1,300 Locations and 30,000 to Go: What Boyd's SEC Filings Say About Consolidation
The short version. Almost every number you read about how consolidated collision repair is comes from a survey, a trade estimate or a press release. Boyd Group Services now files with the SEC, and its filings carry numbers a company is legally accountable for. As of its 12 May 2026 exhibit: over 1,300 locations in North America, 258 locations acquired in one transaction that closed 9 January 2026, and management describing the industry as fragmented with "approximately 30,000 repair locations".
The last figure is the one everyone wants and the one that needs the most careful handling. It is management's estimate in a company filing, not a government count.
The numbers, as filed
| Measure | As filed |
|---|---|
| Locations | "Boyd now operates over 1,300 locations across North America" |
| Acquisition closed 9 January 2026 | Joe Hudson's Collision Center, "258 collision locations across the U.S. Southeast" |
| Q1 2026 sales | $996,676 thousand, up 28.1 percent |
| Same-store sales, excluding FX | up $13.0 million, or 1.7 percent |
| Adjusted EBITDA | $122,385 thousand, a 12.3 percent margin, against 10.3 percent in Q1 2025 |
| Net result | a net loss of $7,926 thousand |
The acquisition is the line that explains the rest. Against a base of roughly a thousand locations, one transaction expanded the footprint by about a quarter.
Put the sales lines together and you have the shape of the quarter: sales up 28 percent, same-store sales up 1.7 percent. Almost all of the growth was bought, not earned from existing shops.
What the filing says about your work disappearing
Two sentences in the same document are the ones a shop owner should read.
Management's framework assumes an "approximate 2% decline in repairable claims due to the impact of collision avoidance systems".
That is a public company telling its investors, in a filing, that it plans around cars crashing less. It is not a trade-press worry or a conference slide. It is an assumption baked into a forecast, by the largest operator in the market.
How to use the 30,000 figure without misusing it
It is an estimate by management. It appears in the fragmentation discussion, where a company explains why it has room to grow. That is a context with an incentive attached, and the number should always be attributed: "Boyd's management estimates approximately 30,000 repair locations."
It is not a census. No federal agency publishes a count of collision repair locations that this corresponds to. If you want a government-sourced picture of the industry, the closest thing is employment, not establishments, and that is a different question with a different answer. See what the government's own count says about the workforce.
Do not extend the claims commentary to the market. The 2 percent figure is Boyd's planning assumption about its own repairable claims, informed by its own mix of insurers, geographies and vehicle ages. It is evidence about Boyd. It is not a measured national rate.
Why an SEC filing is worth more than a press release
A press release is marketing. An SEC filing is made under securities law, with liability attached to material misstatements, reviewed before it goes out, and permanently retrievable from EDGAR by anyone, free.
For an industry where most published figures trace back to a survey with an undisclosed sample, that difference is the whole reason to prefer the filing. It does not make management's estimates true. It makes them attributable, dated and on the record.
What this page does not claim
That Boyd is representative. It is one operator, and by its own description the market is fragmented. A trend visible in Boyd's quarter is not a trend in the market.
That we have read the full filing. We read exhibit EX-99.1 in the accession identified below. There is a related exhibit in the same accession that we have not quoted.
Anything about Driven Brands or the franchised model. That comparison is worth making and we have not made it here.
Sources
- SEC EDGAR, Boyd Group Services Inc., CIK 0002091467, exhibit EX-99.1, document dated 12 May 2026, read on 18 August 2026. Every figure and quotation above is from that exhibit.
- What the government's own count says about the collision workforce
- Modern cars crash better and repair worse
- How to choose a body shop
General consumer information: not legal, insurance, or financial advice. Requirements, coverage, and practices vary by state, policy, and manufacturer.
Where this fits
Each link says what it is for. We add one only when a reader on this page has a real reason to need that page next.
- 16,000 Openings a Year, 3,500 New Jobs a Decade: The Technician Shortage Is a Replacement Problem (the government figures the 30,000 estimate is not)
- Modern Cars Crash Better and Repair Worse, and That Is One Decision, Not Two (why repairable claims fall while each repair costs more)
- Has Consolidation Actually Reduced the Number of Body Shops? (what the establishment counts show once the acquisitions are measured against them)