CARS.COM INC (CARS)
Communication Services · automotive digital marketplace and dealer technology · NYSE
Cars.com is an AI-powered automotive marketplace connecting 26 million monthly shoppers with dealerships and OEMs through integrated digital solutions and media services.
What CARS.COM INC does
Cars.com Inc. is a digital automotive marketplace and technology platform that connects millions of consumers with dealerships and OEMs across the U.S. and Canada. The company operates an interconnected ecosystem of products including its flagship Cars.com marketplace, dealer websites, trade-and-appraisal tools, and in-market media solutions. The platform serves approximately 19,500 franchise and independent dealer customers, with approximately 26 million average monthly shoppers, and provides AI-powered shopping tools, vehicle reviews, and data-driven solutions to simplify the car buying and selling experience.
Themes: automotive marketplace, digital automotive retail, AI shopping tools, dealer solutions / digital marketing, trade-in / appraisal technology, vehicle research and reviews, online-to-offline car buying
Fundamentals
- Price$12.22 as of 2026-08-21 close
- Market cap$654M as of 2026-08-21
- 1-year return-1.9% 2025-08-21 close $12.46 → 2026-08-21 close $12.22
- P/E24.10 as of 2026-08-24
- Net margin+3.7% as of 2026-08-24
- Gross margin+66.3% as of 2026-08-24
- ROE+5.7% as of 2026-08-24
- Debt / equity0.98 as of 2026-08-24
- Revenue growth (YoY)+0.9% as of 2026-08-24
- Revenue CAGR (3y)+3.4% SEC XBRL
- Beta1.66 as of 2026-08-24
- Last reported earnings2026-08-06 SEC EDGAR Form 8-K (Item 2.02)
How CARS compares in its sector
- price-to-earnings ratiomiddle range 79 covered Communication Services peers, as of 2026-08-24
- net profit marginmiddle range 132 covered Communication Services peers, as of 2026-08-24
- operating marginmiddle range 132 covered Communication Services peers, as of 2026-08-24
- gross marginmiddle range 132 covered Communication Services peers, as of 2026-08-24
- return on equitymiddle range 132 covered Communication Services peers, as of 2026-08-24
- 3-year revenue CAGRmiddle range 121 covered Communication Services peers
- free cash flow (absolute dollars, latest fiscal year)middle range 114 covered Communication Services peers, as of FY2025
Position among covered Communication Services companies that report each metric (minimum 5 peers). A relative position within our covered catalog — not a valuation, quality, or investment judgment. A higher percentile is simply a higher value (for P/E, more expensive on earnings — never "better"). Informational only.
How CARS.COM INC looks technically
CARS.COM INC (CARS) is trading 12.4% above its 200-day average, the long-term trend line — a longer-term uptrend. Its 50-day average crossed above its 200-day average about 13 trading days ago — a "golden cross", a bullish long-term signal. A trend is forming but not yet strong — ADX, a 0–100 trend-strength gauge, is 20 (a reading of 25+ marks a strong trend). Momentum is neutral — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 54, neither overbought (above 70) nor oversold (below 30). It made a new 20-day high about 18 trading days ago. Day-to-day price swings are unusually narrow versus its own recent history — a "Bollinger squeeze" (in the tightest 1% of the past ~6 months), which often precedes a bigger move.
Trend
8
| Distance from the 200-day | it is trading 12.4% above its 200-day average, the long-term trend line — a longer-term uptrend | +12.4% |
|---|---|---|
| 50-day moving average | its average price over the last 50 trading days — a short-term trend line — is $11.39 | $11.39 |
| 200-day moving average | its average price over the last 200 trading days — the long-term trend line — is $10.87 | $10.87 |
| Swing structure | its recent peaks and dips disagree — one of them is rising while the other is not, so there is no clean up or down pattern in the swings | mixed — one of the two is not confirming |
| Last swing turn | its last significant turn was a swing high 14 calendar days ago — the swings before that are what the structure reading is measured on | 14 sessions |
| Since the 50/200 cross | its 50-day average crossed above its 200-day average about 13 trading days ago — a "golden cross", a bullish long-term signal | 13 sessions |
| Above the 200-day after a dip | it recently dipped to its 200-day average (the long-term trend line) and has since climbed back above it — now about 12.4% above | +12.4% |
| Trend strength (14-day ADX) | a trend is forming but not yet strong — ADX, a 0–100 trend-strength gauge, is 20 (a reading of 25+ marks a strong trend) | 20.2 |
Momentum
3
| 14-day RSI | momentum is neutral — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 54, neither overbought (above 70) nor oversold (below 30) | 54.2 |
|---|---|---|
| Position in its 14-day range | it is trading in the upper half of its 14-day range ($10.59 to $13.34) — its "stochastic" reading is 59 out of 100, where 0 would mean closing exactly at the 14-session low and 100 exactly at the high. This measures WHERE the price sits inside its recent range, which is a different question from the RSI beside it: RSI is a momentum gauge, measuring how FAST the price has been moving, so a stock can drift quietly to the bottom of its range with an ordinary RSI, or fall sharply and still sit in the middle. It has been slipping within that range over the last few sessions. | 59.3 |
| Since the MACD crossed zero | MACD, a trend-momentum gauge, is in negative territory (momentum leaning bearish) | 16 sessions |
Range
12
| 52-week high | its highest closing price over the past year (about 252 trading days) was $13.97 | $13.97 |
|---|---|---|
| From the 52-week high | it is 12.5% below its 52-week high (its highest price of the past year) | -12.5% |
| Above the 52-week low | it is 65.1% above its 52-week low (its lowest price of the past year) | +65.1% |
| Below the 52-week high | it is 12.5% below its highest point of the past year | 12.5% |
| Since a 20-day breakout | it made a new 20-day high about 18 trading days ago | 18 sessions |
| Since a 55-day breakout | it made a new 55-day high about 18 trading days ago | 18 sessions |
| All-time high | its highest closing price on record is $32.94 (set on 2018-07-13) | $32.94 |
| Given back of the 52-week move | over the past year its closes ranged ($7.58 to $13.79), and it has recovered well over two thirds of its fall from last year’s high — 75% of it. Chart-watchers call 61.8%-65% given back the "golden pocket" — for this company that is $11.42 to $11.62. It is watched widely enough that orders cluster there, which is the honest reason it matters; it is not a forecast. | 74.7% |
| From the all-time high | it is 62.9% below its all-time high | -62.9% |
| Nearest price level | it is sitting right on a resistance level at $12.24 — a price it turned at twice since 2025-04-29, most recently on 2025-07-16. Since 2024-08-21 it has 7 such levels below the current price and 10 above. Levels like these describe where the price has reversed or paused before; they are not a forecast of where it will go. | +0.2% |
| All-time low | its lowest closing price on record is $3.25 (set on 2020-04-03) | $3.25 |
| Above the all-time low | it is 276.0% above its all-time low | +276.0% |
Volatility
5
| Band width vs its own 6 months | day-to-day price swings are unusually narrow versus its own recent history — a "Bollinger squeeze" (in the tightest 1% of the past ~6 months), which often precedes a bigger move | 1st percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Typical daily range | in a typical session it travels about $0.5756 between its high and its low — about 4.7% of its price. That is its "average true range" over the last 14 sessions, which also counts the distance from the previous close, so a day that opens well away from yesterday counts as the large move it was | $0.5756 |
| Bollinger bands (20-day, ±2σ) | most of its recent trading has stayed between about $11.51 and $12.76 — the "Bollinger bands", a range drawn two standard deviations either side of its 20-day average price, which widens when the stock gets more volatile and narrows when it settles | $11.51 – $12.14 – $12.76 |
| Typical daily range (% of price) | its price moves about 4.7% in a typical session — about typical for the companies we cover. This is the average gap between a session's high and low over the last 14 sessions, counting overnight moves, expressed against the current price so it can be compared with companies trading at any price | 4.7% |
| Stretch from the 200-day average | it is trading 2.3 daily ranges above its 200-day average price (12.4% above it in plain percentage terms) — a way of asking how far it has stretched from its own average in units of how far it normally moves in a day, so a calm company and a jumpy one can be compared on the same scale | 2.3 daily ranges above its 200-day average |
Volume
1
| Volume vs its 30-day average | trading volume is about normal versus its 30-day average | 0.64× |
|---|
Analyst
2
| Change in the average price target | analysts have raised their average price target by 2.2% since the prior reading | +2.2% |
|---|---|---|
| Change in the consensus rating | the analyst consensus rating is unchanged since the prior reading | unchanged |
Candlestick patterns
1
| Since a doji | 5 sessions ago it opened and closed at almost the same price after trading through a wider range — a "doji", the classic picture of buyers and sellers finishing the session level | 5 sessions ago |
|---|
Price gaps
3
| Gap at the open | it opened on 2026-08-21 at essentially the same price it closed at the session before — no meaningful overnight gap | +0.1% |
|---|---|---|
| Open gap | it gapped 2.6% above the previous close 49 sessions ago and has not traded back through the level it left behind at 9.3 — an "unfilled gap", which describes a price range no trade has since crossed and is not a forecast that it will be crossed | +2.6% |
| Gap filled | a 8.6% gap down opened on 2026-08-06 has been "filled" 11 sessions ago — price traded back through the level the gap left behind, and it closed again during the very session that opened it | 11 sessions ago |
Price streaks
1
| Closing streak | it has closed lower 2 sessions in a row, a -1.77% move over the run — an unbroken run of down days, which describes what has already happened and says nothing about the next session | 2 sessions down |
|---|
Relative strength
4
| vs market, 1 month | over the past 1 month this stock beat the market by 0.6 percentage points (the stock gained 2.9% while the market gained 2.3%) | +0.6% |
|---|---|---|
| vs market, 3 months | over the past 3 months this stock beat the market by 24.6 percentage points (the stock gained 27.7% while the market gained 3.1%) | +24.6% |
| vs market, 6 months | over the past 6 months this stock lagged the market by 4.5 percentage points (the stock gained 6.5% while the market gained 11.1%) | -4.5% |
| vs market, 12 months | over the past 12 months this stock lagged the market by 22.4 percentage points (the stock lost 1.9% while the market gained 20.5%) | -22.4% |
Signal agreement
2
| Bullish technical signals | 3 of the 9 technical signals we can compute for it are currently in a bullish state: a "golden cross" — its 50-day average is above its 200-day, trading above its 200-day average, trading above the Ichimoku cloud — these describe past price behaviour, not a forecast | 3 of 9 |
|---|---|---|
| Bearish technical signals | 2 of the 9 technical signals we can compute for it are currently in a bearish state: MACD momentum is negative, lagging the market over 6 months — these describe past price behaviour, not a forecast | 2 of 9 |
Trend (Ichimoku cloud)
1
| Vs the Ichimoku cloud | trading 10% above the Ichimoku cloud — a band drawn from where its own highs and lows sat up to 2026-07-16 and projected forward over today's price, the side traders read as an established uptrend, with the band below acting as the level that would have to give way. The band itself is moderate, spanning 2.7% of the share price. | +10.1% |
|---|
Volume-weighted price
2
| Vs this year’s average price paid | the price is 21% above the average price paid so far this year, so the typical buyer over that stretch is showing a gain. That average is $10.13 — a volume-weighted average of daily closes over 157 sessions, not a true tick-by-tick VWAP. | +20.6% |
|---|---|---|
| Vs the average paid since it last reported | the price is 1% above the average price paid since it last reported on 2026-08-06 (its 10-Q), so the typical buyer over that stretch is showing a gain. That average is $12.10 — a volume-weighted average of daily closes over 12 sessions, not a true tick-by-tick VWAP. | +1.0% |
Price levels it has turned at before
CARS last closed at $12.22 on 2026-08-21. Since 2024-08-21 it has turned at 7 prices below its last close and 10 above; the 3 nearest below and the 3 nearest above are listed, nearest first.
| Level | Side | Distance | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| $12.24 | Resistance | 0.2% above the last close | turned there twice · 2025-04-29 to 2025-07-16 |
| $12.01 | Support | 1.7% below the last close | turned there four times · 2025-04-09 to 2026-01-05 |
| $12.59 | Resistance | 3.0% above the last close | turned there 7 times · 2025-03-25 to 2026-07-17 |
| $11.69 | Support | 4.3% below the last close | turned there twice · 2026-02-20 to 2026-07-07 |
| $11.49 | Support | 6.0% below the last close | turned there three times · 2025-10-27 to 2026-04-21 |
| $13.33 | Resistance | 9.1% above the last close | turned there twice · 2025-08-06 to 2026-08-07 |
A level is a price this company reversed or paused at more than once — they describe past behaviour, not a forecast of where the price will go.
Wave structure
No Elliott-wave labelling currently fits its swings: the recent highs and lows do not satisfy the three rules a five-wave count has to obey, so there is no count to show rather than a count we are unsure about.
Read from daily closes as of 2026-08-21.
An Elliott-wave count describes the swings already printed and the level that would disprove it. It is not a forecast, a target, or advice.
Screens: Trading above the 200-day moving average · Recent golden cross (50-day crossed above 200-day) · Tested and reclaimed 200-day support · in a Bollinger Band volatility squeeze · Analyst price target recently RAISED · Trading above the Ichimoku cloud | Learn: moving average · golden cross · adx · rsi · breakout · bollinger bands
Based on daily closing prices as of 2026-08-21. Describes past price behavior only — informational, not financial advice.
Analyst consensus
- Consensus ratingHold (2.57 mean, 1=Strong Buy…5=Strong Sell) — 7 analysts
- Mean price target$13.43 range $9.00 – $17.50; median $13.00
Analyst estimates, as of 2026-08-18. These are third-party analyst opinions and price targets, aggregated — not a recommendation, prediction, or advice from stocks-llm. Informational only.
Analyst EPS estimate for CARS
- Consensus EPS estimate$0.5911 next reporting period, as of 2026-08-18
Change over time is not available yet: it needs two readings of the same reporting period at least 30 days apart, and we have been recording these estimates since 2026-08-04. An estimate for a DIFFERENT quarter is not a revision, so a reading from before the last report is never compared with one after it.
The consensus estimate for the next reporting period, and how it has moved between readings of that SAME period. A change is measured only between readings estimating one period — when a company reports, the consensus moves to the next quarter and the two numbers are not comparable. Informational only, not a forecast and not advice.
Key risks (from latest filing)
["Reliance on dealer and OEM customer subscription revenue, with marketplace-dependent pricing and potential customer concentration risk in an economically sensitive auto industry","Competition from established automotive platforms (Edmunds, Autotrader, etc.) and new entrants offering similar marketplace and digital solutions","Decline in consumer auto purchases or dealership consolidation could reduce demand for marketplace and digital services"]
What changed in the latest 10-Q
AI-assisted comparison of CARS's 10-Q filed 2026-05-07 against the prior one filed 2025-11-06.
Management's Discussion & Analysis (MD&A)
- Added:
- Added disclosure that during Q1 2026, company recorded $8.5 million of expense associated with 11% workforce reduction plan with one-time termination benefits expected to be paid in Q2 2026
- Added explanation that UVs and Traffic decreases primarily reflect pull-forward consumer demand in prior year related to anticipated tariff announcements
- Added statement that company realized marketing efficiencies to capture high-intent consumer demand
- Added detail that Dealer Customers increase was partially offset by decrease in digital solutions customers
- Added statement that ARPD declines reflected declines in dealer media
- Added reference to 'automotive advertising' as a factor affecting performance
- Removed:
- Removed reference to 'Cars Commerce' in opening section (changed to only 'Cars.com Inc.')
- Removed detailed business overview describing five industry-leading capabilities (Dealer Inspire, D2C Media, AccuTrade, DealerClub, Cars Commerce Media Network descriptions)
- Removed nine-month financial comparison data (only three months shown in newer filing)
- Removed statement about 'increasing number of car-buying customers shopping online' and online chat solutions discussion
- Removed references to 'platform strategy,' 'cross selling opportunities,' and 'platform advantages'
- Removed phrase 'will depend in part' (changed to 'depends in part')
- Removed reference to 'family of brands' in strategic strengths
- Removed reference to 'creating an engaged in-market audience' (changed to 'attract and engage an in-market audience')
- Removed reference to 'unlocking cross selling opportunities' from long-term success factors
- Reworded:
- Changed 'Cars Commerce is an audience-driven technology company empowering the automotive industry' to 'Cars.com Inc. is a trusted audience-powered and data-driven technology platform that simplifies buying and selling cars'
- Changed description from 'simplify everything about car buying and selling' to 'simplifies buying and selling cars'
- Changed 'five industry-leading capabilities' presentation to simpler description of 'interconnected ecosystem of products'
- Changed 'powering the car buying experience' from descriptive phrase to focus on 'artificial intelligence shopping tools'
- Changed 'marketing investment' discussion to 'marketing efficiencies'
- Changed 'strategic shifts to our marketing mix' to focus on tariff-related pull-forward demand
- Changed 'marketplace repackaging' to 'upgrades in website offerings, and adoption of new marketplace packages'
- Changed 'continue to execute our platform strategy' to 'navigate a rapidly changing automotive environment'
- Changed reference from 'technology solutions and automotive marketplaces like Cars.com' to just 'marketing spend and technology solutions'
- Changed 'affordability pressures' addition to factors affecting performance (newer filing adds this)
- Notes:
- The newer filing covers Q1 2026 (three months ended March 31, 2026) while older filing covers Q3 2025 (three months ended September 30, 2025), representing different reporting periods
- The older filing included nine-month comparison data which is not present in the newer filing's excerpt
- Company name reference changed from 'Cars Commerce' in older filing to 'Cars.com Inc.' in newer filing, reflecting potential corporate rebranding
- Comparison involves different fiscal periods with different market conditions (tariff anticipation in prior year Q1 vs. September 2025)
Risk Factors
The two filings could not be meaningfully compared for this section.
AI-assisted comparison of two SEC filing sections. It describes wording and theme changes only, makes no materiality, legal, or investment judgement, and is not financial advice. Informational only — not financial advice.
Insider activity (SEC Form 4)
0 open-market purchases and 2 open-market sales by insiders in the last 90 days.
- Last 90 days0 buys · 2 sells ($825515) — 1 selling insider
- Last 180 days1 buy ($15082) · 2 sells ($825515) — 1 buying, 1 selling insiders
Activity heuristic: net selling (a transparent product heuristic from the counts above, not a prediction or advice)
Most recent open-market transaction: 2026-06-12. As of 2026-08-24.
View full insider trading history → View SEC Form 3/4/5 filingsAsk about CARS's insider activity →
Only open-market purchases (SEC code P) and sales (code S) are counted here. Option exercises, vesting/awards, gifts, and shares withheld for taxes are excluded — they are compensation or mechanical, not open-market conviction. Sales may be planned and non-discretionary (e.g. a Rule 10b5-1 plan) and are not necessarily bearish; open-market buying is not a recommendation to buy. Informational only — not financial advice.
Institutional ownership (13F)
5 institutional 13F filers reported holding CARS as of 2026-03-31 (quarter-end position, filed within 45 days).
- Distinct 13F filers 5
- Reported shares held 15,689,982
- Reported value $127,402,652
reported quarterly holdings change (2025-12-31 → 2026-03-31): 0 new, 3 increased, 2 decreased, 0 exited. Change counts cover only managers that filed 13F reports in BOTH quarters, derived between two quarter-end snapshots — not same-day trades; a single manager is never said to have "bought" or "sold".
Institutional holdings are quarter-end long positions reported on SEC Form 13F-HR, filed up to 45 days after the quarter ends — they are delayed, are not real-time trades, exclude short positions and most non-US securities, and are not investment advice. Any increase/decrease is a reported change between two quarterly snapshots, not a same-day purchase or sale. These are quarter-end snapshots from the 13F filings on SEC EDGAR, filed within 45 days — not real-time, and any change is a difference between two quarterly reports, not a same-day trade. Informational only — not financial advice.
Short interest (FINRA)
CARS had 6,034,309 shares of reported short interest as of the 2026-07-31 FINRA settlement date (delayed, bi-monthly; not real-time).
CARS had 11.3% of its shares outstanding sold short as of the 2026-07-31 FINRA settlement date (percent of FLOAT would be higher — float is not disclosed in the source). FINRA reported 8.77 days to cover at the same settlement.
- Reported short interest (shares) 6,034,309
- Short interest (% of shares outstanding) 11.3%
- Prior settlement (shares) 6,498,048
- Reported change -7.14%
- Days to cover (reported) 8.77
Reported to FINRA as of the 2026-07-31 settlement date. Short interest is reported to FINRA and published on a delayed, bi-monthly schedule (as of a settlement date, disseminated roughly eight business days later) — it is NOT real-time, does not cover every venue or all US trading, and is not a short-squeeze prediction or investment advice. Days-to-cover is the value FINRA reports; percent of float is not shown because the source file carries no share-count denominator — where a percent appears it is of shares OUTSTANDING, the larger base, and is therefore a floor on percent of float. Informational only — not financial advice.
Competitors & peers
- Edmunds
- Autotrader
- Kelley Blue Book (Cox Automotive)
- TrueCar
- Carvana
- Vroom
AI-enriched competitor set. Linked names are companies covered by stocks-llm; other named peers are shown for reference only.
Compare CARS vs…
Frequently asked questions
What does CARS.COM INC (CARS) do?
Cars.com Inc. is a digital automotive marketplace and technology platform that connects millions of consumers with dealerships and OEMs across the U.S. and Canada. The company operates an interconnected ecosystem of products including its flagship Cars.com marketplace, dealer websites, trade-and-appraisal tools, and in-market media solutions.
What sector is CARS.COM INC (CARS) in?
CARS.COM INC (CARS) is classified in the Communication Services sector. Its industry is automotive digital marketplace and dealer technology. It trades on NYSE.
Who are CARS.COM INC's (CARS) competitors?
Notable peers of CARS.COM INC (CARS) include Edmunds, Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book (Cox Automotive), TrueCar and Carvana. This peer set is informational only — not financial advice.
Is CARS.COM INC (CARS) overbought or oversold right now?
CARS.COM INC (CARS) is currently neither overbought nor oversold — its 14-day RSI (a 0–100 momentum gauge) is 54, in the neutral middle (as of 2026-08-21). RSI describes recent price momentum, not a forecast — informational only, not financial advice.
Where does stocks-llm's data on CARS come from?
Fundamentals and prices come from market data, as of 2026-08-24; company filings and profile facts come from SEC EDGAR. All figures are delayed daily-close data shown with their as-of date — informational only, not financial advice.
Fundamentals: market data, as of 2026-08-24. Filings: SEC EDGAR. Prices are delayed daily-close data.
Last updated 2026-08-21.
Informational only — NOT financial advice. All figures are delayed daily-close data from SEC EDGAR & market data, shown with their as-of date.