Yahoo Finance Cars.com's (NYSE:CARS) earnings have declined over five years, contributing to shareholders 48% loss
Cars.com Inc. (NYSE:CARS) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 16% in the last month. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last five years have been less than pleasing. You would have done a lot better buying an index fund, since the stock has dropped 48% in that half decade.
On a more encouraging note the company has added US$54m to its market cap in just the last 7 days, so let's see if we can determine what's driven the five-year loss for shareholders.
See our latest analysis for Cars.com
To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.
During the five years over which the share price declined, Cars.com's earnings per share (EPS) dropped by 46% each year. The share price decline of 12% per year isn't as bad as the EPS decline. The relatively muted share price reaction might be because the market expects the business to turn around. The high P/E ratio of 137.13 suggests that shareholders believe earnings will grow in the years ahead.
The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).
This free interactive report on Cars.com's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.
A Different Perspective
It's nice to see that Cars.com shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 2.2% over the last year. Notably the five-year annualised TSR loss of 8% per year compares very unfavourably with the recent share price performance. This makes us a little wary, but the business might have turned around its fortunes. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Take risks, for example - Cars.com has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of.
Of course Cars.com may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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