KMX vs WCC Comparison

CarMax sells, finances, and services used and new cars through a chain of around 250 used retail stores. It was formed in 1993 as a unit of Circuit City and spun off into an independent company in late 2002. Used-vehicle sales were 83% of fiscal 2025 revenue and wholesale about 17%, with the remaining portion composed of extended service plans and repair. In fiscal 2025, the company retailed and wholesaled 789,050 and 544,312 used vehicles, respectively. CarMax is the largest used-vehicle retailer in the US but still estimates that it had only about 3.7% US market share of vehicles 0-10 years old in calendar 2024. It seeks over 5% share. CarMax is based in Richmond, Virginia.

Wesco can be traced back to the late 1800s but was officially founded in 1922, acting as the distribution arm of Westinghouse Electric. Throughout the 1900s, Wesco entered and subsequently exited the consumer electronics, transit, bottling, and nuclear plant distribution markets. It was sold to a private equity firm in 1994 and then went public in 1999, and numerous acquisitions have since been made to fill the gaps in Wesco's geographical and product coverage. Today, the firm primarily distributes electrical, networking, security, and utility equipment used in the construction and repair of structures such as offices, data centers, power transmission lines, and manufacturing plants. Wesco has operations around the globe but generates the majority of its revenue in the United States.