Cars.com will benefit more than rivals as the auto sales environment improves and tariff concerns ease, according to JPMorgan. The bank upgraded Cars.com to overweight from neutral and reiterated a $14 per share price target. Its forecast calls for about 14% upside from Wednesday's close. "Overall, we favor CARS over [CarGurus] in the near term, given anticipated cyclical tailwinds to franchise dealer and OEM [original equipment manufacturer] spending from rising new vehicle inventory," analyst Rajat Gupta wrote on Thursday. The analyst noted that business-to-consumer marketplace stocks like Cars.com have significantly underperformed shares of franchise dealers in 2025 due to investor worries tied to President Donald Trump's tariffs. Those fears may be overstated, the analyst said. "In the near-term, with industry new vehicle supply continuing to grow and the backdrop likely to get more competitive for dealers in a modestly weaker demand backdrop, there is less risk to revisions, also given the more sticky nature of revenue streams from subscriptions," Gupta said. "While overall industry fundamentals still remain tough, we see relatively better risk-reward for B2C marketplaces near-term with a relative preference for higher new vehicle/OEM revenue exposed CARS over CARG," the analyst added. Gupta also pointed to the company's new products and solutions as tailwinds, including market intelligence and "consumer sourcing functionalities." Shares have pulled back about 29% in 2025.
