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CARS

Cars.com Inc.

Communication ServicesBusiness Services & Software
Ticker CARSCHICAGO, ILFiscal year ends DecemberBook value per share $7.63Diluted shares 58.1M

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE: CARS) operates as a trusted, audience-powered and data-driven technology platform that simplifies the buying and selling of automobiles. The company maintains its flagship marketplace at www.carscommerce.inc, which connects millions of consumers to dealerships across the United States and Canada… From the company’s description.

Fiscal year 2025 · ends 12-31Changes are against fiscal 2024The amber dot is the latest twelve months, to 2026-06-30
Sales & profitability
$723.24M
+0.6% year over year
Last 12 mo $725.63M
8.33%
+0.9 percentage points
Last 12 mo 11.45%
$20.05M
−58.4% year over year
Last 12 mo $34.30M
4.24%
−5.2 percentage points
Last 12 mo 7.73%
Cash & financing
$151.64M
−0.6% year over year
Last 12 mo $151.58M
$125.73M
−1.9% year over year
Last 12 mo $127.38M
0.96
Was 0.89× a year earlier
Last 12 mo 1.01
63.3M
−6.1% year over year
Last 12 mo 58.1M

Margins and return on equity change in ; everything else in percent. Fewer shares and less debt are shown plainly, not as bad news — it depends what you make of buybacks. Dotted labels explain each measure. is shown separately from the annual figures.

What Cars.com Inc. does

In the company’s own words

Cars.com Inc. (NYSE: CARS) operates as a trusted, audience-powered and data-driven technology platform that simplifies the buying and selling of automobiles. The company maintains its flagship marketplace at www.carscommerce.inc, which connects millions of consumers to dealerships across the United States and Canada through artificial intelligence shopping tools, comprehensive vehicle reviews, and detailed content resources.

The company's interconnected ecosystem comprises four core product capabilities: Marketplace, Digital Experience, Media Solutions, and Trade & Appraisal. The Marketplace serves as the central hub, featuring the Cars.com brand with over 4.6 million monthly unique vehicle identification numbers and more than 16 million consumer reviews. The Digital Experience segment operates dealer websites for approximately 7,700 dealers across the U.S. and Canada as an endorsed provider by substantially all major original equipment manufacturers. Media Solutions enable local and national customers to reach in-market consumers through Cars Social, VIN Performance Media, and In-Market Video offerings. The Trade & Appraisal division, anchored by AccuTrade, helps dealers manage inventory lifecycle and includes DealerClub, a reputation-based dealer-to-dealer digital auction platform.

Cars.com serves approximately 19,500 franchise and independent dealer customers, with roughly 80 percent subscribing to either the marketplace or marketplace combined with additional interconnected solutions. The platform attracts approximately 26 million average monthly unique visitors who collectively visit the marketplace over 600 million times annually. Substantially all original equipment manufacturers selling vehicles in the U.S. and Canada conduct business with the company.

The business model generates approximately 80 percent of revenue through subscription-based solutions, creating recurring revenue streams across marketplace subscription packages, digital solutions, and media offerings. The company maintains an asset-light structure with significant net operating cash flow exceeding 135 million dollars annually over the past three years. As of December 31, 2025, Cars.com employed approximately 1,700 full-time, part-time, seasonal and temporary employees. The company competes with online automotive marketplaces, automotive websites, dealer software providers, and digital platforms including search engines and social media marketplaces.

Company details
Sector
Communication Services
Industry (SIC)
Business Services & Software
Headquarters
CHICAGO, IL
Fiscal year end
December
CIK
1683606
SIC
7374

Financial performance, year by year

Fiscal 2017–2025 · USD
$-940.58M$-486.16M$-31.74M$422.69M$877.11M201720182019202020212022202320242025Last 12 moLast 12 monthsLast 12 months

The full income statement, balance sheet and cash flow for each of these years — every figure traceable to its filing — is on the Financials tab with a free account.

Ownership

Who owns Cars.com Inc. — and what changed

Funds as of 2026Q2 · superinvestors as of 2026-06-30

174
funds hold it
0 of 35
superinvestors hold it
$256.15M
held by funds, at market
44.2%
of shares held by funds
1
bond issues held by funds

Largest fund holders · Cars.com Inc.’s weight in each

Fidelity Low-Priced Stock Fund
FLPSX · Fidelity Puritan Trust
0.17%of fund net assets
VANGUARD TOTAL STOCK MARKET INDEX FUND
VTI · VANGUARD INDEX FUNDS
0.00%of fund net assets
Avantis U.S. Small Cap Value ETF
AVUV · American Century ETF Trust
0.06%of fund net assets
JPMorgan Small Cap Blend Fund
JDSCX · JPMorgan Trust I
0.85%of fund net assets
1.12%of fund net assets

Fund ownership is a floor, not a census — pensions, insurers and people holding shares directly are not visible here.

Cars.com Inc.’s bonds, as funds hold them

Funds report holding 1 issues of Cars.com Inc.’s debt, $95.85M at market value — what funds hold, not the company’s total debt. Weighted-average coupon 6.38%, maturing 2028 to 2028.

Fund ownership counts N-PORT filers only, so it is a floor rather than a census — pensions, insurers and direct holders are not visible here, and the remainder is not “held by individuals”.

Every fund and institutional holder, quarter by quarter, is on the Ownership tab with a free account.

Connected research

Put this business in context.

Compare this company with peers, find it in your funds and follow its financial history with your connected AI:

  • “How do Cars.com Inc. and its peers compare on margins and cash generation over ten years?”
  • “Where did five years of Cars.com Inc.'s earnings go — cash, debt, buybacks, reinvestment?”
  • “What changed in Cars.com Inc.'s last four quarterly filings that the numbers alone won't show?”
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