Cars.com (CARS) Return on Sales [ROS] (2016 - 2026)
Cars.com (CARS) recorded Return on Sales [ROS] of 15.49% in 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) Return on Sales [ROS] (2016 - 2026) Analysis & Trends
On a TTM basis, Cars.com's Return on Sales [ROS] came in at 11.45% as of Jun 30, 2026, up 4.07 percentage points year-over-year; for FY2025, it came in at 8.33%, up 0.89 percentage points from FY2024.
- Annual Return on Sales [ROS] has a five-year change of +170.40 percentage points (FY2020 to FY2025).
- Across earlier years, Return on Sales [ROS] came in at 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 is the highest quarterly Return on Sales [ROS] since Q3 2018.
- On a year-over-year basis, Return on Sales [ROS] has increased for five consecutive quarters, with an average year-over-year change of +2.11 percentage points over the last eight quarters.
- Peak year-over-year performance for Return on Sales [ROS] in the last five years was a gain of 9.21 percentage points in Q4 2022, against a drop of 7.82 percentage points in Q4 2021 at the low end.
- Per Business Quant, the preceding three quarters came in at 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) | ROS (Qtr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alphabet | 3,522.13 Bn | 3,257.03 Bn | 76.16 Bn | 31.81% |
| 2 | Meta Platforms | 1,639.39 Bn | 1,303.91 Bn | 51.23 Bn | 20.10% |
| 3 | Netflix | 259.77 Bn | 221.06 Bn | 6.80 Bn | 34.63% |
| 4 | Alibaba Group Holding | 238.46 Bn | 60.53 Bn | 15.16 Bn | 5.64% |
| 5 | Shopify | 188.67 Bn | 173.82 Bn | 1.78 Bn | 15.18% |
| 6 | Uber Technologies | 142.87 Bn | 114.08 Bn | 6.42 Bn | 9.80% |
| 7 | AppLovin | 131.04 Bn | 119.57 Bn | 1.94 Bn | 78.22% |
| 8 | Spotify Technology | 124.73 Bn | 81.65 Bn | 1.89 Bn | 13.52% |
| 9 | Booking Holdings | 119.44 Bn | 53.19 Bn | - | 38.43% |
| 10 | Cars.com | 703.28 Mn | 484.61 Mn | 150.14 Mn | 15.88% |
Historic Data
Download Data
Historic Data
| Date | Value |
|---|---|
| Sep 30, 2026 | 15.88% |
| 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% |
API Access
Cars.com Return on Sales [ROS] 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-sales-%5Bros%5D&ticker=CARS&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEYimport requests
url = "https://data.businessquant.com/historic"
params = {"slug": "return-on-sales-[ros]", "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-sales-%5Bros%5D&ticker=CARS&period=max&api_key=YOUR_API_KEY");
const data = await res.json();