Cars.com Q4 revenue slightly beats estimates, net income falls on yr-ago gain
Cars.com Inc. CARS | 0.00 |
Overview
Car marketplace's Q4 revenue slightly beat analyst expectations
Net income for Q4 fell 57% yr/yr due to prior period investment gain
Company repurchased 7.1 mln shares, retiring 9% of shares outstanding
Outlook
Company expects Q1 2026 revenue to be flat to up 1% year-over-year
Company anticipates Q1 2026 Adjusted EBITDA margin of 26.0% to 27.0%
Cars.com sees full-year 2026 revenue flat to up 2% year-over-year
Company expects full-year 2026 Adjusted EBITDA margin of 29.0% to 30.0%
Result Drivers
DEALER REVENUE GROWTH - Subscription-based dealer revenue rose 3% yr/yr, driven by marketplace and website repackaging benefits
MARKETPLACE PREMIUM+ GROWTH - Marketplace Premium+ subscriber base more than doubled quarter-over-quarter during Q4
OEM REVENUE DECLINE - OEM and National revenue fell 9% yr/yr, reflecting changes in OEM spending
Company press release: ID:nPn6JNVCLa
Key Details
Metric |
Beat/Miss |
Actual |
Consensus Estimate |
Q4 Revenue |
Slight Beat* |
$183.90 mln |
$183.45 mln (6 Analysts) |
Q4 Net Income |
|
$7.40 mln |
|
Q4 Adjusted EBITDA |
|
$54.90 mln |
|
Q4 Adjusted Operating Expenses |
|
$145.50 mln |
|
Q4 Operating Expenses |
|
$162.20 mln |
|
*Applies to a deviation of less than 1%; not applicable for per-share numbers.
Analyst Coverage
The current average analyst rating on the shares is "buy" and the breakdown of recommendations is 5 "strong buy" or "buy", 1 "hold" and 1 "sell" or "strong sell"
The average consensus recommendation for the online services peer group is "buy"
Wall Street's median 12-month price target for Cars.com Inc is $16.00, about 49% above its February 25 closing price of $10.74
The stock recently traded at 15 times the next 12-month earnings vs. a P/E of 16 three months ago
For questions concerning the data in this report, contact Estimates.Support@lseg.com. For any other questions or feedback, contact reuters.support@thomsonreuters.com.
