Cars.com Announces Dealer of the Year Awards for 2026
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Mar 18 2026
0mins
Should l Buy CARS?
Source: Newsfilter
- Dealer of the Year Awards: Cars.com has announced the winners of the 2026 Dealer of the Year Awards, recognizing dealerships in the U.S. and Canada that provide exceptional car-buying experiences, highlighting the importance of high-quality service to consumers.
- Consumer Review Data: In 2025, Cars.com collected nearly 1.3 million consumer reviews to determine the award winners, showcasing the platform's leading position in the automotive industry with a total of 16 million reviews.
- Increased Response Rates: Nearly 90% of the award-winning dealerships actively respond to customer reviews, compared to only 52% of non-winning dealerships, indicating a direct correlation between high response rates and customer satisfaction, thereby enhancing consumer trust.
- Smart Response Tool: Cars.com offers an AI-driven Smart Response tool that improves dealerships' response speed and quality, helping them maintain a competitive edge in a crowded market, thus enhancing customer communication and visibility.
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Analyst Views on CARS
Wall Street analysts forecast CARS stock price to rise
4 Analyst Rating
4 Buy
0 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 7.960
Low
16.00
Averages
19.33
High
25.00
Current: 7.960
Low
16.00
Averages
19.33
High
25.00
About CARS
Cars.com Inc., doing business as Cars Commerce Inc., is an audience-driven technology company. It is engaged in car buying and selling with products, solutions and machine-learning model-driven artificial intelligence technologies that span pretail, retail and post-sale activities. Cars Commerce platform is organized over four brands: the flagship automotive marketplace and dealer reputation site Cars.com, digital retail technology and marketing services from Dealer Inspire and D2C Media, essential trade-in and appraisal technology from AccuTrade, and media solutions from the Cars Commerce Media Network. It enables shoppers with the data, resources and digital tools needed to make informed buying decisions and connect with automotive retailers. Cars.com enables dealerships and original equipment manufacturers with solutions and data-driven intelligence. Its products and solutions have attracted over 19,200 franchise and independent dealer customers across the United States and Canada.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
Cars.com Announces Dealer of the Year Awards for 2026
- Dealer of the Year Awards: Cars.com has announced its 2026 Dealer of the Year Awards, recognizing top automotive dealers in the U.S. and Canada, which aims to enhance consumer trust by highlighting dealerships that provide exceptional car-buying experiences.
- Consumer Review Data: In 2025, Cars.com evaluated nearly 1.3 million consumer reviews to determine the award winners, emphasizing the critical role of customer feedback in improving dealer service quality and responsiveness.
- Response Rate Comparison: Nearly 90% of the award-winning dealers actively respond to customer reviews, compared to only 52% of non-winning dealers, illustrating a direct correlation between high response rates and customer satisfaction.
- Smart Response Tool: The AI-assisted Smart Response tool provided by Cars.com enhances dealers' response speed and quality, enabling them to maintain a competitive edge and improve communication with customers in a highly competitive market.
See More
Cars.com Announces Dealer of the Year Awards for 2026
- Dealer of the Year Awards: Cars.com has announced the winners of the 2026 Dealer of the Year Awards, recognizing dealerships in the U.S. and Canada that provide exceptional car-buying experiences, highlighting the importance of high-quality service to consumers.
- Consumer Review Data: In 2025, Cars.com collected nearly 1.3 million consumer reviews to determine the award winners, showcasing the platform's leading position in the automotive industry with a total of 16 million reviews.
- Increased Response Rates: Nearly 90% of the award-winning dealerships actively respond to customer reviews, compared to only 52% of non-winning dealerships, indicating a direct correlation between high response rates and customer satisfaction, thereby enhancing consumer trust.
- Smart Response Tool: Cars.com offers an AI-driven Smart Response tool that improves dealerships' response speed and quality, helping them maintain a competitive edge in a crowded market, thus enhancing customer communication and visibility.
See More
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- Downgrade Impact: JPMorgan downgraded Cars.com from Overweight to Neutral and cut its price target from $16 to $10, reflecting concerns over the company's growth prospects, resulting in a 6% drop in stock price during afternoon trading.
- Earnings Report Shortfall: Cars.com reported earnings of $0.44 per share, falling 19.7% short of analyst expectations, while revenue of $183.9 million met forecasts; however, the overall performance was viewed as weak, exacerbating negative market sentiment.
- Bleak Future Outlook: The company's guidance for 2026 indicates revenue is expected to be flat or grow only 2%, weakening investor confidence in future growth and contributing to a 28.5% decline in stock price since the beginning of the year.
- Increased Market Volatility: Cars.com has experienced over 21 moves greater than 5% in the past year, indicating the market's sensitivity to company news, although the current drop is seen as significant but not fundamentally altering market perceptions of the business.
See More
Cars.com Inc. Q4 2025 Earnings Call Insights
- Revenue Growth: Cars.com reported fourth-quarter revenue of $183.9 million, reflecting a 2% year-over-year increase, with dealer revenue up 3%, indicating resilience in market demand despite challenging conditions.
- Profitability Maintenance: The company achieved annual revenue of $723 million with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 29.2% and free cash flow of $126 million, demonstrating its ability to maintain profitability while optimizing costs and processes to return capital to shareholders.
- Strategic Shift: New CEO Tobias Hartmann emphasized the integration of the marketplace as the core of future growth, committing to enhancing market trust and customer connections through product integration and organizational improvements, despite the challenges of making difficult decisions.
- Future Outlook: For 2026, the company expects revenue to be flat to up 2%, planning to sustain dealer revenue growth based on ongoing product adoption and customer base expansion, reflecting confidence in future market opportunities.
See More
Cars.com Announces Dealer of the Year Awards for 2026
- Dealer of the Year Awards: Cars.com has announced its 2026 Dealer of the Year Awards, recognizing top automotive dealers in the U.S. and Canada, which aims to enhance consumer trust by highlighting dealerships that provide exceptional car-buying experiences.
- Consumer Review Data: In 2025, Cars.com evaluated nearly 1.3 million consumer reviews to determine the award winners, emphasizing the critical role of customer feedback in improving dealer service quality and responsiveness.
- Response Rate Comparison: Nearly 90% of the award-winning dealers actively respond to customer reviews, compared to only 52% of non-winning dealers, illustrating a direct correlation between high response rates and customer satisfaction.
- Smart Response Tool: The AI-assisted Smart Response tool provided by Cars.com enhances dealers' response speed and quality, enabling them to maintain a competitive edge and improve communication with customers in a highly competitive market.
See More
Cars.com Announces Dealer of the Year Awards for 2026
- Dealer of the Year Awards: Cars.com has announced the winners of the 2026 Dealer of the Year Awards, recognizing dealerships in the U.S. and Canada that provide exceptional car-buying experiences, highlighting the importance of high-quality service to consumers.
- Consumer Review Data: In 2025, Cars.com collected nearly 1.3 million consumer reviews to determine the award winners, showcasing the platform's leading position in the automotive industry with a total of 16 million reviews.
- Increased Response Rates: Nearly 90% of the award-winning dealerships actively respond to customer reviews, compared to only 52% of non-winning dealerships, indicating a direct correlation between high response rates and customer satisfaction, thereby enhancing consumer trust.
- Smart Response Tool: Cars.com offers an AI-driven Smart Response tool that improves dealerships' response speed and quality, helping them maintain a competitive edge in a crowded market, thus enhancing customer communication and visibility.
See More
VERTIV HOLDINGS, LUMENTUM HOLDINGS, COHERENT, AND ECHOSTAR SET TO ENTER S&P 500
New Additions to S&P 500: Vertiv Holdings, Lumentum Holdings, Coherent, and Echosstar are set to join the S&P 500 index.
Market Impact: The inclusion of these companies may influence market dynamics and investor strategies as they become part of a major stock index.
See More
VERTIV HOLDINGS, LUMENTUM HOLDINGS, COHERENT, AND ECHOSTAR TO BE ADDED TO S&P 500; ADDITIONAL COMPANIES TO ENTER S&P 100, S&P MIDCAP 400, AND S&P SMALLCAP 600
New Additions to S&P 500: Vert Holdings, Lumentum Holdings, CohereNT, and EchoStar are set to join the S&P 500 index.
Other Index Changes: Additional companies will be added to the S&P 100, S&P MidCap 400, and S&P SmallCap 600 indices.
See More
Cars.com Shares Drop 6% After JPMorgan Downgrade
- Downgrade Impact: JPMorgan downgraded Cars.com from Overweight to Neutral and cut its price target from $16 to $10, reflecting concerns over the company's growth prospects, resulting in a 6% drop in stock price during afternoon trading.
- Earnings Report Shortfall: Cars.com reported earnings of $0.44 per share, falling 19.7% short of analyst expectations, while revenue of $183.9 million met forecasts; however, the overall performance was viewed as weak, exacerbating negative market sentiment.
- Bleak Future Outlook: The company's guidance for 2026 indicates revenue is expected to be flat or grow only 2%, weakening investor confidence in future growth and contributing to a 28.5% decline in stock price since the beginning of the year.
- Increased Market Volatility: Cars.com has experienced over 21 moves greater than 5% in the past year, indicating the market's sensitivity to company news, although the current drop is seen as significant but not fundamentally altering market perceptions of the business.
See More
Cars.com Inc. Q4 2025 Earnings Call Insights
- Revenue Growth: Cars.com reported fourth-quarter revenue of $183.9 million, reflecting a 2% year-over-year increase, with dealer revenue up 3%, indicating resilience in market demand despite challenging conditions.
- Profitability Maintenance: The company achieved annual revenue of $723 million with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 29.2% and free cash flow of $126 million, demonstrating its ability to maintain profitability while optimizing costs and processes to return capital to shareholders.
- Strategic Shift: New CEO Tobias Hartmann emphasized the integration of the marketplace as the core of future growth, committing to enhancing market trust and customer connections through product integration and organizational improvements, despite the challenges of making difficult decisions.
- Future Outlook: For 2026, the company expects revenue to be flat to up 2%, planning to sustain dealer revenue growth based on ongoing product adoption and customer base expansion, reflecting confidence in future market opportunities.
See More
