Cars.com Inc. (CARS) Key Metrics
CARS valuation today
Trailing 12 months · as of October 17, 2026- Market cap
- $546.6M
- Enterprise value
- $967.9M
- P/E (TTM)
- 17.9 10-yr median 37.6
- Forward P/E
- 4.5
- PEG ratio
- 2.35
- Price / sales
- 0.8 10-yr median 1.6
- Price / book
- 1.2 10-yr median 2.2
- EV / EBITDA
- 6.1 10-yr median 11.5
- Dividend yield
- —
- Beta
- 1.64
CARS key metrics, 2016–2025
Fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 · U.S. dollarsCARS valuation Price multiples at each fiscal year-end price.
CARS returns How much profit the business earns on the capital it uses.
CARS per-share figures Results divided by the shares outstanding at year-end.
CARS financial health Debt, liquidity and how easily interest is covered.
CARS efficiency & capital use Working capital cycle and where the cash goes.
CARS valuation history
CARS returns on capital
Net income (ROE, ROA) or after-tax operating income (ROIC) divided by the average of the opening and closing balance.
CARS debt vs cash
Debt includes short- and long-term borrowings and, where reported, lease liabilities.
CARS cash returned to shareholders
CARS price vs earnings per share
CARS key metrics
2016–2025| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valuation | ||||||||||
| Market capitalization | $753.1M | $1.17B | $1.29B | $959.1M | $1.15B | $759.8M | $818.7M | $1.52B | $2.07B | — |
| Enterprise value | $1.17B | $1.57B | $1.74B | $1.40B | $1.58B | $1.28B | $1.45B | $2.18B | $2.63B | — |
| P/E ratio | 37.6 | 24.2 | 10.9 | 55.7 | 148.7 | — | — | 39.1 | 9.2 | — |
| Price / sales | 1.0 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 3.3 | — |
| Price / book | 1.6 | 2.3 | 2.6 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.2 | — |
| Price / free cash flow | 5.1 | 7.8 | 11.2 | 8.8 | 9.7 | 6.2 | 10.2 | 10.2 | 13.5 | — |
| Price / operating cash flow | 5.0 | 7.7 | 9.5 | 7.5 | 8.3 | 5.5 | 8.1 | 9.3 | 11.1 | — |
| EV / sales | 1.6 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 3.3 | 4.2 | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 6.2 | 7.8 | 11.5 | 9.2 | 14.4 | — | — | 11.6 | 11.8 | — |
| EV / free cash flow | 7.9 | 10.5 | 15.0 | 12.9 | 13.3 | 10.5 | 18.0 | 14.6 | 17.1 | — |
| Earnings yield | 2.7% | 4.1% | 9.2% | 1.8% | 0.7% | −107.5% | −54.4% | 2.6% | 10.8% | — |
| Free cash flow yield | 19.6% | 12.8% | 9.0% | 11.3% | 10.4% | 16.0% | 9.8% | 9.8% | 7.4% | — |
| Dividend yield | — | — | 0.7% | 0.7% | — | — | 0.0% | 0.0% | 31.4% | — |
| Shareholder yield (dividends + buybacks) | 11.5% | 4.2% | 3.1% | 5.8% | 0.4% | 0.0% | 4.9% | 6.4% | 31.4% | — |
| Share price at fiscal year-end | $12.20 | $17.33 | $18.97 | $13.77 | $16.09 | $11.30 | $12.22 | $21.50 | $28.84 | — |
| Per share | ||||||||||
| Revenue per share | $11.72 | $10.67 | $10.10 | $9.39 | $8.74 | $8.14 | $9.06 | $9.39 | $8.73 | $8.84 |
| Earnings per share | $0.32 | $0.72 | $1.74 | $0.25 | $0.11 | −$12.15 | −$6.65 | $0.55 | $3.13 | $2.46 |
| Operating cash flow per share | $2.46 | $2.26 | $2.00 | $1.85 | $1.93 | $2.06 | $1.51 | $2.32 | $2.59 | $2.78 |
| Free cash flow per share | $2.39 | $2.22 | $1.70 | $1.56 | $1.67 | $1.81 | $1.20 | $2.12 | $2.14 | $2.65 |
| Cash per share | $0.91 | $0.75 | $0.57 | $0.46 | $0.55 | $1.01 | $0.20 | $0.36 | $0.29 | $0.12 |
| Book value per share | $7.65 | $7.59 | $7.21 | $5.52 | $5.58 | $5.06 | $17.03 | $23.06 | $23.41 | $33.76 |
| Tangible book value per share | −$3.59 | −$3.23 | −$4.75 | −$6.11 | −$5.57 | −$7.36 | −$10.36 | −$10.89 | −$8.90 | $0.30 |
| Dividends per share | — | — | $0.13 | $0.09 | — | — | $0.00 | $0.00 | $9.06 | $0.00 |
| Capex per share | $0.07 | $0.04 | $0.31 | $0.28 | $0.27 | $0.25 | $0.32 | $0.20 | $0.46 | $0.14 |
| Debt per share | $7.59 | $6.76 | $7.08 | $6.78 | $6.54 | $8.68 | $9.59 | $9.81 | $8.06 | $0.42 |
| Shares outstanding | 61.7M | 67.4M | 68.2M | 69.6M | 71.3M | 67.2M | 67.0M | 70.5M | 71.7M | 71.6M |
| Change in shares outstanding | −8.4% | −1.2% | −2.0% | −2.4% | +6.1% | +0.4% | −5.0% | −1.6% | +0.2% | 0.0% |
| Returns & profitability | ||||||||||
| Return on equity (ROE) | 4.1% | 9.6% | 27.0% | 4.4% | 2.1% | −110.3% | −32.2% | 2.3% | 11.0% | 7.5% |
| Return on invested capital (ROIC) | 3.9% | 4.5% | 6.1% | 6.1% | 0.7% | −53.4% | −17.3% | 2.5% | 5.7% | 7.4% |
| Return on assets (ROA) | 1.8% | 4.2% | 10.8% | 1.7% | 0.7% | −52.7% | −19.2% | 1.5% | 8.9% | 7.0% |
| Return on tangible assets | 5.4% | 12.6% | 33.2% | 8.0% | 3.6% | −339.7% | −231.2% | 18.9% | 116.0% | 116.2% |
| Free cash flow margin | 20.4% | 20.8% | 16.8% | 16.6% | 19.0% | 22.3% | 13.2% | 22.6% | 24.5% | 29.9% |
| Income quality (OCF / net income) | 7.56 | 3.17 | 1.15 | 7.47 | 17.88 | — | — | 4.21 | 0.83 | 1.13 |
| Financial health | ||||||||||
| Total debt | $468.5M | $455.3M | $483.2M | $472.4M | $466.3M | $583.9M | $642.7M | $692.2M | $578.4M | $30.4M |
| Cash & short-term investments | $56.2M | $50.7M | $39.2M | $31.7M | $39.1M | $67.7M | $13.5M | $25.5M | $20.6M | $8.9M |
| Net debt | $412.2M | $404.6M | $444.1M | $440.7M | $427.3M | $516.2M | $629.1M | $666.7M | $557.8M | $21.5M |
| Debt / equity | 0.99 | 0.89 | 0.98 | 1.23 | 1.17 | 1.72 | 0.56 | 0.43 | 0.34 | 0.01 |
| Debt / assets | 0.44 | 0.41 | 0.41 | 0.46 | 0.46 | 0.54 | 0.32 | 0.27 | 0.23 | 0.01 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.20 | 2.01 | 2.93 | 2.89 | 3.90 | — | — | 3.54 | 2.50 | 0.08 |
| Current ratio | 1.87 | 1.83 | 1.22 | 1.40 | 1.56 | 1.97 | 1.24 | 1.39 | 1.58 | 1.66 |
| Quick ratio | 1.87 | 1.83 | 1.14 | 1.32 | 1.48 | 1.90 | 1.17 | 1.31 | 1.46 | 1.66 |
| Interest coverage | 1.0 | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 0.2 | -23.4 | -14.5 | 3.0 | 10.9 | — |
| Working capital | $98.2M | $97.4M | $32.7M | $42.6M | $53.1M | $87.7M | $23.6M | $43.2M | $52.5M | $47.6M |
| Invested capital | $884.8M | $916.1M | $936.2M | $825.1M | $825.3M | $856.4M | $1.77B | $2.29B | $2.24B | $2.44B |
| Tangible asset value | −$221.8M | −$217.5M | −$324.1M | −$425.5M | −$397.6M | −$495.0M | −$694.3M | −$767.9M | −$638.5M | $21.8M |
| Net current asset value | −$378.3M | −$386.1M | −$501.9M | −$491.8M | −$461.7M | −$557.5M | −$764.5M | −$819.7M | −$689.3M | −$10.4M |
| Graham number | $7.48 | $11.05 | $16.78 | $5.54 | $3.69 | — | — | $16.90 | $40.60 | $43.26 |
| Graham net-net per share | −$7.04 | −$6.67 | −$7.93 | −$7.52 | −$6.90 | −$8.84 | −$11.85 | −$12.22 | −$10.18 | −$0.66 |
| Capital allocation | ||||||||||
| Dividends paid | — | — | $9.2M | $6.3M | — | — | $286,000 | $0 | $650.0M | $0 |
| Share buybacks (net) | $86.9M | $49.2M | $31.3M | $49.0M | $5.0M | $0 | $40.0M | $97.2M | $0 | — |
| Dividend payout ratio | — | — | 7.8% | 36.4% | — | — | — | 0.0% | 289.6% | 0.0% |
| Dividends + buybacks / free cash flow | 59.0% | 32.9% | 35.0% | 50.8% | 4.2% | 0.0% | 50.2% | 65.1% | 424.4% | 0.0% |
| Capex / revenue | 0.6% | 0.4% | 3.0% | 3.0% | 3.1% | 3.1% | 3.5% | 2.1% | 5.2% | 1.5% |
| Capex / operating cash flow | 2.8% | 2.0% | 15.3% | 15.3% | 13.9% | 12.1% | 20.9% | 8.7% | 17.6% | 4.9% |
| Capex / depreciation | 0.05 | 0.03 | 0.21 | 0.21 | 0.19 | 0.15 | 0.18 | 0.14 | 0.37 | 0.12 |
| Stock-based compensation / revenue | 4.3% | 4.2% | 4.1% | 3.4% | 3.4% | 2.8% | 1.3% | 1.4% | 0.4% | — |
| R&D / revenue | 16.2% | 15.8% | 14.4% | 13.6% | 12.4% | — | — | 11.2% | 11.8% | 11.7% |
| SG&A / revenue | 46.3% | 44.5% | 45.3% | 44.3% | 24.2% | 55.4% | 58.4% | 55.6% | 19.0% | 15.3% |
| Efficiency | ||||||||||
| Days sales outstanding | 67.0 | 65.8 | 61.8 | 57.7 | 56.3 | 65.1 | 63.4 | 57.8 | 58.0 | 53.3 |
| Days of inventory on hand | — | — | 31.3 | 25.7 | 22.9 | 23.4 | 28.9 | 41.7 | 14.9 | 0.0 |
| Days payables outstanding | 91.1 | 81.8 | 60.5 | 53.4 | 51.0 | 52.0 | 44.1 | 36.8 | 18.8 | 23.0 |
| Cash conversion cycle (days) | -24.0 | -16.1 | 32.6 | 30.0 | 28.2 | 36.5 | 48.2 | 62.8 | 54.1 | 30.3 |
| Receivables turnover | 5.44 | 5.55 | 5.91 | 6.32 | 6.48 | 5.60 | 5.76 | 6.31 | 6.29 | 6.85 |
| Payables turnover | 4.01 | 4.46 | 6.04 | 6.83 | 7.15 | 7.02 | 8.27 | 9.93 | 19.37 | 15.86 |
| Inventory turnover | — | — | 11.68 | 14.20 | 15.97 | 15.60 | 12.61 | 8.75 | 24.49 | 129,864,000.00 |
| Asset turnover | 0.67 | 0.63 | 0.63 | 0.64 | 0.60 | 0.35 | 0.26 | 0.26 | 0.25 | 0.25 |
| Average receivables | $132.8M | $129.6M | $116.7M | $103.4M | $96.3M | $97.7M | $105.3M | $104.9M | $99.6M | $92.5M |
| Average payables | $30.6M | $27.9M | $20.2M | $16.8M | $16.0M | $14.5M | $12.0M | $9.1M | $7.2M | $8.2M |
| Average inventory | — | — | $10.5M | $8.1M | $7.2M | $6.5M | $7.9M | $10.3M | $5.7M | $1 |
| Intangibles / total assets | 65.3% | 65.6% | 69.6% | 79.0% | 79.0% | 77.6% | 90.5% | 92.1% | 92.3% | 94.0% |
Computed from CARS's annual financial statements (latest annual report filed February 26, 2026) and the closing share price on each fiscal year-end, adjusted for stock splits. Figures in U.S. dollars; data from EODHD. Averages use the opening and closing balance of each year.
CARS valuation and financial ratios
At the end of fiscal 2025 (December 31, 2025), Cars.com traded at 37.6 times earnings, against a 10-year median of 37.6. Based on the latest twelve months, the trailing P/E is 17.9 and the forward P/E is 4.5. Cars.com earned a return on equity of 4.1% and a return on invested capital of 3.9% in fiscal 2025. It ended the year with $468.5 million of debt and $56.2 million in cash and short-term investments, net debt of $412.2 million. It returned $86.9 million to shareholders: $0 in dividends and $86.9 million in share buybacks, 59% of free cash flow. The share count fell 13.8% from 71.6M to 61.7M over 9 years.
See the CARS income statement, the CARS chart for price history, or the CARS stock overview for the latest quote and news.
CARS key metrics FAQ
What is Cars.com's P/E ratio?
Cars.com's trailing P/E ratio is 17.9 based on the last twelve months of earnings (as of October 17, 2026), and its forward P/E is 4.5. At the end of fiscal 2025 it was 37.6, compared with a 10-year median of 37.6.
What is Cars.com's EV/EBITDA?
Cars.com's enterprise value was 6.2 times EBITDA at the end of fiscal 2025 (enterprise value $1.2 billion, EBITDA $187.2 million); the current EV/EBITDA is 6.1.
What is Cars.com's return on equity?
Cars.com's return on equity (ROE) was 4.1% in fiscal 2025: net income of $20.1 million on average shareholders' equity of $492.0 million.
What is Cars.com's ROIC?
Cars.com's return on invested capital was 3.9% in fiscal 2025, using after-tax operating income divided by average debt plus equity minus cash.
How much debt does Cars.com have?
Cars.com had total debt of $468.5 million at the end of fiscal 2025, a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99 and $412.2 million of net debt (2.20 times EBITDA).
Does Cars.com buy back its shares?
Yes. Cars.com spent $86.9 million on net share repurchases in fiscal 2025 Shares outstanding changed −8.4% over the year, to 61.7M..
What is Cars.com's free cash flow yield?
Cars.com generated $147.4 million of free cash flow in fiscal 2025, a free cash flow yield of 19.6% on its market value at year-end ($753.1 million).
What is Cars.com's current ratio?
Cars.com's current ratio was 1.87 at the end of fiscal 2025: current assets were 1.87 times current liabilities.