Cars.com
Through the investors’ lenses
0 of 2 cleared3 of 7 criteria
Each of these investors has said in public what they look at before buying. Click a name to see how this company measures up — a tick where it passes one of their tests, a cross where it does not.
Warren Buffett 3/4
| Measure | CARS | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner earnings | $107.61m | positive | ✓ |
| Return on equity | 4.2% | US median 2.8% | ✓ |
| Debt to equity | 0.96x | US median 0.57x | ✗ |
| Operating margin | 8.3% | US median 3.1% | ✓ |
Passes 3 of 4. These are the measures Warren Buffett published, applied to Cars.com’s own figures — their criteria, not their view of this company. What he looks at, and why →
Benjamin Graham 0/3
| Measure | CARS | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current ratio | 1.87x | 2.00x published | ✗ |
| Long-term debt to working capital | 4.60x | 1.00x published | ✗ |
| Positive earnings, ten years running | 5 yrs | 10 published | ✗ |
Passes 0 of 3. These are the measures Benjamin Graham published, applied to Cars.com’s own figures — their criteria, not their view of this company. What he looks at, and why →
The business
| Measure | CARS | Median | Formula |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on equity | 4.2% | 2.8% | Net income ÷ shareholders’ equity |
| Return on capital employed | 6.5% | 5.1% | Operating income ÷ (equity + total debt) |
| Owner earnings | $107.61m | $1.09m | Net income + depreciation & amortisation − capital expenditure |
| Free cash flow | $147.35m | $7.57m | Operating cash flow − capital expenditure |
| Operating margin | 8.3% | 3.1% | Operating income ÷ revenue |
| Net margin | 2.8% | 2.0% | Net income ÷ revenue |
| Debt to equity | 0.96x | 0.57x | Total debt ÷ shareholders’ equity |
| Interest cover | 2.01x | 1.01x | Operating income ÷ interest expense |
| Current ratio | 1.87x | 1.69x | Current assets ÷ current liabilities |
| Long-term debt to working capital | 4.60x | 1.09x | Long-term debt ÷ (current assets − current liabilities) |
| Cash conversion | 7.56x | 1.58x | Operating cash flow ÷ net income |
| Accruals | -12.4% | -4.7% | (Net income − operating cash flow) ÷ total assets |
Ten years of it
The same measures, for every year the filings support. One year is a fact; a row is a business.
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | Median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return on equity | 4.2% | 9.4% | 24.1% | 4.5% | 2.7% | -214.3% | -39.0% | 2.4% | 13.4% | 7.3% | 4.2% |
| Return on capital employed | 6.5% | 5.5% | 5.5% | 7.7% | 5.6% | -93.2% | -25.0% | 3.6% | 5.9% | — | 5.5% |
| Operating margin | 8.3% | 7.4% | 7.9% | 10.1% | 7.8% | -162.1% | -73.5% | 12.7% | 21.4% | 27.9% | 7.9% |
| Net margin | 2.8% | 6.7% | 17.2% | 2.6% | 1.7% | -144.1% | -73.4% | 5.9% | 35.8% | 27.9% | 2.8% |
| Debt to equity | 0.96x | 0.89x | 0.98x | 1.23x | 1.17x | 1.59x | 0.56x | 0.43x | 0.34x | — | 0.96x |
| Current ratio | 1.87x | 1.83x | 1.22x | 1.40x | 1.56x | 1.97x | 1.24x | 1.39x | 1.58x | 1.66x | 1.56x |
| Cash conversion | 7.56x | 3.17x | 1.15x | 7.47x | 12.79x | — | — | 4.21x | 0.83x | 1.13x | 4.21x |
This company pays no dividend, so there is no payout ratio to compute and no coverage rating. Every figure above comes from its own SEC filing. How these are computed.
Who else looks like this
Every figure above is computed from Cars.com’s own filing, and every company here is measured the same way. Screen all of them on any of these twelve measures, or on the rules two investors published — free, and nothing you screen leaves your browser.