Is KAR a high-quality business?

AlphaMadera's AlphaQuality grade scores OPENLANE, Inc. on six pillars — profitability, capital efficiency, balance-sheet strength, growth durability, cash generation, and shareholder yield. The composite letter grade reflects how KAR compares to a Buffett-style quality bar.

What is OPENLANE, Inc.'s AlphaQuality grade?

AlphaQuality assigns a letter grade (A through F) to KAR based on a six-pillar quantitative model. The live page shows the composite grade plus each pillar's individual score with the underlying metrics.

What makes KAR a quality stock?

AlphaQuality looks at return on capital, free-cash-flow margins, debt-to-equity, revenue stability, dividend and buyback policy, and operating-margin trend. Stocks scoring well across all six pillars earn higher grades — the methodology favors compounders over cyclicals.

KAR - OPENLANE, Inc.

Price: -- -- | CONSENSUS: Buy DETAILS | PRICE TARGET: $29.00 DETAILS

AlphaQuality

Quantitative six-pillar business-quality grade

Platform & Compounding FCF

AlphaQuality — archetype-weighted quantitative grade

C+ 61.5 / 100 composite

Composite Grade

Composite of six pillars weighted for platform & compounding fcf businesses. Purely quantitative — no stock price or analyst input.

Profitability

Weight: 25%

D+ 42.8

5yr Avg ROIC 3.8% 29/100
Operating Margin Trend +0.67 pp/yr 75/100

Capital Efficiency

Weight: 15%

C+ 58.5

5yr Avg ROE 5.7% 39/100
5yr Share-Count CAGR -3.1% 95/100

Growth Quality

Weight: 25%

A 87.5

5yr Revenue CAGR 7.5% 72/100
5yr EPS CAGR 55.6% 100/100
Revenue-Growth Years (5) 5/5 100/100

Cash Generation

Weight: 20%

B- 68.7

5yr FCF Margin 5.7% 53/100
5yr FCF/NI Conversion 1.61x 88/100

Balance Sheet

Weight: 10%

D 34.0

Net Debt / EBITDA 3.25x 45/100
Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int) 1.79x 25/100
Altman Z-Score 1.41 25/100

Stability

Weight: 5%

C+ 60.9

EPS Volatility (σ/μ) 0.62 20/100
Piotroski F-Score 8 89/100
Negative-Revenue Years (5) 0/5 100/100

0 of 4 gurus held; 4 full exits.

Holders: 0 -4
Avg Δ position: —
New buys: 0
Full exits: 4

Cooperman sold -100%
Dalio sold -100%
Greenblatt sold -100%

How this is calculated

AlphaQuality grades six pillars from 0-100 and weights each by archetype:

Profitability (25%) — 5yr Avg ROIC, Operating Margin Trend
Capital Efficiency (15%) — 5yr Avg ROE, 5yr Share-Count CAGR
Growth Quality (25%) — 5yr Revenue CAGR, 5yr EPS CAGR, Revenue-Growth Years (5)
Cash Generation (20%) — 5yr FCF Margin, 5yr FCF/NI Conversion
Balance Sheet (10%) — Net Debt / EBITDA, Interest Coverage (EBIT/Int), Altman Z-Score
Stability (5%) — EPS Volatility (σ/μ), Piotroski F-Score, Negative-Revenue Years (5)

We deliberately ignore stock price, analyst targets, and consensus ratings so the grade is suitable for backtesting forward returns. A minimum of 5 fiscal years of audited statements is required; distressed and highly leveraged infrastructure businesses are declared ungradable rather than forced into a numeric score.