CARS
Cars.com Inc.
CARS has the edge over NIO overall, supported by stronger valuation and lower modeled downside.
NIO
NIO Inc.
NIO offers stronger fundamentals, but that advantage does not outweigh its weaker overall profile.
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.
NIO Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Strong | |
| Stable | |
| Stable | |
| Unavailable |
NIO's revenue is currently strong, and its profitability and cash flow are stable. There isn't enough data to rate its balance sheet.
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.
NIO PE Valuation
NIO has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
CARS Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Weakening | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
Analysts expect CARS's earnings to grow, but its profitability to weaken.
NIO Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Losses shrinking | |
| Growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Moderate |
NIO has the edge over CARS on the outlook, with more favorable revenue and profitability expectations.
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 has the edge over NIO on earnings quality, reporting a profit while its opponent remains loss making.
NIO Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | -$0.29 | +$1.45 |
| Q1 2026 | -$0.60 | +$1.16 |
| Q4 2025 | -$1.06 | +$0.60 |
| Q3 2025 | -$1.59 | +$0.02 |
| Q2 2025 | -$1.74 | -$0.10 |
| Q1 2025 | -$1.76 | +$0.06 |
| Q4 2024 | -$1.66 | +$0.21 |
| Q3 2024 | -$1.61 | +$0.32 |
NIO is still losing money, but far less than before: $0.29 per share over the past year, against $1.93 at its worst 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 has the edge over NIO on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
NIO Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $4.8B | +69% |
| Q1 2026 | $3.8B | +112% |
| Q4 2025 | $5.2B | +76% |
| Q3 2025 | $3.3B | +17% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.9B | +9% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.8B | +21% |
| Q4 2024 | $3B | +15% |
| Q3 2024 | $2.8B | -2.1% |
NIO has the edge over CARS on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | -2.1% | +24 points |
| Q1 2026 | -1.2% | +52 points |
| Q4 2025 | 2.3% | +33 points |
| Q3 2025 | -16% | +12 points |
| Q2 2025 | -26% | +4 points |
| Q1 2025 | -53% | +1.1 points |
| Q4 2024 | -31% | +8.1 points |
| Q3 2024 | -28% | -2.6 points |
NIO's operating margin was −2.1% last quarter, up 24 points from the same quarter a year ago.
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.
NIO Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | $0 | +$2.1B |
| Q1 2026 | $0 | $0 |
| Q4 2025 | $0 | +$391.3M |
| Q3 2025 | $0 | $0 |
| Q2 2025 | -$2.1B | +$73.9M |
| Q1 2025 | $0 | $0 |
| Q4 2024 | -$391.3M | -386% |
| Q2 2024 | -$2.2B | +$337.9M |
NIO's free cash flow was $0 over the past year, against −$2.5B 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 the edge over NIO on shareholder dilution, with a more favorable share count trend.
| 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.
NIO Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.6% | +15.6M shares |
| 1 year | +12% | +267M shares |
| 3 years | +51% | +844M shares |
| 5 years | +60% | +933M shares |
| Available history | +143% | +1.5B shares |
NIO has 2.5B diluted shares, up 12% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | — |
| Q1 2026 | — |
| Q4 2025 | — |
| Q3 2025 | — |
| Q2 2025 | — |
| Q1 2025 | — |
| Q4 2024 | — |
| Q3 2024 | — |
NIO hasn't bought back shares in the past year.
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.
NIO Net Leverage
NIO's operating earnings (EBITDA) were negative over the past year, so its debt can't be measured against them.
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).
NIO Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 30.7 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 6.9 | Oversold |
NIO's weekly RSI is 31 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 7 (oversold).
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.
NIO PE vs Consumer Cyclical Sector
NIO has no meaningful PE right now: it lost money over the past year.
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 the edge over NIO on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
NIO Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $3.36 | 9.2% below |
| 20 week MA | $4.01 | 24% below |
| 50 week MA | $4.81 | 37% below |
| 100 week MA | $4.85 | 37% below |
| 200 week MA | $6.03 | 49% below |
NIO is in a downtrend: it's below all five of its weekly moving averages, and 49% 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 the edge over NIO on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
NIO Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $2.42 | $45.8 | +1791% |
| 2021 | $45.8 | $30.5 | -33% |
| 2022 | $30.5 | $11.0 | -64% |
| 2023 | $11.0 | $9.07 | -17% |
| 2024 | $9.07 | $4.48 | -51% |
| 2025 | $4.48 | $5.10 | +14% |
| 2026 YTD | $5.10 | $3.05 | -40% |
NIO's yearly returns have swung widely, from +1791% in 2020 to −64% in 2022. It's down 40% so far in 2026.