Forensic Analysis · Retail / Consumer Discretionary · as of Nov 9, 2026
Group 1 Automotive Inc (GPI)
A forensic read on Group 1 Automotive Inc built from its complete SEC filings — financial-health screens, earnings quality, red flags and a price-aware rating. Reproducible math, not opinion.
B · Sound & dependable
Forensic grade
Grey Zone
Financial health
2.4
Distress distance
Clean
Earnings quality
3
Forensic signals
11.3%
ROE
13.2%
Revenue growth
This free snapshot doesn't read filing or proxy text, so the auditor-quality and governance checks that can lower a grade were not evaluated (auditor quality, say on pay, board independence, going concern). Those checks only ever lower a grade, so the full analysis can land below the grade above but never above it — treat it as the most favourable reading, not the settled one.
Group 1 Automotive Inc earns a B (Sound & dependable) forensic quality grade, and its balance-sheet distress test reads 2.4, placing it in the Grey zone. 3 forensic signals were flagged in its latest SEC filings, led by goodwill impairments.
What the filings flag
$93M
FY2025
Goodwill impairments.Took $93M of goodwill writedowns across 1 year (FY2025 ($93M)) — about 29% of net income over the span. A large writedown means an acquisition turned out worth far less than was paid — a real mark against M&A discipline.
7.7%
FY2025
Return on invested capital.Return on invested capital is 7.7% in the latest fiscal year and slipping across FY2023–FY2025 from 13.7%. After-tax operating profit was $729M in FY2023 and $528M in FY2025, with operating income at 5.4% of revenue in FY2023, 4.6% in FY2024 and 3.3% in FY2025. The capital base behind it grew +29% across FY2023–FY2025, from $5.3B to $6.9B, while the return fell 6.0 points, so the dollars added over that window earned less than the 13.7% the older base was already earning. FY2025's operating profit carried a $200M asset write-down, a $93M goodwill write-off and a $28M restructuring charge that alone took about 3.4 points off that year's return, so about 3.4 of the 6.0-point fall across FY2023–FY2025 is that charge landing in the latest year rather than the capital earning less. A non-cash write-down lowers the reported return in the year it lands.
137% of FCF
FY2025
Shareholder returns.Returned $580M to shareholders (buybacks + dividends) in FY2025 — 137% of free cash flow, but 84% of operating cash flow. Returns run ahead of free cash flow because the business is also funding heavy growth capex (usually debt-financed); the payout itself is covered by operating cash — sustainable as long as that spending is genuine expansion, not upkeep. Counting the $29M of stock-based comp paid out in shares on top of that, the combined claim on free cash flow is 144%.
Key fundamentals
Latest Revenue$22.57B
Revenue Growth YoY+13.2%
Revenue CAGR (2yr)+12.4%
Net Margin1.4%
Free Cash Flow$424.5M
Return on Equity11.3%
Debt / Equity1.33x
The forensic grade and screens above are free — no account needed. Want the AI investment read on top — the 0–100 rating, thesis, bull-vs-bear, red flags and the 12-month scenario, written from Group 1 Automotive Inc's actual 10-K/10-Q/8-K filings?