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Third Quarter 2025 Earnings November 6, 2025
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Forward-looking Statements This presentation contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. All statements other than statements of historical facts are forward-looking statements. These statements often use words such as “believe,” “expect,” “project,” “anticipate,” “outlook,” “intend,” “strategy,” “plan,” “estimate,” “target,” “seek,” “will,” “may,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “forecasts,” “mission,” “strive,” “more,” “goal” or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations, beliefs, strategies, estimates, projections and assumptions, experience in the industry as well as our perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments, and other factors we think are appropriate. Such forward-looking statements are based on estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Cars Commerce and its management based on their knowledge and understanding of the business and industry, are inherently uncertain. While Cars Commerce and its management make such statements in good faith and believe such judgments are reasonable, you should understand that these statements are not guarantees of future strategic action, performance or results. Our actual results, performance, achievements, strategic actions or prospects could differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Given these uncertainties, you should not rely on forward-looking statements in making investment decisions. When we make comparisons of results between current and prior periods, we do not intend to express any future trends, or indications of future performance, unless expressed as such, and you should view such comparisons as historical data. Whether or not any such forward-looking statement is in fact achieved will depend on future events, some of which are beyond our control. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other important factors, many of which are beyond our control, that could cause our actual results and strategic actions to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. For a detailed discussion of many of these and other risks and uncertainties, see “Part I, Item 1A., Risk Factors” and “Part II, Item 7., Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on February 27, 2025 and our other filings filed with the SEC and available on our website at investor.cars.com or via EDGAR at www.sec.gov. Y ou should evaluate all forward-looking statements made in this press release in the context of these risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based only on information currently available to us and speak only as of the date of this press release. We undertake no obligation, other than as may be required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking or cautionary statements to reflect changes in assumptions, the occurrence of events, unanticipated or otherwise, or changes in future operating results over time or otherwise. The forward-looking statements in this report are intended to be subject to the safe harbor protection provided by the federal securities laws.
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Definitions: Non-GAAP Financial Measures This presentation discusses Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margin, Adjusted net income, Free Cash Flow and Adjusted Operating Expenses. These financial measures are not prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP"). These financial measures are presented as supplemental measures of operating performance because the Company believes they provide meaningful information regarding the Company’s performance and provide a basis to compare operating results between periods. In addition, the Company uses Adjusted EBITDA as a measure for determining incentive compensation targets. Adjusted EBITDA also is used as a performance measure under the Company’s credit agreement and includes adjustments such as the items defined below and other further adjustments, which are defined in the credit agreement. These non-GAAP financial measures are frequently used by the Company’s lenders, securities analysts, investors and other interested parties to evaluate companies in the Company’s industry. For a reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures presented in this earnings release to their most directly comparable financial measure prepared in accordance with GAAP, see "Non-GAAP Reconciliations" below. Other companies may define or calculate these measures differently, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures. Because of these limitations, non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation or as substitutes for performance measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. Definitions of these non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are presented in the tables below. We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) before (1) interest expense, net, (2) income tax (benefit) expense, (3) depreciation, (4) amortization of intangible assets, (5) stock-based compensation expense, (6) unrealized mark-to-market adjustments and cash transactions related to derivative instruments, (7) unrealized foreign currency exchange gains and losses, and (8) certain other items, such as transaction-related items, severance, transformation and other exit costs and write-off and impairments of goodwill, intangible assets and other long-lived assets. Transaction-related items result from actual or potential transactions such as business combinations, mergers, acquisitions, dispositions, spin-offs, financing transactions, and other strategic transactions, including, without limitation, (1) transaction-related bonuses and (2) expenses for advisors and representatives such as investment bankers, consultants, attorneys and accounting firms. Transaction-related items may also include, without limitation, transition and integration costs such as retention bonuses and acquisition-related milestone payments to acquired employees, consulting, compensation and other incremental costs associated with integration projects, fair value changes to contingent considerations and amortization of deferred revenue related to the AccuTrade acquisition. We define Adjusted Net Income as GAAP net income (loss) excluding, net of their related tax effects: (1) amortization of intangible assets, (2) stock-based compensation expense, (3) unrealized mark-to-market adjustments and cash transactions related to derivative instruments, (4) unrealized foreign currency exchange gains and losses, and (5) certain other items, such as transaction-related costs, severance, transformation and other exit costs and write-off and impairments of goodwill, intangible assets and other long-lived assets. We define Free Cash Flow as net cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures, including purchases of property and equipment and capitalization of internally developed technology. We define Adjusted Operating Expenses as total operating expenses adjusted to exclude stock-based compensation, write-off and impairments of goodwill, intangible assets, long-lived assets, severance, transformation and other exit costs and transaction-related items. 3
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Revenue ($MM)& Dealer Count Adj. EBITDA ($MM) & Margin (% Revenue) 4 Delivered record revenue and strong Adjusted EBITDA improvement Revenue +1% YoY Dealer Count Growth Accelerates Adj. EBITDA +7% YoY Adj. EBITDA Margin +160 bps Yo Y $180 $182 Q3’24 Q3’25 30.1% 28.5% $51 $55 Q3’24 Q3’25 Repurchased 5.2MM Shares YTD 2025 Share Repurchases ($MM) $36 $64 YTD 2024 YTD 2025 19,526 19,255
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5 Substantial progress across multiple growth drivers Create Platform Advantages Unlock the Cross-Sell Grow Consumers Grow Dealer Customers Go-to-market improvements, successful Marketplace repackaging, and product innovation underpinned strong Q3 results Visitors up +4% Y o Y Highest customer count since Q3 2022 Record AccuTrade, website, DealerClub adoption Margin improved by 160+ bps Y o Y 25.5MM Average Monthly Unique Visitors 19,526 Dealer Customers, up +114 QoQ ARPD of $2,460, up +1% QoQ 30.1% Adjusted EBITDA Margin
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6 *These metrics do not include traffic to Dealer Inspire or D2C Media hosted websites. UVs and Traffic were measured via Adobe Analytics prior to December 31, 2023, and measured via RudderStack of January 1, 2024. Prior period UVs and Traffic information has not been recast. Strong, scaled in-market consumer audience 170.1 Q3 repeat visitation Q3 Total Traffic (MM) &Average Monthly Unique Visitors (MM) 25.5 156.2 ● Total traffic (visits) +1% Y o Y in Q3, and traffic of 488MM visits year-to-date set a new record ● Average Monthly Unique Visitors up +4% Y o Y ● Mobile app organic traffic +15% Y o Y ● #1 most cited public automotive marketplace among leading AI search platforms1 1 Aggregated citation volume across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode. Comparing Cars.com, Edmunds, Autotrader, CarGurus, KBB, Carfax, TrueCar, Carvana, and Carmax. Semrush, September 2025.
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Product innovation driving marketplace engagement 7 Shopper Alerts ¹ Cars.com data, as of October 2025 Carson ~15% AI-assisted web and mobile web searches in Q3 3X more vehicles saved by visitors using Carson1 2X more vehicle listings views for Carson users in Q3 “ Cars.com Shopper Alerts have become a key part of our sales workflow. Our AI initiates the first contact, and then our BDC uses the Alerts to focus on the most engaged shoppers, streamline follow-up and improve our close rates. Darryl Morgan General Manager Sharpest Ride Automotive “ ™
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AccuTrade surpasses 1M quarterly vehicle appraisals, up +56% Y oY 8 AccuTrade Connected Subscriptions & Appraisals ~1,150 Growing adoption of appraisal and wholesale technology DealerClub active dealers up almost 40% QoQ
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9 Website Customers ~7,900 Website customer data includes D2C Media, effective Q4’23 Dealer websites continue steady growth trajectory ● Websites added approximately 70 subscribers QoQ during Q3 ● Completed three additional repackaging agreements during Q3, bolstering digital experience offerings for customers
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10 Dealer growth acceleration continues in Q3 Q3 Average Revenue Per Dealer $2,460 Dealer Customers Note: The decline of the digital dealer industry negatively impacted our Dealer Customer count by over 650 cancellations (which started in Q2’22). There are effectively no digital dealers in our Dealer Customer count. Includes D2C customers as of Q4’23. 19,526
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● Record Q3 revenue of $181.6MM grew +1% Y o Y ● Dealer revenue was up +2% Y o Y, driven by website and appraisal products, and strong Marketplace repackaging and customer growth ● OEM & National revenue was down 5% Y o Y, reflecting lower spending by select advertising partners Quarterly Revenue ($MM) OtherOEM/NationalDealer 11 Record revenue achieved in Q3
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Quarterly Adjusted Operating Expense excl. D&A ($MM) ● Q3 Adjusted operating expenses, inclusive of D&A, were down 4% Y o Y ● Q3 Operating expenses were down 2% Y o Y, reflecting reductions in headcount and lease expenses, that were partially offset by DealerClub-related operating costs and third-party fees 12 Disciplined investment in growth Note: We define Adjusted Operating Expenses as total operating expenses adjusted to exclude stock-based compensation, write-off and impairments of goodwill, intangible assets, long-lived assets, severance, transformation and other exit costs and transaction-related items. Adjusted Operating Expenses in this graph exclude depreciation and amortization.
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● Adjusted EBITDA of $55 million was up +7% Y o Y, demonstrating strong revenue flowthrough ● Adjusted EBITDA margin of 30.1% was up 160+ bps Y oY and the highest quarterly margin year-to-date 13 Quarterly Adjusted EBITDA ($MM) & Margin (% Revenue) Delivered strong Adjusted EBITDA margin
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Q3 2025 Q3 2024 25.5 MM 24.5 MM 156.2 MM 154.2 MM 19,526 19,255 AVERAGE MONTHLY UNIQUE VISITORS1 TRAFFIC (VISITS)1 DEALER CUSTOMERS2 MONTHLY ARPD3 $2,460 $2,478 1 UVs and Traffic are measured via RudderStack. These metrics do not include traffic to Dealer Inspire, D2C Media, or DealerClub websites. 2 Dealer Customers does not include DealerClub active users. 3 ARPD is defined as Dealer revenue, excluding digital advertising services and DealerClub, during the period divided by the monthly average number of Dealer Customers during the same period. 14 Quarterly Key Operating Metrics
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Free Cash Flow Trend ($MM) Share Repurchase ($MM) 15 Robust cash flow and consistent capital return Paid down $5MM of revolver in Q3 Total net leverage ratio of 1.9x, below target net leverage range of 2.0x to 2.5x
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● Adjusted EBITDA margin: 29% to 31% ● Share repurchase target: $70 to $90 million 16 FULL YEAR 2025 OUTLOOK Outlook ● Revenue: Low-single digit Y o Y growth 2H 2025 OUTLOOK
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Q&A 17
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Appendix 18
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Non-GAAP Reconciliations (unaudited and in thousands) 19
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20 Non-GAAP Reconciliations (unaudited and in thousands)
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21 Non-GAAP Reconciliations (unaudited and in thousands)
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22 Non-GAAP Reconciliations (unaudited and in thousands)