Cars.com (CARS) Operating Expenses (2016 - 2026)
Cars.com (CARS) recorded Operating Expenses of $152.06 million in Q2 2026, down 7.0% from $163.49 million a year earlier and down 7.0% from the prior quarter.
Powered by 
Analysis
Cars.com (CARS) Operating Expenses (2016 - 2026) Analysis & Trends
On a TTM basis, Cars.com's Operating Expenses came in at $642.58 million as of Jun 30, 2026, down 3.4% year-over-year; for FY2025, it came in at $662.99 million, down 0.4% from FY2024.
- Annual Operating Expenses has a five-year compound annual growth rate of -14.3% (FY2020 to FY2025).
- Across earlier years, Operating Expenses came in at $665.65 million in FY2024 (+4.8%), $635.07 million in FY2023 (+8.0%), $587.84 million in FY2022 (+2.2%) and $575.35 million in FY2021 (-59.9%).
- The Q2 2026 figure is the lowest quarterly Operating Expenses since Q4 2022.
- On a year-over-year basis, Operating Expenses rose in three of the last eight quarters, with an average decline of 1.4%.
- Peak year-over-year performance for Operating Expenses in the last five years was growth of 15.3% in Q3 2021, against a decline of 7.0% in Q2 2026 at the low end.
- Per Business Quant, the preceding three quarters came in at $163.59 million (Q1 2026), $162.16 million (Q4 2025) and $164.77 million (Q3 2025).
Peer Set
Peer Comparison
| # | Company | Market Cap | Enterprise Value | Gross Profit (Qtr) | Opex (Qtr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alphabet | 4,180.92 Bn | 3,938.44 Bn | 73.85 Bn | 79.03 Bn |
| 2 | Meta Platforms | 1,847.76 Bn | 1,550.28 Bn | 49.47 Bn | 42.03 Bn |
| 3 | Netflix | 289.73 Bn | 249.92 Bn | 6.52 Bn | 1.51 Bn |
| 4 | Alibaba Group Holding | 249.81 Bn | 67.68 Bn | 15.11 Bn | -5.17 Bn |
| 5 | Shopify | 192.08 Bn | 169.26 Bn | 1.71 Bn | 1.22 Bn |
| 6 | Uber Technologies | 139.76 Bn | 111.74 Bn | 6.38 Bn | 12.30 Bn |
| 7 | Booking Holdings | 122.41 Bn | 55.46 Bn | - | 4.85 Bn |
| 8 | PDD Holdings | 110.94 Bn | -140.99 Bn | 9.45 Bn | -5.39 Bn |
| 9 | Spotify Technology | 100.32 Bn | 57.56 Bn | 1.86 Bn | 640.46 Mn |
| 10 | Cars.com | 553.28 Mn | 344.09 Mn | - | 152.06 Mn |
Historic Data
Download Data
Historic Data
| Date | Value |
|---|---|
| Jun 30, 2026 | 152.06 Mn |
| Mar 31, 2026 | 163.59 Mn |
| Dec 31, 2025 | 162.16 Mn |
| Sep 30, 2025 | 164.77 Mn |
| Jun 30, 2025 | 163.49 Mn |
| Mar 31, 2025 | 172.56 Mn |
| Dec 31, 2024 | 160.65 Mn |
| Sep 30, 2024 | 168.20 Mn |
| Jun 30, 2024 | 169.38 Mn |
| Mar 31, 2024 | 167.43 Mn |
| Dec 31, 2023 | 164.67 Mn |
| Sep 30, 2023 | 160.02 Mn |
| Jun 30, 2023 | 155.84 Mn |
| Mar 31, 2023 | 154.54 Mn |
| Dec 31, 2022 | 148.39 Mn |
| Sep 30, 2022 | 144.70 Mn |
| Jun 30, 2022 | 147.49 Mn |
| Mar 31, 2022 | 147.27 Mn |
| Dec 31, 2021 | 154.24 Mn |
| Sep 30, 2021 | 144.48 Mn |
API Access
Cars.com Operating Expenses API
Pull this series into your own models, spreadsheets and apps with the Business Quant
Historical Metrics API. The request below matches the chart above — change the
frequency, period or values and it follows. Swap YOUR_API_KEY for your own key.
https://data.businessquant.com/historic?slug=operating-expenses&ticker=CARS&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEYimport requests
url = "https://data.businessquant.com/historic"
params = {"slug": "operating-expenses", "ticker": "CARS", "period": "max", "api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY"}
data = requests.get(url, params=params).json()const res = await fetch("https://data.businessquant.com/historic?slug=operating-expenses&ticker=CARS&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY");
const data = await res.json();