CARS vs. FA, XMTR, CLVT, RNG, DXC, PINC, UPWK, PAYO, EVTC, and RAMP
Should you be buying Cars.com stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Cars.com include First Advantage (FA), Xometry (XMTR), Clarivate (CLVT), Ringcentral (RNG), DXC Technology (DXC), Premier (PINC), Upwork (UPWK), Payoneer Global (PAYO), Evertec (EVTC), and LiveRamp (RAMP). These companies are all part of the "business services" industry.
Cars.com vs. Its Competitors
First Advantage (NYSE:FA) and Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) are both business services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, risk, valuation, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and profitability.
Cars.com has a net margin of 5.71% compared to First Advantage's net margin of 0.65%. Cars.com's return on equity of 17.43% beat First Advantage's return on equity.
94.9% of First Advantage shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 89.2% of Cars.com shares are held by institutional investors. 3.9% of First Advantage shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.1% of Cars.com shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
First Advantage currently has a consensus target price of $20.00, indicating a potential upside of 41.34%. Cars.com has a consensus target price of $17.90, indicating a potential upside of 69.91%. Given Cars.com's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Cars.com is more favorable than First Advantage.
First Advantage has a beta of 1.21, indicating that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cars.com has a beta of 1.76, indicating that its share price is 76% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Cars.com has lower revenue, but higher earnings than First Advantage. First Advantage is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Cars.com, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
In the previous week, Cars.com had 3 more articles in the media than First Advantage. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Cars.com and 4 mentions for First Advantage. First Advantage's average media sentiment score of 0.94 beat Cars.com's score of 0.11 indicating that First Advantage is being referred to more favorably in the media.
Summary
Cars.com beats First Advantage on 10 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.
Get Cars.com News Delivered to You Automatically
Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for CARS and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter.
New MarketBeat Followers Over Time
This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding CARS and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over Time
This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
Skip Chart
Cars.com Competitors List
Related Companies and Tools
This page (NYSE:CARS) was last updated on 10/21/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff