Cars.com

CARS · NYSE

$10.54+$0.37 (+3.64%)TodayMarket closed · Oct 20, 7:30 PM ET

Prev close $10.17

CARS analyst rating

HoldConsensus of 7 analysts over the last 12 months. 43% rate it a buy.

Strong buy0
Buy3
Hold4
Underperform0
Sell0

12-month price target · 9 analysts

Average $14.11 (+33.9% upside)

Low: $11.11
Now: $10.54
High: $18.38

Upgrades and downgrades

The latest rating actions, newest first

CARS analyst upgrades, downgrades and rating actions
Firm	Date	Action	Rating	Price target	Hit rate
UBS	Oct 7, 2026	Maintains	Neutral	$13.00 → $11.50	39%
UBS	Aug 7, 2026	Maintains	Neutral	$12.00 → $13.00	39%
BTIG	Aug 6, 2026	Maintains	Buy	$14.00	45%
UBS	May 8, 2026	Maintains	Neutral	$11.00 → $12.00	39%
JP Morgan	May 8, 2026	Maintains	Neutral	$10.00 → $11.00	50%
B. Riley Securities	May 8, 2026	Downgrade	Buy → Neutral	$13.00	58%
BTIG	May 7, 2026	Maintains	Buy	$13.00 → $14.00	45%
DA Davidson	Apr 13, 2026	Maintains	Buy	$13.00	40%
BTIG	Apr 10, 2026	Maintains	Buy	$13.00	45%
Barrington Research	Feb 27, 2026	Maintains	Outperform	$25.00	53%

The case for and against

Updated Oct 14, 2026

Bull case

Cars.com is supported by a durable automotive marketplace franchise with strong organic traffic, sticky subscriptions, and industry-leading margins that have held up through the pandemic and the chip shortage. Its core business is improving, as marketplace revenue grew 7% and dealer count rose 2% y/y, while ARPD reached $2,500 and premium subscriptions climbed to nearly 10% of total subscriptions, showing monetization strength. The company also produced $53.0MM of Adjusted EBITDA on $179.9MM of revenue, is expected to generate $120MM+ in annual free cash flow, and can use that cash for buybacks, M&A, and restructuring-led margin expansion.

Bear case

Cars.com is facing a difficult fundamental setup because dealer ad spending may keep softening, which would pressure ARPD and raise churn even as the company only expects modestly higher OEM & National revenue and a similar 12% y/y decline in that segment in 2Q26. The business also appears early in monetizing new growth drivers: LLMs remain under 1% of traffic, while the new MCP and subscription repackaging efforts have yet to prove meaningful scale, despite Premium Plus penetration reaching 7% and aiming for 15% by year-end. With FY26 revenue/Adjusted EBITDA only nudging to $728.4MM/$213.2MM and valuation risk tied to as low as 2x FY27E EBITDA if spending weakens, the setup supports a negative outlook.

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