Cars.com (CARS) Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] (2017 - 2026)
Cars.com's Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] was 5.87% in Q2 2026, up 1.55 percentage points from 4.32% a year earlier and up 1.18 percentage points from the prior quarter.
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Analysis
Cars.com (CARS) Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] (2017 - 2026) Analysis & Trends
For FY2025, Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] at Cars.com came in at 3.72%, down 0.57 percentage points from FY2024.
- Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] shows a five-year change of +58.39 percentage points (FY2020 to FY2025).
- In earlier years, Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] was 4.29% in FY2024 (-1.62 pp), 5.91% in FY2023 (+0.06 pp), 5.85% in FY2022 (+0.53 pp) and 5.32% in FY2021 (+59.99 pp).
- The Q2 2026 figure marks the highest quarterly Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] since Q3 2023.
- Compared with a year earlier, Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] was higher in three of the last eight quarters, with an average year-over-year change of -0.49 percentage points.
- The best year-over-year quarter for Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] over five years was Q4 2021 (a gain of 85.72 percentage points); the worst was Q2 2022 (a drop of 2.75 percentage points).
- Per Business Quant data, CARS's Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] in the three quarters before Q2 2026 was 4.69% (Q1 2026), 3.80% (Q4 2025) and 4.73% (Q3 2025).
Peer Set
Peer Comparison
| # | Company | Market Cap | Enterprise Value | Gross Profit (Qtr) | ROIC (Qtr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alphabet | 3,522.13 Bn | 3,257.03 Bn | 76.16 Bn | 16.69% |
| 2 | Meta Platforms | 1,639.39 Bn | 1,303.91 Bn | 51.23 Bn | 21.70% |
| 3 | Netflix | 259.77 Bn | 221.06 Bn | 6.80 Bn | 29.22% |
| 4 | Alibaba Group Holding | 238.46 Bn | 60.53 Bn | 15.16 Bn | 2.39% |
| 5 | Shopify | 188.67 Bn | 173.82 Bn | 1.78 Bn | - |
| 6 | Uber Technologies | 142.87 Bn | 114.08 Bn | 6.42 Bn | 12.36% |
| 7 | AppLovin | 131.04 Bn | 119.57 Bn | 1.94 Bn | 74.11% |
| 8 | Spotify Technology | 124.73 Bn | 81.65 Bn | 1.89 Bn | 28.41% |
| 9 | Booking Holdings | 119.44 Bn | 53.19 Bn | - | 75.14% |
| 10 | Cars.com | 703.28 Mn | 484.61 Mn | 150.14 Mn | 7.11% |
Historic Data
Download Data
Historic Data
| Date | Value |
|---|---|
| Sep 30, 2026 | 7.11% |
| Jun 30, 2026 | 5.87% |
| Mar 31, 2026 | 4.69% |
| Dec 31, 2025 | 3.80% |
| Sep 30, 2025 | 4.73% |
| Jun 30, 2025 | 4.32% |
| Mar 31, 2025 | 3.75% |
| Dec 31, 2024 | 4.31% |
| Sep 30, 2024 | 4.52% |
| Jun 30, 2024 | 5.36% |
| Mar 31, 2024 | 5.63% |
| Dec 31, 2023 | 5.68% |
| Sep 30, 2023 | 6.35% |
| Jun 30, 2023 | 7.31% |
| Mar 31, 2023 | 5.83% |
| Dec 31, 2022 | 5.82% |
| Sep 30, 2022 | 5.68% |
| Jun 30, 2022 | 4.71% |
| Mar 31, 2022 | 4.83% |
| Dec 31, 2021 | 5.57% |
API Access
Cars.com Return on Invested Capital [ROIC] 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=return-on-invested-capital-%5Broic%5D&ticker=CARS&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEYimport requests
url = "https://data.businessquant.com/historic"
params = {"slug": "return-on-invested-capital-[roic]", "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=return-on-invested-capital-%5Broic%5D&ticker=CARS&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY");
const data = await res.json();