Cars.com (CARS) Stock Forecast & Price Target

Cars.com Inc. has demonstrated a positive financial trend, with OEM and National revenues increasing by 5% year-over-year, indicating robust growth in its core business. The company's Accu-Trade platform has shown significant performance improvements, with appraisals rising 44.8% year-over-year and a sequential increase of 13.6%, alongside a growing subscriber base of 1,070 dealers, up from 1,020. Furthermore, the total marketplace customer count has improved sequentially every month from January through July, with the marketplace segment being a key driver of dealer count enhancement in the recent quarter.

Cars.com Inc. has faced a significant decline in net cash provided by operating activities, decreasing from $35.3 million to $26.2 million, alongside a 37% drop in free cash flow to $18.2 million. The company's revenue for Q2/25 remained flat at $178.7 million year-over-year, indicating stagnation amid sluggish marketplace and media performance due to customer hesitancy in spending on discretionary advertising. Additionally, the anticipated increase in earnout payments related to a D2C media acquisition has further contributed to the decline in cash flow and free cash, highlighting potential financial strain.