Cars.com (CARS) Operating Margin (2016 - 2026)
Cars.com (CARS) posted Operating Margin of 15.49% for Q2 2026, up 6.96 percentage points from 8.53% a year earlier and up 6.26 percentage points from the prior quarter.
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Analysis
Cars.com (CARS) Operating Margin (2016 - 2026) Analysis & Trends
For the trailing twelve months through Jun 30, 2026, Operating Margin at Cars.com was 11.45%, up 4.07 percentage points year-over-year; for FY2025, it was 8.33%, up 0.89 percentage points from FY2024.
- Annual Operating Margin shows a five-year change of +170.40 percentage points (FY2020 to FY2025).
- In prior years, Cars.com's Operating Margin was 7.44% in FY2024 (-0.41 pp), 7.85% in FY2023 (-2.25 pp), 10.10% in FY2022 (+2.35 pp) and 7.75% in FY2021 (+169.82 pp).
- The Q2 2026 figure stands as the highest quarterly Operating Margin since Q3 2018.
- On a year-over-year basis, Operating Margin has increased in each of the last five quarters, with an average year-over-year change of +2.11 percentage points over the last eight quarters.
- The strongest year-over-year quarter for Operating Margin in the past five years was Q4 2022, with a gain of 9.21 percentage points; the weakest was Q4 2021, with a drop of 7.82 percentage points.
- According to Business Quant data, Operating Margin for the three prior quarters was 9.23% (Q1 2026), 11.82% (Q4 2025) and 9.26% (Q3 2025).
Peer Set
Peer Comparison
| # | Company | Market Cap | Enterprise Value | Gross Profit (Qtr) | Operating Margin (Qtr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alphabet | 4,180.92 Bn | 3,938.44 Bn | 73.85 Bn | 34.03% |
| 2 | Meta Platforms | 1,847.76 Bn | 1,550.28 Bn | 49.47 Bn | 30.88% |
| 3 | Netflix | 289.73 Bn | 249.92 Bn | 6.52 Bn | 33.38% |
| 4 | Alibaba Group Holding | 249.81 Bn | 67.68 Bn | 15.11 Bn | 5.64% |
| 5 | Shopify | 192.08 Bn | 169.26 Bn | 1.71 Bn | 13.62% |
| 6 | Uber Technologies | 139.76 Bn | 111.74 Bn | 6.38 Bn | 13.32% |
| 7 | Booking Holdings | 122.41 Bn | 55.46 Bn | - | 34.00% |
| 8 | PDD Holdings | 110.94 Bn | -140.99 Bn | 9.45 Bn | 24.71% |
| 9 | Spotify Technology | 100.32 Bn | 57.56 Bn | 1.86 Bn | 13.71% |
| 10 | Cars.com | 553.28 Mn | 344.09 Mn | - | 15.49% |
Historic Data
Download Data
Historic Data
| Date | Value |
|---|---|
| Jun 30, 2026 | 15.49% |
| Mar 31, 2026 | 9.23% |
| Dec 31, 2025 | 11.82% |
| Sep 30, 2025 | 9.26% |
| Jun 30, 2025 | 8.53% |
| Mar 31, 2025 | 3.61% |
| Dec 31, 2024 | 10.96% |
| Sep 30, 2024 | 6.38% |
| Jun 30, 2024 | 5.32% |
| Mar 31, 2024 | 7.07% |
| Dec 31, 2023 | 8.32% |
| Sep 30, 2023 | 8.21% |
| Jun 30, 2023 | 7.33% |
| Mar 31, 2023 | 7.50% |
| Dec 31, 2022 | 11.78% |
| Sep 30, 2022 | 12.09% |
| Jun 30, 2022 | 9.45% |
| Mar 31, 2022 | 6.92% |
| Dec 31, 2021 | 2.57% |
| Sep 30, 2021 | 7.71% |
API Access
Cars.com Operating Margin 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-margin&ticker=CARS&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEYimport requests
url = "https://data.businessquant.com/historic"
params = {"slug": "operating-margin", "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-margin&ticker=CARS&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY");
const data = await res.json();