CARS
Cars.com Inc.
CARS's fundamentals are strong and it looks cheap: trading at 17x earnings, below its usual 28x. Analysts expect earnings growth.
CARS Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Stable | |
| Strong | |
| Strong | |
| Stable |
CARS's profitability and cash flow are currently strong, and its revenue and balance sheet are stable.
CARS PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 5.8x | $12.85 | — |
| Cheap | 12x | $9.23 | -28% |
| Current | 17x | $12.85 | — |
| Fair | 28x | $20.69 | +61% |
| Expensive | 127x | $95.15 | +640% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
CARS's PE is in its cheap range at 17x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 5.8x next year's earnings.
CARS Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Weakening | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect CARS's earnings to grow, but its profitability to weaken.
CARS Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $2.20 | +194% |
| Q3 2026 | $0.75 | +63% |
| Q2 2026 | $0.57 | -8.1% |
| Q1 2026 | $0.43 | -37% |
| Q4 2025 | $0.32 | -56% |
| Q3 2025 | $0.46 | -22% |
| Q2 2025 | $0.62 | +63% |
| Q1 2025 | $0.68 | -57% |
| Q4 2024 | $0.72 | -59% |
CARS's earnings per share have fallen from their peak: $0.75 over the past year, against $1.76 in late 2023.
CARS Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $181.9M | +0.2% |
| Q2 2026 | $179.9M | +0.7% |
| Q1 2026 | $180.2M | +0.7% |
| Q4 2025 | $183.9M | +1.9% |
| Q3 2025 | $181.6M | +1.1% |
| Q2 2025 | $178.7M | -0.1% |
| Q1 2025 | $179M | -0.6% |
| Q4 2024 | $180.4M | +0.5% |
CARS's revenue grew through 2023 and has held roughly level since: $182M last quarter, about level with the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 16% | +6.6 points |
| Q2 2026 | 15% | +7 points |
| Q1 2026 | 9.2% | +5.6 points |
| Q4 2025 | 12% | +0.9 points |
| Q3 2025 | 9.3% | +2.9 points |
| Q2 2025 | 8.5% | +3.2 points |
| Q1 2025 | 3.6% | -3.5 points |
| Q4 2024 | 11% | +2.6 points |
CARS's operating margin was 16% last quarter, up 6.6 points from the same quarter a year ago, near the top of its range since 2019.
CARS Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $59M | +1.2% |
| Q2 2026 | $15.3M | -36% |
| Q1 2026 | $39.5M | +38% |
| Q4 2025 | $36.7M | +26% |
| Q3 2025 | $58.3M | +10% |
| Q2 2025 | $23.7M | -32% |
| Q1 2025 | $28.6M | -13% |
| Q4 2024 | $29.1M | -35% |
CARS's free cash flow has been positive every quarter for seven years: $151M over the past year, up 7.8% from the year before.
CARS Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | -2.3% | -1.3M shares |
| 1 year | -12% | -7.7M shares |
| 3 years | -19% | -13.2M shares |
| 5 years | -22% | -15.6M shares |
| Available history | -17% | -11.7M shares |
CARS has 55M diluted shares, down 12% from a year ago, with $97M in buybacks over the past year.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $16.9M |
| Q2 2026 | $37M |
| Q1 2026 | $20.5M |
| Q4 2025 | $22.6M |
| Q3 2025 | $19.7M |
| Q2 2025 | $23.1M |
| Q1 2025 | $21.5M |
| Q4 2024 | $13.5M |
CARS spent $97M buying back its own shares over the past year, up 24% from the year before.
CARS Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 2.3x | Moderate |
| Q2 2026 | 2.6x | Moderate |
| Q1 2026 | 2.6x | Moderate |
| Q4 2025 | 2.6x | Moderate |
| Q3 2025 | 2.5x | Moderate |
| Q2 2025 | 2.7x | Moderate |
| Q1 2025 | 2.8x | Moderate |
| Q4 2024 | 2.5x | Moderate |
CARS's net debt is about 2.3 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), down from 2.5 years a year ago.
CARS Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 60.6 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 71.0 | Neutral |
CARS's weekly RSI is 61 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 71 (neutral).
CARS PE vs Consumer Cyclical Sector
| Metric | CARS | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 17x | 18x | 4.9% below |
| PE % | 26 | 47 | 21 pts below |
CARS is trading at 17x earnings, in line with the Consumer Cyclical sector's median of 18x.
CARS Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $11.2 | 15% above |
| 20 week MA | $11.5 | 12% above |
| 50 week MA | $10.9 | 18% above |
| 100 week MA | $11.9 | 8.1% above |
| 200 week MA | $15.1 | 15% below |
CARS has bounced recently, but its long-term trend is still down: it's above its 8-, 20-, 50- and 100-week averages, but 15% below its 200-week average.
CARS Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $11.9 | $11.4 | -3.9% |
| 2021 | $11.4 | $16.3 | +42% |
| 2022 | $16.3 | $13.0 | -21% |
| 2023 | $13.0 | $19.0 | +46% |
| 2024 | $19.0 | $17.4 | -8.5% |
| 2025 | $17.4 | $12.6 | -28% |
| 2026 YTD | $12.6 | $12.9 | +2.2% |
CARS has finished lower in four of the last six years. It's up 2.2% so far in 2026.