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Cars.com Inc. (CARS)

Communication Services | Internet Content & Information | Chicago, United States | NYSE
11.07 USD +0.03 (0.272%) ⇧ (April 21, 2026, 2:14 p.m. EDT)

Short-term: ★★★☆☆ | Long-term: ★☆☆☆☆ | Dividends: ☆☆☆☆☆
Hot Take | April 18, 2026, 11:58 p.m. EDT

CARS is a deep-value trap with deteriorating fundamentals masked by an artificially low forward P/E; the stock is a defensive hold at best but fundamentally weak, yet a technical rebound to shares is possible if car sales data remains resilient, though $20+ resistance suggests long-term capital is unrealistically priced in at current levels.

Model Selection — Backtest MAE (log-scale, lower is better)
ModelMAE
AutoTheta ✓0.206904
AutoARIMA0.220314
AutoETS0.221909
MSTL0.225204

Forecast horizon: 45 days | Selected: AutoTheta

Forecast Reliability
Score 41%
H-stat 27.58
Ljung-Box p 0.000
Jarque-Bera p 0.075
Excess Kurtosis -1.65
Attribute Value
Sector Communication Services
Debt to Equity Ratio 99.141
Revenue per Share 11.593
Market Cap 649,108,928
Trailing P/E 34.59
Forward P/E 4.82
Beta 1.46
Profit Margins 2.77%
Website https://www.cars.com

As of April 18, 2026, 11:58 p.m. EDT: Options flow shows heavy call skew compared to puts, with significant volume entering at-the-money and slightly out-of-the-money calls (200 contracts at $12.5 strike). While there is some OI buildup at lower OTM strikes for protection, the volume-to-OI ratio for calls suggests a bullish spec directional bias. Implied volatility is elevated relative to the low underlying beta, indicating anticipation of a move or earnings capture, but the disparity in call volume suggests asymmetric upside positioning.


Info Dump

Attribute Value
52 Week Change -0.030728698
Address1 300 South Riverside Plaza
Address2 Suite 1000
All Time High 32.94
All Time Low 3.25
Ask 11.1
Ask Size 1,000
Audit Risk 1
Average Analyst Rating 2.3 - Buy
Average Daily Volume10 Day 1,090,230
Average Daily Volume3 Month 1,454,075
Average Volume 1,454,075
Average Volume10Days 1,090,230
Beta 1.461
Bid 11.09
Bid Size 1,400
Board Risk 2
Book Value 8.059
City Chicago
Compensation Risk 3
Country United States
Crypto Tradeable 0
Currency USD
Current Price 11.07
Current Ratio 1.866
Custom Price Alert Confidence HIGH
Date Short Interest 1,774,915,200
Day High 11.45
Day Low 11.025
Debt To Equity 99.141
Display Name Cars.com
Earnings Call Timestamp End 1,778,158,800
Earnings Call Timestamp Start 1,778,158,800
Earnings Growth -0.536
Earnings Quarterly Growth -0.572
Earnings Timestamp 1,778,157,000
Earnings Timestamp End 1,778,157,000
Earnings Timestamp Start 1,778,157,000
Ebitda 152,292,000
Ebitda Margins 0.21057
Enterprise To Ebitda 6.951
Enterprise To Revenue 1.464
Enterprise Value 1,058,586,880
Eps Current Year 2.11322
Eps Forward 2.29808
Eps Trailing Twelve Months 0.32
Esg Populated 0
Exchange NYQ
Exchange Data Delayed By 0
Exchange Timezone Name America/New_York
Exchange Timezone Short Name EDT
Fax 312 601 5755
Fifty Day Average 9.2554
Fifty Day Average Change 1.8146
Fifty Day Average Change Percent 0.19605853
Fifty Two Week Change Percent -3.0728698
Fifty Two Week High 13.97
Fifty Two Week High Change -2.9000006
Fifty Two Week High Change Percent -0.20758772
Fifty Two Week Low 7.4
Fifty Two Week Low Change 3.6699996
Fifty Two Week Low Change Percent 0.49594587
Fifty Two Week Range 7.4 - 13.97
Financial Currency USD
First Trade Date Milliseconds 1,496,323,800,000
Float Shares 50,308,584
Forward Eps 2.29808
Forward P E 4.817065
Free Cashflow 115,382,496
Full Exchange Name NYSE
Full Time Employees 1,700
Gmt Off Set Milliseconds -14,400,000
Governance Epoch Date 1,775,001,600
Gross Margins 0.66725
Gross Profits 482,580,992
Has Pre Post Market Data 1
Held Percent Insiders 0.117089994
Held Percent Institutions 1.12991
Implied Shares Outstanding 58,636,764
Industry Internet Content & Information
Industry Disp Internet Content & Information
Industry Key internet-content-information
Is Earnings Date Estimate 0
Language en-US
Last Fiscal Year End 1,767,139,200
Long Business Summary Cars.com Inc., an audience-driven technology company, provides solutions for the automotive industry in the United States. The company offers marketplace through Cars.com that allows OEMs and dealers to merchandise their inventory, as well as provides reputation management technology and digital financing tools. It also operates dealer websites to transform automotive retail processes; and trade and appraisal product, including AccuTrade, which uses demand data and diagnostic scans to determine the right trade-in offer for every VIN in minutes. In addition, the company offers media solution, such as Cars Social, allows dealers to target and serve native advertisements displaying real-time inventory to in-market car shoppers on Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platform; VIN Performance Media, a machine-learning for media campaign, including audience targeting, real-time inventory, and ad placement across search, social, and display; In-Market Video, provides OEMs and dealers to pinpoint serious, ready-to-buy shoppers geographically; and proprietary in-market media solutions. The company serves local dealers, OEMs, dealer groups, and auto-adjacent companies. Cars.com Inc. was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Long Name Cars.com Inc.
Market us_market
Market Cap 649,108,928
Market State REGULAR
Max Age 86,400
Message Board Id finmb_7612672
Most Recent Quarter 1,767,139,200
Net Income To Common 20,052,000
Next Fiscal Year End 1,798,675,200
Non Diluted Market Cap 629,496,008
Number Of Analyst Opinions 7
Open 11.1
Operating Cashflow 151,639,008
Operating Margins 0.11821
Overall Risk 1
Payout Ratio 0.0
Peg Ratio 2.35
Phone 312 601 5000
Previous Close 11.04
Price Eps Current Year 5.238451
Price Hint 2
Price To Book 1.3736196
Price To Sales Trailing12 Months 0.8975027
Profit Margins 0.02773
Quick Ratio 1.668
Quote Source Name Nasdaq Real Time Price
Quote Type EQUITY
Recommendation Key buy
Recommendation Mean 2.28571
Region US
Regular Market Change 0.029999733
Regular Market Change Percent 0.2717367
Regular Market Day High 11.45
Regular Market Day Low 11.025
Regular Market Day Range 11.025 - 11.45
Regular Market Open 11.1
Regular Market Previous Close 11.04
Regular Market Price 11.07
Regular Market Time 1,776,795,272
Regular Market Volume 428,900
Return On Assets 0.03475
Return On Equity 0.040760003
Revenue Growth 0.019
Revenue Per Share 11.593
Sand P52 Week Change 0.34445214
Sector Communication Services
Sector Disp Communication Services
Sector Key communication-services
Share Holder Rights Risk 2
Shares Outstanding 57,019,566
Shares Percent Shares Out 0.1246
Shares Short 7,307,418
Shares Short Previous Month Date 1,772,150,400
Shares Short Prior Month 7,649,664
Short Name Cars.com Inc.
Short Percent Of Float 0.2199
Short Ratio 3.28
Source Interval 15
State IL
Symbol CARS
Target High Price 17.5
Target Low Price 9.0
Target Mean Price 12.35714
Target Median Price 13.0
Total Cash 57,236,000
Total Cash Per Share 0.976
Total Debt 468,472,992
Total Revenue 723,238,976
Tradeable 0
Trailing Annual Dividend Rate 0.0
Trailing Annual Dividend Yield 0.0
Trailing Eps 0.32
Trailing P E 34.59375
Trailing Peg Ratio None
Triggerable 1
Two Hundred Day Average 11.44625
Two Hundred Day Average Change -0.37625027
Two Hundred Day Average Change Percent -0.032871053
Type Disp Equity
Volume 428,900
Website https://www.cars.com
Zip 60,606