Copart Inc (CPRT) stock analysis
Copart Inc (CPRT) clears 4 of this site's 8 mechanical value filters, 7 of 8 Buffett-style checks and 3 of 5 Lynch-style checks. At $29.09 it trades 18.1% above this site's neutral DCF value (a margin of safety of -18.1%). Its earnings quality rates Strong and it returns +6.2% to shareholders net of dilution. Figures are as of October 23, 2026, from SEC filings and market data refreshed weekly; this is educational analysis, not investment advice.
Data as of October 23, 2026. Refreshed weekly from SEC filings and market data.
What does Copart do?
Copart runs online auctions for salvage and used vehicles, which insurers, dealers and recyclers use to sell damaged cars.
What stands out about Copart?
- The share price implies 12.2% yearly growth. At $29.09, CPRT's free cash flow of $1.44 per share would have to grow 12.2% a year, fading to 2.5% by year 10, for this site's DCF (10% discount rate) to match the price. This site's baseline starts at 8%, so the price asks for more growth than the baseline. Change the assumptions.
- Misses 2 of the 8 value filters. It fails PEG Ratio < 1.5 (5.46) and EPS Growth YoY > -5% (-13.3%); the other 4 pass and 2 were not evaluated. See every filter.
- Strongest against peers: debt / equity. At 0.00 (peer median 0.87) it ranks 1st of 32 among industrials stocks this site tracks. See the ranking.
- Weakest against peers: return on equity. At 16% (peer median 34%) it ranks 28th of 32 among industrials stocks this site tracks. See the ranking.
- P/E at the bottom of its own range. CPRT trades at 17.2× trailing earnings; at the end of each of its last 5 fiscal years the multiple was between 18.8× and 37.4×.
How has Copart's share price moved?
The interactive price chart needs JavaScript.
Is Copart undervalued? The value diligence check
Every value-investing signal this site computes for this stock, gathered in one place: the same real numbers from the tools below, not a new score.
- Margin of safety (DCF) -18.1%
- P/E vs. its own history 17.2x · at/below its cheapest point Real range: 18.8x–37.4x over 5 years (net income per diluted share from each fiscal year's 10-K, paired with the real closing price at that fiscal year-end).
- Wall St. analyst rating Buy · 3.95/5 19 analysts this month: 6 strong buy, 7 buy, 5 hold, 1 sell, 0 strong sell (Finnhub). Up from 3.81 last month.
- Earnings quality (is the profit real?) Strong · all 5 checks clean Beneish M-score −2.51 · accruals −1.2% of assets · 111% of profit arrived as cash · stock comp 0.8% of revenue · share count −0.9% a year. From the latest 10-K (year to Jul 2026) - see the Earnings Quality Screener for how each check is scored.
- Shareholder yield (cash back to owners) +6.2% net Latest fiscal year (2026): dividends 0.0% + buybacks 6.4% − stock comp 0.2%, as a share of today's market cap. Over 14 years its split-adjusted share count fell 9%. See Shareholder Yield Leaders.
- Capital needed to grow (See's test) $6.55 per $1 of new profit · Capital-hungry · but only 19% return on capital Operating profit $587M → $1.6B, capital needed $1.8B → $8.7B, 2017–2026 (3-year averages); return on capital now 19% before tax. Buffett's See's Candies needed $0.42 per $1 of new profit, FlightSafety $3.20, a typical grower about $5. See Capital-Light Compounders.
- PEG (growth at a reasonable price) 5.46 · Well above fair P/E 17.2× ÷ 3.2% a year of growth behind it. 416th lowest of 447 stocks with a usable PEG. Lynch's fair value is a PEG of 1; a very high PEG usually means almost no growth, a very low one a profit spike. See PEG Ratio Ranking.
- Compounder lenses (4) 2 of 4 · misses capital-light, price Capital-light growth: not cleared (only 19% return on capital); Profit is real: cleared; Cash to owners: cleared; Fair price (PEG): not cleared (PEG 5.46, over 1.5). See Compounders at a Fair Price, which also lets you move the PEG bar.
- Value trap check Clear
- Munger's Inversion Check 0 flags
- Standing vs. sector peers 4 of 6 measures above the median Compared with the 31 other other industrials stocks this site tracks: 4 in the top third, 2 in the bottom third.
How does Copart compare with its peers?
4 of 6 measures sit above the median of the 31 other industrials stocks tracked here, 4 in the top third and 2 in the bottom third.
- P/E ratiolower is cheaper · peer median 25.8× 17.2× ✓8th of 32
- Free-cash-flow yieldhigher is cheaper · peer median 4.1% 5.0% ✓11th of 32
- Return on equityhigher is better · peer median 34% 16% ✕28th of 32
- Net marginhigher is better · peer median 13.7% 31.8% ✓2nd of 32
- Revenue growthhigher is better, year on year · peer median 6.8% 0.4% ✕26th of 32
- Debt / equitylower is safer · peer median 0.87 0.00 ✓1st of 32
Peers are the stocks this site tracks in the same sector group, not every listed competitor. The bar runs from the weakest peer (left) to the strongest (right); the tick is the middle. Measures that don't apply to a sector (cash-flow yield for banks, debt for financials) are left out.
What would Buffett & Lynch say?
Buffett's checklist is built around durable, profitable businesses bought at sensible prices, and CPRT clears it. In its favor: CPRT is currently earning a strong return on shareholders' equity, and has kept that profitability up over five years, not just this year, carries a conservative amount of debt relative to equity, converts sales into profit at healthy margins, has grown earnings per share at a solid clip over five years, earns many times its interest expense, so debt service isn't a worry, and trades at a reasonable multiple of owner earnings, his own term for the real cash a business could pay out. Where it comes up short: CPRT is trading above what a conservative discounted-cash-flow estimate says it's worth right now.
- ROE (TTM) > 11% ✓
- ROE (5yr avg) > 11% ✓
- Debt/Equity < 0.5 ✓
- Pretax margin > 15% ✓
- EPS growth (5yr) > 7% ✓
- Interest coverage > 5x ✓
- Trading below intrinsic value (DCF) ✕
- Price vs. owner earnings < 25x ✓
- Bonus: returning capital via buybacks FY2026
Lynch looked for growth stories that weren't overpriced for that growth, and CPRT falls short of his bar. In its favor: CPRT isn't over-leveraged for a company of its type, is cheap enough for a business with limited growth ahead of it, and converts earnings into real cash at a reasonable price. Where it comes up short: CPRT doesn't pay much of a dividend, which is the main reason to own a slow grower in the first place, and isn't even growing at the modest pace he'd expect from a slow grower.
- Dividend yield > 2.5% ✕
- EPS growth 0%-10% ✕
- Debt/Equity < 0.6 ✓
- P/E < 20 ✓
- Price/FCF < 25 ✓
Quantitative approximations of each investor's documented approach, not endorsed by either investor or their estates - commentary, not this site's actual ranking criteria. Buffett never published a numeric checklist: only 2 of his 8 checks here trace to his own documented concepts ("owner earnings," from his 1986 shareholder letter, and "price is what you pay, value is what you get," his case against fixed P/E/P/B ceilings) - the other 6 (ROE, debt, margins, growth, interest coverage) use commonly-cited thresholds that are not numbers he himself published. The 8 hard filters below (plus the Munger check and Graham margin of safety) are this site's real, mechanical screen and are computed completely independently of the checklists above.
Berkshire Hathaway's own filing
Which of the 8 value filters does Copart pass?
- Market Cap > $25B $25.6B
- Trailing P/E < 25 17.22
- PEG Ratio < 1.5 5.46
- Price/Book < 8 2.81
- Price/Sales < 7 5.48
- EPS Growth YoY > -5% -13.3%
- vs 50-day MA (±12%) Not evaluated †
- vs 200-day MA (±12%) Not evaluated †
What is Copart's margin of safety?
History tracking starts this week - check back in a future week to see how this has moved.
Where is Copart in its 52-week range?
What is the short interest in Copart?
28,989,846 shares short as of 2026-09-30 (FINRA settlement date). Reported twice a month, so this only changes roughly every two weeks, not daily.
What could go wrong with Copart? Munger's inversion check
"Invert, always invert." Instead of reasons to buy, these are reasons to hesitate, not a verdict, and not everything worth knowing about a business.
- Margin of safety, even in the bull case +30%
- Short interest under 5% of float 3.4%
- Passes most of the 6 fundamental filters 4/6 passed
- Price run-up backed by value, not just momentum +11% off 52wk low
- Debt/equity stable since 2017 0.58 → 0.00
Doesn't cover circle of competence, management quality, or accounting concerns: those need judgment, not data.
How much have Copart shareholders gained per year?
Earnings growth per share plus dividend.
An earnings-based proxy, not a stock-price total return - it doesn't capture multiple expansion/contraction or reinvested dividends. EPS from CPRT's own 10-K filings; dividend yield is the current trailing yield on today's price, from the same weekly fetch as the rest of this site.
What do Copart's 10-year financials show?
From CPRT's own 10-K filings (SEC EDGAR): up to the last 10 fiscal years. Press any year's bars for the exact figures.
Frequently asked questions about Copart
What kind of company is Copart?
Copart runs online auctions for salvage and used vehicles, which insurers, dealers and recyclers use to sell damaged cars. This site groups it with Commercial Services & Supplies stocks.
Is Copart trading above or below its DCF value?
At $29.09, CPRT trades 18.1% above this site's neutral DCF value of $24.63 per share, a margin of safety of −18.1%. That DCF projects free cash flow for 10 years, with growth starting at 8% and fading to 2.5%, discounted at 10%; it is one set of assumptions, not a forecast. Test your own in the Intrinsic Value Calculator.
How many of this site's 8 value filters does Copart pass?
CPRT passes 4 of 8. It passes Market Cap > $25B ($25.6B), Trailing P/E < 25 (17.22), Price/Book < 8 (2.81) and Price/Sales < 7 (5.48). It misses PEG Ratio < 1.5 (5.46) and EPS Growth YoY > -5% (-13.3%). vs 50-day MA (±12%) and vs 200-day MA (±12%) were not evaluated, because the moving-average checks only run on stocks that clear the fundamentals first. The 8-filter list shows every stock that passes all of them.
What growth is Copart's share price pricing in?
At $29.09, CPRT's free cash flow of $1.44 per share would have to grow 12.2% a year, fading to 2.5% by year 10, for this site's DCF (10% discount rate) to match the price. This site's baseline starts at 8%, so the price asks for more growth than the baseline. Change the assumptions.
Is Copart's P/E ratio high or low compared with its own history?
CPRT trades at 17.2× trailing earnings. At the end of each of its last 5 fiscal years its P/E was between 18.8× and 37.4× (average 29.5×), so today's multiple is at or below the lowest of those years. Each year's P/E pairs net income per diluted share from the 10-K with the closing price at that fiscal year-end.
Which well-known investors own Copart?
Among the investors whose SEC 13F filings this site tracks, Chuck Akre (4.4% of the portfolio; unchanged) held CPRT as of June 30, 2026. 13F filings cover only US-listed equities and arrive up to 45 days after the quarter ends, so they lag the real portfolios. See Superinvestors.
Where do these numbers come from?
- Financial statements: Copart's 10-K annual report for the year ended Jul 31, 2026, filed Sep 29, 2026 (filing index). Every earlier year in the 10-year financials comes from the company's older 10-K filings, all listed on SEC EDGAR.
- Prices and market data: quotes, P/E and analyst ratings from Finnhub; daily price history and the 52-week range from Twelve Data, both refreshed weekly. Short interest comes from FINRA, reported twice a month.
- How to check a figure: click any number in the card above to see its exact source, and read the Editorial Standards for every rule behind the checks.
About this Copart Inc analysis
This page shows every value-investing check the site runs on Copart Inc (CPRT) in one place: the 8 mechanical filters, the Buffett and Lynch checklists, a margin of safety from a disclosed DCF, earnings quality, shareholder yield and how it ranks against its sector peers. The numbers come from SEC filings and public market data, refreshed weekly, and the same rules apply to every stock on the stock list. See Editorial Standards for the sources and the rules, or run your own filters in the stock screener.