CARS
Cars.com Inc.
CARS has the edge over RIVN overall, supported by stronger fundamentals and stronger valuation.
RIVN
Rivian Automotive, Inc.
RIVN offers stronger modeled upside, 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.
RIVN Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Weak | |
| Weak | |
| Unavailable |
RIVN's revenue is currently healthy, but its profitability and cash flow are weak. 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.
RIVN PE Valuation
RIVN 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.
RIVN Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| -- | |
| Losses shrinking | |
| Strong growth | |
| Strongly improving | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
RIVN 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 RIVN on earnings quality, reporting a profit while its opponent remains loss making.
RIVN Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$2.25 | +$0.83 |
| Q2 2026 | -$2.58 | +$0.62 |
| Q1 2026 | -$2.92 | +$0.77 |
| Q4 2025 | -$3.07 | +$1.62 |
| Q3 2025 | -$3.08 | +$2.52 |
| Q2 2025 | -$3.20 | +$2.76 |
| Q1 2025 | -$3.69 | +$2.08 |
| Q4 2024 | -$4.69 | +$1.05 |
RIVN is still losing money, but far less than before: $2.25 per share over the past year, against $7.40 at its worst in late 2022.
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 RIVN on profitability, with a higher operating margin.
RIVN Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $2.2B | +38% |
| Q2 2026 | $1.7B | +27% |
| Q1 2026 | $1.4B | +11% |
| Q4 2025 | $1.3B | -26% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.6B | +78% |
| Q2 2025 | $1.3B | +13% |
| Q1 2025 | $1.2B | +3% |
| Q4 2024 | $1.7B | +32% |
RIVN has the edge over CARS on sales, with more consistent year-over-year improvement.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -41% | +22 points |
| Q2 2026 | -50% | +35 points |
| Q1 2026 | -64% | -11 points |
| Q4 2025 | -65% | -27 points |
| Q3 2025 | -63% | +71 points |
| Q2 2025 | -86% | +33 points |
| Q1 2025 | -53% | +70 points |
| Q4 2024 | -38% | +82 points |
RIVN's operating margin was −41% last quarter, up 22 points from the same quarter a year ago, near the top of its range since 2021.
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 has the edge over RIVN on cash generation, producing positive trailing cash flow while its opponent burns cash.
RIVN Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | -$1.1B | -$703M |
| Q2 2026 | -$849M | -$451M |
| Q1 2026 | -$1.1B | -$549M |
| Q4 2025 | -$1.1B | -234% |
| Q3 2025 | -$421M | +$732M |
| Q2 2025 | -$398M | +$639M |
| Q1 2025 | -$526M | +$997M |
| Q4 2024 | $856M | +$2.3B |
RIVN has burned cash in almost every quarter: −$4.2B over the past year, against −$489M 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 RIVN 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.
RIVN Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +9.1% | +121M shares |
| 1 year | +19% | +226M shares |
| 3 years | +52% | +494M shares |
RIVN has 1.4B diluted shares, up 19% from a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q2 2021 | — |
| Q1 2021 | — |
| Q4 2020 | $6M |
| Q3 2020 | — |
| Q2 2020 | — |
| Q1 2020 | — |
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.
RIVN Net Leverage
RIVN'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).
RIVN Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 41.5 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 25.6 | Neutral |
RIVN's weekly RSI is 41 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 26 (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.
RIVN PE vs Consumer Cyclical Sector
RIVN 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 RIVN on trend strength, trading above more of its moving averages.
RIVN Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $13.3 | 3.9% below |
| 20 week MA | $15.1 | 15% below |
| 50 week MA | $15.9 | 19% below |
| 100 week MA | $14.7 | 13% below |
| 200 week MA | $15.1 | 15% below |
RIVN is in a downtrend: it's below all five of its weekly moving averages, and 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 the edge over RIVN on returns for 2026, with the stronger performance.
RIVN Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $130.0 | $96.8 | -25% |
| 2022 | $96.8 | $19.1 | -80% |
| 2023 | $19.1 | $23.5 | +23% |
| 2024 | $23.5 | $13.7 | -42% |
| 2025 | $13.7 | $20.9 | +53% |
| 2026 YTD | $20.9 | $12.8 | -39% |
RIVN has finished lower in three of the last five years. It's down 39% so far in 2026.