CARS Stock Analysis: Cars.com | NYSE

Marketplace, Dealer Websites, Trade Appraisal, Digital Advertising

Total Rating 56

Safety 37

Buy Signal 1.01

Internet Content & Information
Industry Rotation: +0.0

Market Cap: 683M
Avg Turnover: 7.61M

Risk 3d forecast

Volatility61.6%

VaR 5^th Pctl10.3%

VaR vs Median1.27%

Reward TTM

Sharpe Ratio0.71

Rel. Str. IBD85.2

Rel. Str. Peer Group83.3 pctl

Character TTM

Beta0.565

Beta Downside0.674

Hurst Exponent0.606

Choppyness55.6%

Drawdowns 3y

Max DD63.40%

CAGR/Max DD-0.16

CAGR/Mean DD-0.32

EPS (Earnings per Share)

EPS CAGR: 8.25%
EPS Trend: 21.6%

Last SUE: 1.10
Qual. Beats: 1

Revenue

Rev. CAGR: 2.05%
Rev. Trend: 85.5%

Last SUE: -0.38
Qual. Beats: 0

Warnings

Altman Z'' In Financial Distress Zone

Overextended 1w

Tailwinds

Seasonal Tailwind

Rs Leader

Idiosyncratic Leader

Seasonality 9.4 years of data

Jan +0.2% 0

Feb -7.6% 13

Mar -3.5% 44

Apr +0.7% 2

May -4.5% 12

Jun +0.1% 11

Jul +7.5% 41

Aug +1.9% 9

Sep -4.8% 45

Oct -2.5% 15

Nov +21.4% 58

Dec -3.4% 16

How good or bad each month usually is (without trend). The score below shows how much you can trust it: 0 = pure chance, >40 gets interesting and >55 is strong.

Description: CARS Cars.com

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE: CARS) is an audience-driven technology company that provides digital solutions for the U.S. automotive industry. Its core offering is the Cars.com marketplace, which allows OEMs and dealers to merchandise vehicle inventory, supported by reputation management technology, digital financing tools, and dealer website services. The company also operates AccuTrade, a trade-in appraisal product that uses demand data and diagnostic scans to generate trade-in offers for specific VINs.

The companys media solutions include Cars Social (native advertising on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram), VIN Performance Media (machine-learning-based campaign optimization across search, social, and display), and In-Market Video, which helps dealers and OEMs target ready-to-buy shoppers by geography. Customers include local dealers, OEMs, dealer groups, and auto-adjacent companies. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

Cars.com operates in the digital automotive marketplace sector, classified under the Communication Services sector and Interactive Media & Services sub-industry. Its business model is primarily advertising- and subscription-based, monetizing its audience of in-market car shoppers through dealer and OEM subscriptions, lead generation, and targeted media products.

Headlines to Watch Out For

Deer subscription revenue growth drives margin expansion
AccuTrade trade-in product gains traction in used car market
Competition from CarGurus and AutoTrader pressures dealer market share

Piotroski VR-10 (Strict) 6.5

Net Income: 34.3m TTM > 0 and > 6% of Revenue
FCF/TA: 0.15 > 0.02 and ΔFCF/TA 3.62 > 1.0
NWC/Revenue: 13.41% < 20% (prev 11.24%; Δ 2.17% < -1%)
CFO/TA 0.15 > 3% & CFO 151.6m > Net Income 34.3m
Net Debt (413.8m) to EBITDA (143.0m): 2.89 < 3
Current Ratio: 2.00 > 1.5 & < 3
Outstanding Shares: last quarter (56.7m) vs 12m ago -12.13% < -2%
Gross Margin: 83.01% > 18% (prev 82.61%; Δ 0.40% > 0.5%)
Asset Turnover: 69.87% > 50% (prev 67.43%; Δ 2.44% > 0%)
Interest Coverage Ratio: 2.33 > 6 (EBIT TTM 69.0m / Interest Expense TTM 29.7m)

Altman Z'' -1.07

A: 0.10 (Total Current Assets 195.0m - Total Current Liabilities 97.6m) / Total Assets 1.01b
B: -0.91 (Retained Earnings -922.3m / Total Assets 1.01b)
C: 0.07 (EBIT TTM 69.0m / Avg Total Assets 1.04b)
D: 0.78 (Book Value of Equity 443.6m / Total Liabilities 568.8m)
Altman-Z'' = -1.07 = CCC

Beneish M -3.00

DSRI: 1.07 (Receivables 143.1m/132.9m, Revenue 725.6m/717.8m)
GMI: 1.00 (GM 82.61% / 83.01%)
AQI: 0.97 (AQ_t 0.77 / AQ_t-1 0.80)
SGI: 1.01 (Revenue 725.6m / 717.8m)
TATA: -0.12 (NI 34.3m - CFO 151.6m) / TA 1.01b)
Beneish M = -3.00 (Cap -4..+1) = A

What is the price of CARS shares?

As of November 06, 2026, the stock is trading at USD 13.56 with a total of 2,204,633 shares traded. Over the past week, the price has changed by +18.84%, over one month by +39.79%, over three months by +14.53% and over the past year by +30.26%.

Current recommended Stop Loss: 12.90 (which is 4.9% or 1.3 ATR below the current price).

Is CARS a buy, sell or hold?

Cars.com has received a consensus analysts rating of 3.17. Therefore, it is recommended to hold CARS.

StrongBuy: 1
Buy: 1
Hold: 3
Sell: 0
StrongSell: 1

What are the forecasts/targets for the CARS price?

Analysts Target Price	13.3	-1.7%

Cars.com (CARS) - Fundamental Data Overview as of 06 November 2026

Market Cap USD = 682.5m (682.5m USD * 1.0 USD.USD)
P/E Trailing = 22.3684
P/E Forward = 5.005
P/S = 0.9406
P/B = 1.395
P/EG = 2.3503
Revenue TTM = 725.6m USD
EBIT TTM = 69.0m USD
EBITDA TTM = 143.0m USD
Long Term Debt = 447.1m USD (from longTermDebt, last quarter)
Short Term Debt = 2.97m USD (from shortTermDebt, last fiscal year)
Debt = 447.1m USD (from shortLongTermDebtTotal, last quarter)
Net Debt = 413.8m USD (calculated: Debt 447.1m - CCE 33.3m)
Enterprise Value = 1.10b USD (682.5m + Debt 447.1m - CCE 33.3m)
Interest Coverage Ratio = 2.33 (Ebit TTM 69.0m / Interest Expense TTM 29.7m)
EV/FCF = 7.32x (Enterprise Value 1.10b / FCF TTM 149.8m)
FCF Yield = 13.67% (FCF TTM 149.8m / Enterprise Value 1.10b)
FCF Margin = 20.65% (FCF TTM 149.8m / Revenue TTM 725.6m)
Net Margin = 4.73% (Net Income TTM 34.3m / Revenue TTM 725.6m)
Gross Margin = 83.01% ((Revenue TTM 725.6m - Cost of Revenue TTM 123.3m) / Revenue TTM)
Gross Margin QoQ = 83.17% (prev 82.39%)
Tobins Q-Ratio = 1.08 (Enterprise Value 1.10b / Total Assets 1.01b)
Interest Expense / Debt = 6.64% (Interest Expense 29.7m / Debt 447.1m)
Taxrate = 36.27% (19.5m / 53.8m)
NOPAT = 44.0m (EBIT 69.0m * (1 - 36.27%))
Current Ratio = 2.00 (Total Current Assets 195.0m / Total Current Liabilities 97.6m)
Debt / Equity = 1.01 (Debt 447.1m / totalStockholderEquity, last quarter 443.6m)
Debt / EBITDA = 2.89 (Net Debt 413.8m / EBITDA 143.0m)
Debt / FCF = 2.76 (Net Debt 413.8m / FCF TTM 149.8m)
Total Stockholder Equity = 463.6m (last 4 quarters mean from totalStockholderEquity)
RoA = 3.30% (Net Income 34.3m / Total Assets 1.01b)
RoE = 7.40% (Net Income TTM 34.3m / Total Stockholder Equity 463.6m)
RoCE = 7.58% (EBIT 69.0m / Capital Employed (Equity 463.6m + L.T.Debt 447.1m))
RoIC = 4.98% (NOPAT 44.0m / Invested Capital 884.5m)
WACC = 6.23% (E(682.5m)/V(1.13b) * Re(7.54%) + D(447.1m)/V(1.13b) * Rd(6.64%) * (1-Tc(0.36)))
Discount Rate = 7.54% (= CAPM, Blume Beta Adj.)
Shares (quarterly) Correlation: -95.03 | Cagr: -7.36%
[DCF] Terminal Value 77.97% ; FCFF base≈137.5m ; Y1≈157.6m ; Y5≈232.0m
[DCF] Fair Price = 57.49 (EV 3.49b - Net Debt 413.8m = Equity 3.08b / Shares 53.5m; r=8.35% [WACC [floored]]; 5y FCF grow 15.0% → 2.50% )
EPS Correlation: 21.60 | EPS CAGR: 8.25% | SUE: 1.10 | # QB: 1
Revenue Correlation: 85.54 | Revenue CAGR: 2.05% | SUE: -0.38 | # QB: 0
EPS current Quarter (2026-09-30): EPS=0.54 | Chg30d=-6.34% | Revisions=+25% | Analysts=4
EPS current Year (2026-12-31): EPS=2.00 | Chg30d=-4.64% | Revisions=+25% | GrowthEPS=+17.1% | GrowthRev=+0.8%
EPS next Year (2027-12-31): EPS=2.34 | Chg30d=-9.76% | Revisions=-25% | GrowthEPS=+16.7% | GrowthRev=+2.2%
[Analyst] Revisions Ratio: +17% (up=2, down=1)