| Snowflake Score | |
|---|---|
| Valuation | 2/6 |
| Future Growth | 3/6 |
| Past Performance | 2/6 |
| Financial Health | 2/6 |
| Dividends | 0/6 |
CARS Stock Overview
Cars.com Inc. operates as a digital marketplace and provides solutions for the automotive industry.
Cars.com Competitors
Price History & Performance
| Historical stock prices | |
|---|---|
| Current Share Price | US$10.15 |
| 52 Week High | US$19.09 |
| 52 Week Low | US$8.75 |
| Beta | 2.03 |
| 1 Month Change | -20.83% |
| 3 Month Change | -37.31% |
| 1 Year Change | -24.42% |
| 3 Year Change | -53.86% |
| 5 Year Change | -59.40% |
| Change since IPO | -58.87% |
Recent News & Updates
Here's Why Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) Can Manage Its Debt Responsibly
The external fund manager backed by Berkshire Hathaway's Charlie Munger, Li Lu, makes no bones about it when he says...
Shareholder Returns
| CARS | US Interactive Media and Services | US Market | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7D | 7.9% | 1.6% | 0.7% |
| 1Y | -24.4% | -18.3% | -10.8% |
Return vs Industry: CARS underperformed the US Interactive Media and Services industry which returned -17.4% over the past year.
Return vs Market: CARS underperformed the US Market which returned -10.4% over the past year.
Price Volatility
| CARS volatility | |
|---|---|
| CARS Average Weekly Movement | 7.6% |
| Interactive Media and Services Industry Average Movement | 12.3% |
| Market Average Movement | 7.8% |
| 10% most volatile stocks in US Market | 16.8% |
| 10% least volatile stocks in US Market | 2.9% |
Stable Share Price: CARS is not significantly more volatile than the rest of US stocks over the past 3 months, typically moving +/- 8% a week.
Volatility Over Time: CARS's weekly volatility (8%) has been stable over the past year.
About the Company
| Founded | Employees | CEO | Website |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 1,600 | Alex Vetter | https://www.cars.com |
Cars.com Inc. operates as a digital marketplace and provides solutions for the automotive industry. Its platform connects car shoppers with sellers. The company, through its marketplace, dealer websites, and other digital products, showcases dealer inventory, elevate and amplify dealers’ and automotive manufacturers’ (OEMs) brands, connect sellers with ready-to-buy audience, and empower shoppers with the resources and information needed to make car buying decisions.
Cars.com Fundamentals Summary
| CARS fundamental statistics | |
|---|---|
| Market Cap | US$705.34m |
| Earnings (TTM) | US$6.78m |
| Revenue (TTM) | US$628.60m |
104.0x
P/E Ratio1.1x
P/S RatioIs CARS overvalued?
See Fair Value and valuation analysisEarnings & Revenue
| CARS income statement (TTM) | |
|---|---|
| Revenue | US$628.60m |
| Cost of Revenue | US$195.98m |
| Gross Profit | US$432.61m |
| Other Expenses | US$425.83m |
| Earnings | US$6.78m |
Last Reported Earnings
Mar 31, 2022
Next Earnings Date
n/a
| Earnings per share (EPS) | 0.098 |
| Gross Margin | 68.82% |
| Net Profit Margin | 1.08% |
| Debt/Equity Ratio | 128.9% |
How did CARS perform over the long term?
See historical performance and comparisonValuation
Is Cars.com undervalued compared to its fair value and its price relative to the market?
Valuation Score
2/6Valuation Score 2/6
Below Fair Value
Significantly Below Fair Value
PE vs Industry
PE vs Market
PEG Ratio
PB vs Industry
>50%
Undervalued compared to fair value
Share Price vs. Fair Value
Below Fair Value: CARS ($10.15) is trading below our estimate of fair value ($33.68)
Significantly Below Fair Value: CARS is trading below fair value by more than 20%.
Price To Earnings Ratio
PE vs Industry: CARS is poor value based on its PE Ratio (104x) compared to the US Interactive Media and Services industry average (24.1x).
PE vs Market: CARS is poor value based on its PE Ratio (104x) compared to the US market (15.5x).
Price to Earnings Growth Ratio
PEG Ratio: CARS is poor value based on its PEG Ratio (3.4x)
Price to Book Ratio
PB vs Industry: CARS's PB Ratio (1.8x) is in line with the US Interactive Media and Services industry average.
Future Growth
How is Cars.com forecast to perform in the next 1 to 3 years based on estimates from 7 analysts?
Future Growth Score
3/6Future Growth Score 3/6
Earnings vs Savings Rate
Earnings vs Market
High Growth Earnings
Revenue vs Market
High Growth Revenue
Future ROE
30.5%
Forecasted annual earnings growth
Earnings and Revenue Growth Forecasts
Analyst Future Growth Forecasts
Earnings vs Savings Rate: CARS's forecast earnings growth (30.5% per year) is above the savings rate (1.9%).
Earnings vs Market: CARS's earnings (30.5% per year) are forecast to grow faster than the US market (12.6% per year).
High Growth Earnings: earnings are expected to grow significantly over the next 3 years.
Revenue vs Market: CARS's revenue (4.2% per year) is forecast to grow slower than the US market (8% per year).
High Growth Revenue: CARS's revenue (4.2% per year) is forecast to grow slower than 20% per year.
Earnings per Share Growth Forecasts
Future Return on Equity
Future ROE: Insufficient data to determine if CARS's Return on Equity is forecast to be high in 3 years time
Past Performance
How has Cars.com performed over the past 5 years?
Past Performance Score
2/6Past Performance Score 2/6
Quality Earnings
Growing Profit Margin
Earnings Trend
Accelerating Growth
Earnings vs Industry
High ROE
-38.5%
Historical annual earnings growth
Earnings and Revenue History
Quality Earnings: CARS has a large one-off loss of $2.2M impacting its March 31 2022 financial results.
Growing Profit Margin: CARS became profitable in the past.
Past Earnings Growth Analysis
Earnings Trend: CARS has become profitable over the past 5 years, growing earnings by -38.5% per year.
Accelerating Growth: CARS has become profitable in the last year, making the earnings growth rate difficult to compare to its 5-year average.
Earnings vs Industry: CARS has become profitable in the last year, making it difficult to compare its past year earnings growth to the Interactive Media and Services industry (-32.4%).
Return on Equity
High ROE: CARS's Return on Equity (1.7%) is considered low.
Financial Health
How is Cars.com's financial position?
Financial Health Score
2/6Financial Health Score 2/6
Short Term Liabilities
Long Term Liabilities
Debt Level
Reducing Debt
Debt Coverage
Interest Coverage
Financial Position Analysis
Short Term Liabilities: CARS's short term assets ($138.4M) exceed its short term liabilities ($95.8M).
Long Term Liabilities: CARS's short term assets ($138.4M) do not cover its long term liabilities ($577.3M).
Debt to Equity History and Analysis
Debt Level: CARS's net debt to equity ratio (121.2%) is considered high.
Reducing Debt: CARS's debt to equity ratio has increased from 0.3% to 128.9% over the past 5 years.
Debt Coverage: CARS's debt is well covered by operating cash flow (23.1%).
Interest Coverage: CARS's interest payments on its debt are not well covered by EBIT (1.2x coverage).
Balance Sheet
Dividend
What is Cars.com current dividend yield, its reliability and sustainability?
Dividend Score
0/6Dividend Score 0/6
Notable Dividend
High Dividend
Stable Dividend
Growing Dividend
Earnings Coverage
Future Dividend Coverage
Dividend Yield vs Market
Notable Dividend: Unable to evaluate CARS's dividend yield against the bottom 25% of dividend payers, as the company has not reported any recent payouts.
High Dividend: Unable to evaluate CARS's dividend yield against the top 25% of dividend payers, as the company has not reported any recent payouts.
Stability and Growth of Payments
Stable Dividend: Insufficient data to determine if CARS's dividends per share have been stable in the past.
Growing Dividend: Insufficient data to determine if CARS's dividend payments have been increasing.
Earnings Payout to Shareholders
Earnings Coverage: Insufficient data to calculate payout ratio to determine if its dividend payments are covered by earnings.
Cash Payout to Shareholders
Cash Flow Coverage: Unable to calculate sustainability of dividends as CARS has not reported any payouts.
Next Steps
Management
How experienced are the management team and are they aligned to shareholders interests?
2.5yrs
Average management tenure
CEO
Alex Vetter (50 yo)
25.33yrs
Tenure
US$6,985,255
Compensation
Mr. Alex Vetter co-founded Cars.com Inc. in 1997 and has been its Chief Executive Officer since November 2014. Mr. Vetter served as President at Cars.com Inc. until January 01, 2022. Mr. Vetter served as P...
CEO Compensation Analysis
Compensation vs Market: Alex's total compensation ($USD6.99M) is above average for companies of similar size in the US market ($USD3.88M).
Compensation vs Earnings: Alex's compensation has been consistent with company performance over the past year.
Leadership Team
Experienced Management: CARS's management team is considered experienced (2.5 years average tenure).
Board Members
Experienced Board: CARS's board of directors are considered experienced (4.9 years average tenure).
Ownership
Who are the major shareholders and have insiders been buying or selling?
Insider Trading Volume
Insider Buying: CARS insiders have sold more shares than they have bought in the past 3 months.
Recent Insider Transactions
Ownership Breakdown
Dilution of Shares: Shareholders have not been meaningfully diluted in the past year.
Top Shareholders
Company Information
Cars.com Inc.'s employee growth, exchange listings and data sources
Key Information
- Name: Cars.com Inc.
- Ticker: CARS
- Exchange: NYSE
- Founded: 1998
- Industry: Interactive Media and Services
- Sector: Media
- Implied Market Cap: US$705.344m
- Shares outstanding: 69.49m
- Website: https://www.cars.com
Number of Employees
Location
- Cars.com Inc.
- 300 S. Riverside Plaza
- Suite 1000
- Chicago
- Illinois
- 60606
- United States
Listings
Company Analysis and Financial Data Status
| Data | Last Updated (UTC time) |
|---|---|
| Company Analysis | 2022/05/16 00:00 |
| End of Day Share Price | 2022/05/16 00:00 |
| Earnings | 2022/03/31 |
| Annual Earnings | 2021/12/31 |
Unless specified all financial data is based on a yearly period but updated quarterly. This is known as Trailing Twelve Month (TTM) or Last Twelve Month (LTM) Data. Learn more here.