Why ACV Auctions Stock Just Dropped
Key Points
ACV Auctions beat on sales but missed on earnings last night.
The online car dealer marketplace reported smaller, but still large, losses for both the quarter and the year.
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ACV Auctions (NYSE: ACVA) stock tumbled 15.1% through 11:20 a.m. ET Tuesday after reporting mixed earnings last night.
Heading into the Q4 report, analysts forecast ACV would lose a penny a share on $182 million in sales. As it turned out, the online used-car marketplace beat the sales forecast, reporting $183.6 million. ACV badly missed the earnings projection, however, losing $0.11 per share for the quarter .
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ACV Q4 earnings
It wasn't all bad news for ACV last quarter. Sales did grow 15% year over year, and full-year sales growth was even better at 19%. What's more, while ACV lost money in both periods -- and indeed, lost much more money than Wall Street analysts had projected -- it lost less money than last year.
Q4 2025 losses of $0.11 per share were better than Q4 2024 losses of $0.16.
Full year 2025 losses of $0.39 per share were better than full year 2024 losses of $0.48.
Still, a loss is a loss, and it's undeniable that ACV lost a lot of money in both the quarter and the year.
Is ACV stock a buy?
Focusing on the sales numbers, ACV CEO George Chamoun pronounced himself "very pleased with our fourth quarter results," also noting that ACV "continued margin expansion" while gaining market share. Looking ahead, he predicted all these things will continue in the new year.
Unfortunately, the losses will continue as well.
ACV guided toward $200 million or more in Q1 sales and at least $845 million in full-year 2026 sales. Still, the company expects to lose at least $0.07 per share in the quarter and $0.29 for the year.
With numbers like these, it'll be hard to call ACV stock a buy anytime soon.
Should you buy stock in ACV Auctions right now?
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Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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