CarGurus, Inc., established in Boston, Massachusetts, in 2005, manages a prominent online ecosystem for vehicle transactions, serving both buyers and sellers across ...
CarGurus, Inc. is a multinational technology company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, operating a premier online automotive marketplace. Established in 2006 by Langley Steinert, who also co-founded TripAdvisor, CarGurus has grown to become the #1 most-visited digital auto platform in the United States, assisting millions of consumers and dealers in confidently ...CarGurus, Inc. is a multinational technology company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, operating a premier online automotive marketplace. Established in 2006 by Langley Steinert, who also co-founded TripAdvisor, CarGurus has grown to become the #1 most-visited digital auto platform in the United States, assisting millions of consumers and dealers in confidently buying and selling vehicles. The company's primary business is its U.S. Marketplace, where users can search a vast inventory of new and pre-owned cars from dealerships, leveraging proprietary technology that ranks listings based on factors like price, quality, and dealer reputation. This data-driven approach aims to bring trust and transparency to car shopping, a core mission since inception.
CarGurus offers a suite of products for both consumers and dealers. For consumers, features like 'Digital Deal' enable buyers to initiate purchases directly from listings with transparent pricing, while 'Finance in Advance' allows pre-qualified buyers to secure financing from partner dealerships. For sellers, options include 'Sell My Car – Top Dealer Offers' for trade-in valuations and 'Instant Max Cash Offer' for quick online sales. Dealers benefit from listing enhancements, analytics tools, and advertising opportunities, including brand sponsorship and targeted audience reach. The company also expands its reach through subsidiary platforms: Autolist, a mobile-first marketplace, and PistonHeads, a UK-based automotive hub with marketplace, auctions, and editorial content for enthusiasts.
Financially, CarGurus maintains strong profitability with a net profit margin of 18.1%, robust free cash flow (yield of 10.1%), and a gross margin of 91.1%. The company operates with a lean model, emphasizing technology efficiency, and has a healthy current ratio of 1.85. As of recent data, CarGurus employs 1,218 full-time staff and operates across three global locations. Key leadership includes CEO Jason Trevisan, who took the helm in recent years. The company went public in October 2017 on NASDAQ under ticker CARG. With a market cap of approximately $3.77 billion, CarGurus continues to innovate in the automotive digital space, aiming to enhance user experience, expand dealer partnerships, and drive growth in both domestic and international markets.
YoYYoY means Year-over-Year. It compares the latest annual value with the previous annual value to show long-term trend strength.
QoQQoQ means Quarter-over-Quarter. It compares the latest quarter with the immediately previous quarter to show short-term momentum changes.
RevenueThe total money that came through the front door from selling things, before paying a single bill. Think of it as the grand total of every credit card swipe from customers. (YoY compares this year to last year's performance, while QoQ compares the current three months to the previous three).
$939.0M
+5.0%
+3.0%
Net IncomeThe absolute bottom line. If the company paid every single supplier, employee, banker, and tax collector, this is the actual money left in their pocket at the end of the day.
$155.9M
+643.4%
+52.6%
Gross MarginThe basic markup. If they sell a $100 pair of sneakers, this percentage tells you how much of that price tag is profit right after paying for the rubber and shoelaces, but before paying for things like store rent or TV commercials.
+89.0%
+7.7%
-0.2%
Operating MarginThe 'day job' efficiency score. Out of every dollar a customer spends, this shows how many cents the company keeps after making the product AND paying for all the everyday corporate overhead (like salaries, marketing, and keeping the lights on).
+20.7%
+1280.6%
+3.1%
Net MarginThe final take-home percentage. When you strip away every conceivable cost, tax, and interest payment, this is the exact number of cents the company truly gets to keep from every dollar in sales.
+16.6%
+608.1%
+48.1%
Free Cash FlowThe holy grail of corporate cash. It's the spendable, physical money left over after the business pays for its daily operations AND buys the big, expensive upgrades (like new factories or servers) it needs to survive. This is the 'free' money they can use to pay dividends or buy back stock.
$288.9M
+60.2%
+35.4%
FCF MarginThe ultimate cash conversion rate. It shows how good the company is at turning regular sales directly into cold, hard, spendable cash. A high percentage means the business is an absolute cash-printing machine.
+30.8%
+52.6%
+31.4%
Debt / EquityThe financial risk gauge. It compares how much of the company's empire was built using borrowed money (loans) versus the owners' own money (shareholders). A high number means they are heavily leveraged and playing a riskier game; a low number means they are playing it safe.
51.0%
+43.3%
-11.7%
Current RatioThe 12-month survival check. It simply compares the cash they have right now (plus things they can quickly turn into cash) against the immediate bills they absolutely must pay this year. A score above 1 means they have enough in the wallet to cover the upcoming bills without panicking.
2.81x
-33.1%
+11.9%
Total AssetsThe absolute size of the company's empire. It bundles together absolutely everything of value they own—from the cash in the register and the inventory in the warehouse, to the software patents in the vault and the factories on the ground.
Operator: Good day, and welcome to the CarGurus First Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Kirndeep Singh, Vice President and Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Kirndeep Singh: Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us. With me on the call today are Jason Trevisan, Chief Executive Officer; and Sam Zales, President and Chief Operating Officer. We will be making forward-looking statements, which are based on our current expectations and beliefs. Those statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, and our actual results may differ materially. Information concerning those risks and uncertainties is discussed in our SEC filings. We undertake no obligation to update forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Please refer to our press release and our investor presentation on the Investor Relations section of our website for a reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP measures. I'll now turn the call over to Jason.
Jason Trevisan: Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us. We delivered strong financial results in the first quarter with 15% year-over-year revenue growth to $244 million and adjusted EBITDA up 17% year-over-year with a margin of 33% as our product investments helped drive sustained growth while maintaining healthy profitability. This performance was driven by premium tier adoption, greater usage of our AI-powered products, lead growth and net dealer additions. That strength was especially evident internationally in our U.K. and Canada markets, where revenue grew 39% year-over-year, reinforcing our ROI advantage, driving share gains in both markets. At the foundation of our product innovation and increasing customer engagement is the data layer of our marketplace. We ingest roughly $0.5 billion first-party consumer shopping signals each day across demand, pricing, inventory and engagement. Today, we apply these proprietary marketplace signals in our AI-enabled analytics platform to build products that enable dealers to make better informed decisions and help consumers shop with more confidence and achieve better outcomes. That work shows up in our 2026 strategy through three value creation drivers. First, we are expanding CarGurus offerings into integral parts of the dealer workflow, connecting inventory, marketing, lead conversion and data pillars through mutually reinforcing products. Second, we've begun transforming car shopping into a trusted AI-led journey from research through consideration and purchase, giving consumers greater confidence and more benefits from using CarGurus. And third, we are disciplined in our capital deployment with the aim of growing long-term earnings power and stockholder value. I will now walk through our first quarter progress across each of these drivers. Driver one, expanding CarGurus offerings into integral parts of the dealer workflow, connecting inventory, marketing, lead conversion and data …
