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CarGurus

CARG
81
Auto - Dealerships · Consumer Cyclical
Price
$36.85
-0.04 (-0.11%)
Market Cap
$3.56B
Exchange
NASDAQ
Winston Score
81
Winston is happy
A high-quality business with solid fundamentals.
Data as of Aug 23, 2026 · filings through Jun 30, 2026
How the score breaks down
Quality
Exceptional
Growth
Strong
Cash Flow
Exceptional
Stability
Good
Valuation
Strong

Share count falling — buybacks

17.4% over 4y

The company has reduced its share count over this period, returning value to shareholders through buybacks.

Diluted shares outstanding: 117.1M (2021) → 96.8M (2025)

Winston Score History

The full picture

CarGurus is an online marketplace that helps people buy and sell cars. It connects millions of car shoppers with thousands of dealerships across the United States, Canada, and several other countries. The platform is best known for its "Deal Rating" tool, which uses data to tell shoppers whether a car's price is fair, good, or overpriced compared to similar listings.

CarGurus makes most of its money by charging car dealerships subscription fees to list their inventory and access leads from shoppers. It also earns revenue from its digital wholesale platform, CarOffer, which lets dealers buy and sell cars among themselves. The company operates primarily in the US but has a presence in the UK and other markets. Its strong brand recognition and large pool of shopper data give it a competitive edge over smaller rivals. The key growth driver is expanding dealer adoption of its full suite of products, while its main risk is a slowdown in used-car demand, which would reduce dealer spending on advertising.

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2 trades / 12mo

0 Congressional buys and 2 sells on CARG in the last 12 months.

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Growth Profile

When traditional metrics don't capture the full picture, these are the signals growth stock investors use instead.

Revenue Growth

+7.2% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

Slow revenue growth

EPS Growth

+139.1% YoY

YoY Growth Rate

EPS growth accelerating

R&D Spend

$156M/ year

Rising (+8% vs prior year)

16.6% of revenue

4.1x the sector average (4%)

Investing heavily in future products and technology

Insider Activity

23.9%ownership

Flat

Insider ownership roughly steady over the past year

Cash Position

Cash flow positive

$122M cash & investments

Quarterly Free Cash Flow

↑ Burn rate improving

Company generates more cash than it spends — no dilution risk from fundraising

Heavy R&D investment

CarGurus is putting 17% of revenue into R&D and that number is rising. That's 4.1x the sector average. And they're generating enough cash to self-fund it.

The Winston Score above measures business quality today. Growth stocks often score lower because they invest in the future rather than maximising current profits. These metrics show what matters most for evaluating that future.

Score breakdown

Every number that matters to educated investors.

Each metric is explained in plain language so you know exactly what you're looking at. Start your free trial now.

Quality

Profit per sale
Gross Margin
92.1%
Premium pricing power — 92.1% gross margin
Profit after running costs
Operating Margin
25.1%
Excellent — 25.1% operating margin
Return on the money invested
ROCE
93.1%
Exceptional — 93.1% return on capital

ROIC above 25%. Every dollar invested in the business earns more than 25 cents back per year.

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Growth

Sales growth
Sales YoY
+6.0%
Slow sales growth (+6.0% YoY)
Profit growth
EPS YoY
+47.2%
Earnings growing fast (+47.2% YoY)

Earnings growing 25%+ a year. The compounder zone.

How steady the profit is
EPS Consistency
7/8 quarters
Every recent quarter grew earnings vs last year

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Cash Flow

Profit that turns into cash
Cash Conversion
221%
Turns 221% of profit into real cash
Spare cash per sale
FCF Margin
38.9%
Converts sales into free cash efficiently (38.9%)

Free cash flow margin above 20%. Out of every $100 in sales, more than $20 is real cash they keep.

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Stability

What it owes vs what it owns
Debt / Equity
N/A
Data not available
Covers its interest
Interest Cover
100.00x
Comfortably covers interest (100.0x)

Interest coverage above 8. Profits cover interest many times over.

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Valuation

Price vs profit
P/E Ratio (TTM)
19.7x
Fair value — P/E 19.7

P/E in the normal range. Price is roughly $15 for every $1 of yearly profit.

Cheaper or dearer next year
P/E vs Forward
+8.3
GROWING
Earnings expected to grow meaningfully — cheaper on forward P/E (19.7 → 11.4)

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Dividends

Not applicable for this business.
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