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

Company Overview

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) operates a digital automotive marketplace that connects consumers with automobile dealers and manufacturers. Its platform helps shoppers research vehicles, compare listings, read reviews, explore pricing and incentives, and connect with dealerships when they are ready to buy or sell a vehicle.

The company provides automotive retailers with digital marketing and technology solutions designed to help them attract and engage customers. Its offerings include vehicle listings, dealer websites, digital retailing tools, customer relationship and lead-management services, reputation management, and advertising solutions. Cars.com serves franchised and independent dealerships, original equipment manufacturers, and other automotive businesses.

Cars.com primarily serves the United States through its consumer-facing Cars.com brand and related automotive technology and marketing businesses. The company was established in 1998 and became an independent publicly traded company following its separation from TEGNA Inc. in 2017. Its operations are focused on supporting the vehicle-shopping and dealership sales process through online content, marketplace services, and software.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $9.81 to $10.16
• 50-Day Range: $10.02 to $12.91
• 52-Week Range: $7.40 to $13.69
• Volume: 854,654 shs
• Average Volume: 632,008 shs
• Market Capitalization: $539.31 million
• P/E Ratio: 17.68
• Dividend Yield: N/A
• Price Target: $14.83
• Consensus Rating: Hold

Cars.com Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Cars.com scored higher than 63% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 106th out of 237 stocks in the communication services sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 4.0 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Hold

Consensus Rating

Cars.com has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.38, and is based on no strong buy ratings, 3 buy ratings, 5 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Upside Potential

Cars.com has a consensus price target of $14.83, representing about 47.2% upside from its current price of $10.08.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Cars.com has only been the subject of 4 research reports in the past 90 days.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 3.1 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 24.84%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Cars.com are expected to grow by 24.84% in the coming year, from $1.61 to $2.01 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Cars.com is 17.68, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 38.90.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Cars.com is 17.68, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Communication Services sector average P/E ratio of about 22.63.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Cars.com has a P/B Ratio of 1.28. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 0.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Bearish

Percentage of Shares Shorted

13.69% 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 14.61, which indicates bearish sentiment.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Cars.com has recently increased by 4.14%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing.

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.

News and Social Media

• Score: 0.0 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.00

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 3 news articles for Cars.com this week, compared to 2 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 2 people have searched for CARS on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -60% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 1.5 / 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 $790,281.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

3.36% 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.

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 8/06/2026
• Today: 10/02/2026
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 11/05/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2026

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Communication Services
• Industry: Interactive Media & Services
• Sub-Industry: Interactive Media & Services
• Current Symbol: NYSE:CARS
• Previous Symbol: NASDAQ:CARS
• CIK: 1683606
• Web: www.cars.com
• Phone: 312-601-5000
• Fax: 312-601-5755
• Employees: 1,700
• Year Founded: 1998

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Cars.com: $14.83
• High Price Target: $25.00
• Low Price Target: $11.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +47.2%
• Consensus Rating: Hold
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.38
• Research Coverage: 8 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $0.57
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 17.68
• Forward P/E Ratio: 6.26
• P/E Growth: N/A
• Net Income: $20.05 million
• Net Margins: 4.73%
• Pretax Margin: 7.42%
• Return on Equity: 18.82%
• Return on Assets: 8.31%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 1.01
• Current Ratio: 2.00
• Quick Ratio: 2.00

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $723.24 million
• Price / Sales: 0.75
• Cash Flow: $2.99 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 3.37
• Book Value: $7.90 per share
• Price / Book: 1.28

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 53,530,000
• Free Float: 51,734,000
• Market Cap: $539.31 million
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 1.64