Cars.com (CARS) financial statements
Cars.com reported revenue of $723M in fiscal 2025, up 1.5% a year over 9 years.
Net income was $20M and the operating margin 8.3%, against 27.9% in 2016.
Free cash flow was $126M, and the company returned $87M in net buybacks.
The diluted share count fell 12% over the period (buybacks).
Revenue and free cash flow
Fiscal years, $ billions.
Income statement
Fiscal years, from Cars.com's 10-K filings with the SEC.
| Fiscal year | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $633M | $626M | $662M | $607M | $548M | $624M | $654M | $689M | $719M | $723M |
| Cost of revenue | $57M | $66M | $92M | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Gross profit | $576M | $561M | $570M | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Selling, general and admin | $235M | $255M | $300M | $291M | $242M | $282M | $289M | $310M | $316M | $330M |
| Operating income | $177M | $134M | $84M | -$446M | -$887M | $48M | $66M | $54M | $53M | $60M |
| Pre-tax income | $177M | $122M | $57M | -$475M | -$936M | $9M | $23M | $18M | $62M | $34M |
| Income tax | $588,000 | -$102M | $18M | -$30M | -$147M | -$1M | $5M | -$100M | $14M | $14M |
| Net income | $176M | $224M | $39M | -$445M | -$789M | $11M | $17M | $118M | $48M | $20M |
| EPS (diluted) | $2.46 | $3.13 | $0.55 | -$6.65 | -$11.74 | $0.15 | $0.25 | $1.74 | $0.72 | $0.32 |
| Diluted shares | 72M | 72M | 71M | 67M | 67M | 71M | 70M | 68M | 67M | 63M |
| Gross margin | 91.0% | 89.5% | 86.0% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Operating margin | 27.9% | 21.4% | 12.7% | -73.5% | -162.1% | 7.8% | 10.1% | 7.9% | 7.4% | 8.3% |
| Net margin | 27.9% | 35.8% | 5.9% | -73.4% | -144.1% | 1.7% | 2.6% | 17.2% | 6.7% | 2.8% |
Balance sheet
Fiscal years, from Cars.com's 10-K filings with the SEC.
| Fiscal year | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash and short-term investments | $9M | $21M | $25M | $14M | $68M | $39M | $32M | $39M | $51M | $56M |
| Receivables | $98M | $101M | $109M | $102M | $94M | $99M | $108M | $125M | $134M | $132M |
| Total current assets | $120M | $143M | $154M | $122M | $178M | $147M | $149M | $178M | $214M | $212M |
| Property, plant and equipment | $20M | $40M | $41M | $44M | $41M | $43M | $45M | $44M | $41M | $35M |
| Goodwill | $788M | $788M | $884M | $506M | $0 | $26M | $103M | $147M | $143M | $167M |
| Total assets | $2.5B | $2.5B | $2.6B | $2.0B | $1.1B | $1.0B | $1.0B | $1.2B | $1.1B | $1.1B |
| Total current liabilities | $72M | $90M | $111M | $99M | $90M | $94M | $106M | $146M | $117M | $113M |
| Long-term debt | — | $557M | $665M | $611M | $576M | $457M | $458M | $460M | $455M | $452M |
| Total liabilities | $130M | $832M | $974M | $887M | $736M | $609M | $640M | $680M | $600M | $590M |
| Shareholders' equity | $2.4B | $1.7B | $1.6B | $1.1B | $368M | $398M | $384M | $492M | $511M | $473M |
| Net debt | -$9M | $558M | $667M | $629M | $516M | $427M | $441M | $444M | $405M | $395M |
Cash flow
Fiscal years, from Cars.com's 10-K filings with the SEC.
| Fiscal year | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $199M | $186M | $164M | $101M | $139M | $138M | $129M | $137M | $153M | $152M |
| Capital spending | $10M | $33M | $14M | $21M | $17M | $19M | $20M | $21M | $24M | $26M |
| Free cash flow | $189M | $153M | $149M | $80M | $122M | $119M | $109M | $116M | $128M | $126M |
| Stock-based compensation | — | $3M | $9M | $8M | $15M | $21M | $22M | $28M | $31M | $31M |
| Share buybacks (net) | — | $0 | -$97M | -$40M | $0 | $0 | -$49M | -$31M | -$49M | -$87M |
| Net borrowing | — | $584M | $112M | -$48M | -$616M | -$120M | -$41M | — | — | — |
| Free cash flow margin | 29.9% | 24.5% | 22.6% | 13.2% | 22.3% | 19.0% | 16.6% | 16.8% | 17.8% | 17.4% |
Every line, every quarterThe deep dive has fifteen-plus years of statements, quarterly results, charts and valuation models for CARS.
Open CARS in InvestinglyQuestions
What was Cars.com's revenue in 2025?
$723M in fiscal 2025, from its 10-K filing.
How much free cash flow does Cars.com generate?
$126M in fiscal 2025 (operating cash flow minus capital spending).
From Cars.com's annual reports filed with the SEC (XBRL data), standardised by Investingly. Information only, not investment advice.