably the price of car *parts* is an even smaller issue for them. I'm sure they do some repairs before flipping a vehicle, but they are not in any significant way in the business of repairing cars at a fixed cost.
Is a car parts price hit that really that big a factor?
Other changes:
The average new car price is certain to jump upwards with this hour's estimated tariffs. Presumably that is good for the value of their current inventory, and also good for the relative attractiveness of used cars versus new. It may be a headwind to volumes going forward as affordability slides for both new and used as disposable incomes fall, but for many in the US a car is not really optional. In a very top level view, chaos causes ownership churn which is good for volume.
Seems a bit of an over-reaction, unless I'm really missing something.
Jim
