- Cars.com (NYSE:CARS) is up 4.7% after its Q4 earnings topped Street expectations even adjusting for tax benefits.
- The company posted net income of $151.8M vs. a year-ago $48.8M; it logged an income tax benefit of $118.1M.
- EBITDA came to $63.5M, 40.6% of revenues.
- Traffic, meanwhile, fell 2% Y/Y to 89.3M visits; mobile traffic was up 6% and made up 60% of the total vs. a year-ago 56%.
- Dealer customer count was essentially flat at 21,296. Direct dealer customers was up 3% from Q3 to 14,356; affiliate dealer customers declined 6% from Q3 to 6,940.
- Average vehicle listings rose 1% to 4.9M.
- Revenue breakout: Direct revenue, $83.8M (down 1.2%); National ad revenue, $28.8M (down 7.4%); Other, $3.9M (up 1.6%); Wholesale, $40.1M (down 4.4%).
- Cash from operations for 2017 was $185.9M (down from $199.2M); free cash flow was $153.2M (vs. 2016's $189.5M).
- For 2018: It expects 10-11% revenue growth (3-4% from organic business) and EBITDA margin of about 34%. It still expects the acquisition of Dealer Inspire and LDM to be accretive to adjusted EPS in 2018 and GAAP EPS in 2019.
- Press release
- Now read: Cars.com - An Informational Edge
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