Cars.com (CARS) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Cars.com operates as a leading online automotive marketplace in the United States, connecting car shoppers with new and used vehicle listings from dealerships and private sellers. The platform enables consumers to research makes and models, compare prices, read expert and user reviews, and access tools such as TrueCost to estimate ownership expenses over time. Through its website and mobile applications, Cars.com aims to simplify the car-buying process by aggregating detailed vehicle data, payment calculators, and dealership ratings into a single user-friendly experience.

On the dealer side, Cars.com provides a suite of marketing and lead-generation services designed to help automotive retailers reach potential buyers and manage their online presence. Offerings include digital advertising packages, inventory-management software, customer relationship management integrations, and performance analytics. By leveraging data insights and targeted advertising solutions, the company supports dealers in optimizing their marketing spend, increasing showroom traffic, and improving conversion rates.

Founded in 1998 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Cars.com has evolved from its origins as a consumer-facing auto research site to a publicly traded company (NYSE: CARS) following its initial public offering in 2017. Under the leadership of President and Chief Executive Officer Alex Vetter, the company has invested in technology enhancements, mobile experience improvements, and strategic partnerships to maintain its position in a competitive digital marketplace. Its leadership team emphasizes innovation in online retailing and data-driven services for both consumers and dealers.

Serving car shoppers and automotive professionals across all 50 states, Cars.com collaborates with a network of thousands of dealerships to cover a broad range of vehicle makes and models. The platform continues to expand its product portfolio with features such as virtual showroom tools, financing comparisons and augmented reality showroom previews. With a focus on transparency and efficiency, Cars.com strives to streamline every stage of the vehicle purchase journey, from initial research to post-sale support.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $13.37 to $13.67
• 50-Day Range: $11.83 to $13.81
• 52-Week Range: $9.56 to $20.47
• Volume: 1.98 million shs
• Average Volume: 640,203 shs
• Market Capitalization: $823.91 million
• P/E Ratio: 21.63
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Price Target: $17.30
• Consensus Rating: Buy

Cars.com Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Cars.com scored higher than 73% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 93rd out of 213 stocks in the retail/wholesale sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 4.5 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Buy

Consensus Rating

Cars.com has received a consensus rating of Buy. The company's average rating score is 3.00, and is based on 4 buy ratings, 1 hold rating, and no sell ratings.

Upside Potential

Cars.com has a consensus price target of $17.30, representing about 29.0% upside from its current price of $13.41.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Cars.com has been the subject of 5 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 39.50%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Cars.com are expected to grow by 39.50% in the coming year, from $1.19 to $1.66 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Cars.com is 21.63, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 280.57.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Cars.com is 21.63, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the Retail/Wholesale sector average P/E ratio of about 20.83.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Cars.com has a P/B Ratio of 1.70. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 1.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Bearish

Percentage of Shares Shorted

10.69% of the float of Cars.com has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Cars.com has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 7.1.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Cars.com has recently increased by 15.37%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 0.0 / 5
• Dividend Strength: N/A

Dividend Yield

Cars.com does not currently pay a dividend.

Dividend Growth

Cars.com does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: N/A
• Environmental Score: N/A

Percentage of Shares Shorted

10.69% of the float of Cars.com has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Cars.com has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 7.1.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Cars.com has recently increased by 15.37%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

News and Social Media

• Score: 1.5 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.64

News Sentiment

Cars.com has a news sentiment score of 0.64. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a lower news sentiment than the 0.85 average news sentiment score of Retail/Wholesale companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 3 news articles for Cars.com this week, compared to 7 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 1 people have searched for CARS on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -50% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

Only 1 people have added Cars.com to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -50% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Insider Trading: Selling Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Cars.com insiders have sold more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $0.00 in company stock and sold $176,550.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 2.39% of the stock of Cars.com is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

89.15% of the stock of Cars.com is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

CARS Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have CARS shares performed this year?

Cars.com's stock was trading at $17.33 at the start of the year. Since then, CARS shares have decreased by 22.6% and is now trading at $13.41.

How were Cars.com's earnings last quarter?

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) posted its earnings results on Thursday, August, 7th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.04. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis.
Read the conference call transcript.

Does Cars.com have any subsidiaries?

Cars.com subsidiaries include CreditIQ, Dealer Inspire, Launch Digital Marketing, DealerRater, PickupTrucks.com, Cars.com LLC, CreditIQ LLC, and more.

Who are Cars.com's major shareholders?

Top institutional investors of Cars.com include Hill Path Capital LP (3.28%), Brown Advisory Inc. (2.26%), Geode Capital Management LLC (2.16%) and Par Capital Management Inc. (1.95%). Insiders that own company stock include Thomas Alex Vetter, Sonia Jain, Douglas Neal Miller, Angelique Strong Marks, Jill A Greenthal, Matthew B Crawford, Jr Donald A Mcgovern, Bryan Wiener and Thomas E Hale.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of Cars.com?

Shares of CARS stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.

What other stocks do shareholders of Cars.com own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Cars.com investors own include Humana (HUM), American Water Works (AWK), Waste Connections (WCN), DiamondRock Hospitality (DRH), The RMR Group (RMR), AU Optronics (AUOTY) and Voyager Therapeutics (VYGR).

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 8/07/2025
• Today: 9/20/2025
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 11/06/2025
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Retail/Wholesale
• Industry: INTERNET COMMERCE
• Sub-Industry: Business Services
• Current Symbol: NYSE:CARS
• Previous Symbol: NASDAQ:CARS
• CIK: 1683606
• Web: www.cars.com
• Phone: 312-601-5000
• Fax: 312-601-5755
• Employees: 1,800
• Year Founded: 1998

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Cars.com: $17.30
• High Price Target: $25.00
• Low Price Target: $11.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +29.0%
• Consensus Rating: Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 3.00
• Research Coverage: 6 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $0.62
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 21.63
• Forward P/E Ratio: 11.27
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $48.19 million
• Net Margins: 5.71%
• Pretax Margin: 7.44%
• Return on Equity: 17.43%
• Return on Assets: 7.91%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.94
• Current Ratio: 1.82
• Quick Ratio: 1.82

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $719.15 million
• Price / Sales: 1.15
• Cash Flow: $3.05 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 4.40
• Book Value: $7.90 per share
• Price / Book: 1.70

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 61,440,000
• Free Float: 59,976,000
• Market Cap: $823.91 million
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 1.78