- A Look At ACV Auctions (ACVA) Valuation After Recent Share Price Rebound
May 10, 2026
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ACV Auctions (ACVA) has drawn fresh attention after its stock moved sharply over the past month, with a gain of about 40% and a 25% rise over the past week.
See our latest analysis for ACV Auctions.
While the recent 30 day share price return of about 40% hints at building momentum, the 1 year total shareholder return of around a 60% decline shows that longer term holders have still experienced significant losses. Recent gains may reflect changing expectations around growth prospects or risk, especially with the share price now at $6.50 compared with earlier in the year when year to date share price returns were weaker.
If ACV Auctions' sharp move has you rethinking where growth could come from next, it may be worth scanning other opportunities such as 18 top founder-led companies
So with ACV Auctions trading at $6.50, a large intrinsic discount, and a history of steep share price declines, is the stock still undervalued or is the market already pricing in any future growth?
Most Popular Narrative: 39.3% Undervalued
The most followed narrative pegs ACV Auctions' fair value at $10.71, well above the last close at $6.50, and builds that gap on specific growth and profitability assumptions.
The ongoing integration of advanced AI and machine learning into ACV's vehicle inspection, pricing, and guarantee products positions the platform to further differentiate itself by offering real-time, highly accurate, and transparent transaction solutions, this is expected to continue driving above-industry growth in auction volumes, increase take rates, and support margin expansion.
Read the complete narrative.
Want to see what kind of revenue ramp, margin shift, and future earnings multiple underpin that valuation gap? The narrative leans on ambitious growth, richer unit economics, and a premium earnings profile to justify that fair value.
Result: Fair Value of $10.71 (UNDERVALUED)
Have a read of the narrative in full and understand what's behind the forecasts.
However, investors still face real execution risk if dealer volumes stay flat and new products like VIPER or remarketing centers take longer than expected to contribute.
Find out about the key risks to this ACV Auctions narrative.
Another View: Market Ratios Tell a Different Story
While the SWS DCF model points to heavy undervaluation, the simple P/S ratio paints a tighter picture. ACV Auctions trades at 1.4x sales, compared with 1.1x for the US Commercial Services industry, peers at 0.9x, and a fair ratio of 0.9x that the market could move toward. That gap suggests valuation risk if expectations cool, so which signal do you trust more right now?
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For a closer look at how this price compares with sales based benchmarks, including peers and the fair ratio, check the See what the numbers say about this price — find out in our valuation breakdown.NYSE:ACVA P/S Ratio as at May 2026
Next Steps
Mixed messages in the data or a clear signal starting to form? Act while the information is fresh and weigh both sides with the 2 key rewards and 2 important warning signs.
Ready for more investment ideas?
If ACV Auctions is on your radar, do not stop here, broaden your watchlist with a few focused stock ideas that match different goals and comfort levels.
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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.
Companies discussed in this article include ACVA.
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- ACV Unveils All-in-One Inventory Intelligence Suite for Dealers
May 7, 2026
ACV MAX now unifies inspection-backed data, guarantees, and real-time market insights to power automation and drive profitability across the inventory lifecycle
BUFFALO, N.Y., May 07, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ACV (NYSE: ACVA), the leading digital automotive marketplace and data services partner for dealers and commercial partners, today announced enhancements to ACV MAX as a fully integrated inventory intelligence suite designed to give dealers a more powerful, data-driven way to source, price, manage, and sell vehicles more profitably and with confidence.
As dealers face increasing margin pressure and market volatility, traditional inventory management tools are no longer enough and the ability to make faster, more profitable inventory decisions has become critical. The refreshed ACV MAX excels beyond static systems and disconnected data, bringing together ACV’s most advanced technologies built on data captured directly from real vehicle inspections into a single, cohesive platform designed to deliver clarity, speed, and confidence at every stage of the inventory lifecycle.
By unifying solutions including ACV Guarantees, ClearCar, and VIPER, ACV MAX provides end-to-end visibility while transforming fragmented workflows into a seamless, insight-driven experience.
"Every inventory decision carries risk, and that risk is only growing," said Ryan Walker, VP of Product for ACV MAX. "Dealers don’t need more data; they need a better system grounded in what’s actually happening with the car. ACV MAX reflects how dealers operate today: faster, more complex, and more margin-sensitive than ever. This is a fundamental shift in how we support our customers. We’ve built a comprehensive platform that not only shows what’s happening, but explains why to give dealers a single source of truth for every inventory decision."
Data You Can See and Trust, Built on Real Vehicle Inspections
At the core of ACV MAX is a differentiated data foundation built on millions of vehicle inspections conducted nationwide by ACV. Unlike platforms that rely solely on historical or aggregated data, ACV’s insights are grounded in vehicles that are physically inspected and evaluated every day.
By connecting inspection-backed data with real-time market signals, ACV MAX allows dealers to understand not just pricing outcomes, but the underlying conditions and factors driving them, bringing greater transparency, accuracy, and trust to every decision.
A New Standard for Inventory Intelligence
Built on this foundation, the expanded ACV MAX integrates multiple solutions into a single intelligence suite, including:
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ACV MAX Recommendations – VIN-specific guidance that delivers personalized pricing and inventory recommendations grounded in real-time data, inspection-backed data and dealership performance to drive faster, more profitable decisions. ACV MAX Guarantees – Built-in protections that reduce risk and give dealers greater confidence in both wholesale and retail transactions. ACV VIPER – An AI-powered vehicle scanning and appraisal system that leverages advanced computer vision and machine learning to assess vehicle condition, detect damage, and generate accurate, real-time market valuations. ClearCar – Advanced condition and history insights that provide deeper vehicle transparency, enable more precise pricing, and power the acquisition of high-quality consumer inventory.
Built for the Modern Dealer
By bridging these capabilities together under the ACV MAX platform, dealers can:
Make faster, more confident decisions with centralized, real-time insights based on actual vehicle conditions and automated workflows that streamline day-to-day operations Increase profitability by optimizing buy/sell decisions and reducing days to turn Reduce risk with inspection-backed data and integrated guarantees Improve inventory performance and acquisition through smarter pricing, merchandising, and sourcing vehicles directly from consumers Streamline operations by replacing disconnected tools with one unified platform with deep integrations
Powering the Future of Dealer Success
The evolution of ACV MAX marks a significant step in ACV’s broader transformation from a digital marketplace to an intelligence-driven partner for dealers. With a growing ecosystem of connected solutions and AI-powered capabilities, ACV is leading the industry toward a more transparent, efficient, and data-informed future where every decision starts with the car.
More information is available by contacting an ACV representative or visiting ACVAuto.com or ACVMax.com.
About ACV
ACV is on a mission to transform the automotive industry by building the most trusted and efficient digital marketplaces and data solutions for sourcing, selling, and managing used vehicles with transparency and comprehensive insights that were once unimaginable.
ACV offerings include ACV Auctions, ACV Transportation, ACV Capital, MAX Digital, True360, and ClearCar. For more information about ACV, visit www.acvauto.com.
Trademark reference: ACV, the ACV logo, and ClearCar are registered trademarks or trademarks of ACV Auctions, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260507999669/en/
Contacts
Media Contacts:
Maura Duggan, ACV
maura@acvauctions.com
Nicole Curro, Carve Communications
nicole@carvecomms.com
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- ACV Unveils All-in-One Inventory Intelligence Suite for Dealers
May 7, 2026 · businesswire.com
BUFFALO, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ACV (NYSE: ACVA), the leading digital automotive marketplace and data services partner for dealers and commercial partners, today announced enhancements to ACV MAX as a fully integrated inventory intelligence suite designed to give dealers a more powerful, data-driven way to source, price, manage, and sell vehicles more profitably and with confidence. As dealers face increasing margin pressure and market volatility, traditional inventory management tools are no l.
- ACV UNVEILS ALL-IN-ONE INVENTORY INTELLIGENCE SUITE FOR DEALERS
May 7, 2026
BUFFALO, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ACV (NYSE: ACVA), THE LEADING DIGITAL AUTOMOTIVE MARKETPLACE AND DATA SERVICES PARTNER FOR DEALERS AND COMMERCIAL PARTNERS, TODAY ANNOUNCED ENHANCEMENTS TO ACV MAX AS A FULLY INTEGRATED INVENTORY INTELLIGENCE SUITE DESIGNED TO GIVE DEALERS A MORE POWERFUL, DATA-DRIVEN WAY TO SOURCE, PRICE, MANAGE, AND SELL VEHICLES MORE PROFITABLY AND WITH CONFIDENCE. AS DEALERS FACE INCREASING MARGIN PRESSURE AND MARKET VOLATILITY, TRADITIONAL INVENTORY MANAGEMENT TOOLS ARE NO L.
- ACV Auctions Inc. (ACVA) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
May 7, 2026 · seekingalpha.com
ACV Auctions Inc. (ACVA) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
- ACV Auctions (ACVA) Q1 2026 Earnings Transcript
May 6, 2026
Image source: The Motley Fool.
DATE
Wednesday, May 6, 2026 at 5 p.m. ET
CALL PARTICIPANTS
Chief Executive Officer — George G. Chamoun Chief Financial Officer — William R. Zerella
Need a quote from a Motley Fool analyst? Email pr@fool.com
Full Conference Call Transcript
George G. Chamoun: Thanks, Timothy. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. We are very pleased with our first quarter performance and execution while facing a challenging market environment. We delivered record revenue, with adjusted EBITDA exceeding the high end of guidance. In addition to strong financial results, we made significant progress on our three key objectives. First, we continue to gain market share and expand our dealer partner network to a new record. The combination of expanding our field capacity and penetration of our no reserve offering contributed to our growth. Second, we had another strong quarter of performance in ACV Auctions Inc. Transport and ACV Auctions Inc. Capital, along with growing adoption of our value-added dealer solutions.
And third, we are gaining traction with our emerging growth initiatives, including the initial launch of Viper and expanding our TAM into commercial wholesale. While there are cross currents in the broader macro environment, ACV Auctions Inc. remains focused on delivering double-digit revenue growth and increased adjusted EBITDA, while continuing to invest in our exciting growth objectives. We are confident that executing on this profitable growth strategy will create significant long-term shareholder value. With that, let us turn to a recap of our results on Slide 4. The dealer wholesale market was impacted by severe weather during the quarter, resulting in a mid-single-digit decline in dealer wholesale volumes.
Despite these headwinds, Q1 revenue was $204 million and grew 12% year over year. Even with weather impacts, our market share gains accelerated throughout the quarter, selling 213 thousand vehicles, exceeding a difficult comparison in Q1 2025. Next on Slide 5. Today's discussion will focus on the pillars of our strategy to maximize long-term shareholder value, delivering innovation that is driving growth and scale. I will begin with growth. On Slide 7, I will highlight our growth initiatives in dealer wholesale. As we discussed last quarter, we continue to drive strong growth within more established regions where network effects are driving significant market share.
In order to broaden our regional growth performance, we are investing in additional field capacity to accelerate the number and frequency of dealer visits. We are pleased to see early returns on this investment, which resulted in another record number of buyers and sellers transacting in our marketplace. We also continue to enhance our marketplace experience to drive growth and deliver value to our dealer and commercial partners. We are leveraging machine learning that combines inspection data and dynamic market data to provide real-time pricing. Our platform powers ACV Auctions Inc. guarantees to sellers and delivers no reserve auctions to buyers. This offering remains the fastest-growing channel in our marketplace that benefits sellers, buyers, and ACV Auctions Inc.
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We are removing seller market risk, accelerating better engagement, and increasing buyer satisfaction while delivering a 100% conversion rate. We are confident our guarantee offering will continue to be a key driver of market share gains. Turning to Slide 8, let us review our marketplace service offerings. The Transport team had strong execution in Q1, with 18% revenue growth and over 120 thousand transports delivered. By leveraging AI to optimize transport pricing, we continue to drive growth and operating efficiency. And despite the sharp increase in diesel fuel during the quarter, transport revenue margin remained in line with our midterm target in the low 20s.
Lastly, on transport, our off-platform service continues to gain traction from our dealer partners, creating additional growth opportunities. ACV Auctions Inc. Capital also delivered strong revenue performance with 30% year-over-year growth in Q1. Last quarter, we highlighted ACV Auctions Inc. Capital's expanded go-to-market strategy while also driving process enhancements to manage portfolio risk. Our Q1 results demonstrate continued strong execution by the ACV Auctions Inc. Capital team. On Slide 9, we highlight how we are further differentiating ACV Auctions Inc. and creating additional growth opportunities with our suite of AI-driven next-gen products. ClearCar and ACV MAX are adding value to our dealer partners while also contributing to our wholesale market share gain.
We are enabling our dealer partners to more intelligently optimize inventory, automate vehicle selling and buying, and strengthen their ability to source more vehicles from consumers. The Viper early access program is gaining momentum and receiving very positive feedback from major dealer groups across the country. Within minutes of driving through Viper, our industry-leading inspection data and vehicle pricing capabilities enable dealers to unlock consumer vehicle acquisition at scale in the service lane and seamlessly identify service upsell opportunities. We are on track to grow Viper's footprint in the coming quarters, offering a Viper bundle with wholesale to create a powerful new lever to drive unit growth and expand our network.
In addition to leveraging AI across our product suite, we have experienced strong adoption of AI tools across a range of operating groups, including our product and development team, where we are gaining meaningful velocity and efficiency. As such, we have even more confidence in delivering our differentiated product roadmap to support our growth objectives. Next on Slide 10, I will wrap up the growth section with our commercial wholesale strategy. As a reminder, commercial wholesale is a large adjacent market made up of four segments, with both upstream and downstream opportunities.
Our team has made significant progress on the next phase of our software build, and we believe this new digital model and end-to-end experience will transform commercial vehicle remarketing. Our differentiated offering is attracting some of the largest commercial consignors, and we have recently engaged with over a dozen accounts across major captives, banks, fleet companies, and auto finance providers. Our strategy is familiar: first land commercial accounts and then expand over time, earning wallet share as we prove our results. Commercial TAM provides another exciting growth lever for ACV Auctions Inc., and we are confident that we can deliver wholesale volumes that support our midterm financial targets.
With that, I will hand over to William and take you through our financial results and how we are driving growth at scale.
William R. Zerella: Thanks, George, and thank you for joining us today. ACV Auctions Inc.'s first quarter results reinforce our commitment to deliver profitable growth while investing to drive dealer wholesale market share gains and to support key growth initiatives. Before we jump into the details, I would like to highlight that as we scale our growth initiatives, our financial model will evolve based on revenue mix, which we believe will allow us to deliver improved unit economics over time than previously anticipated. On Slide 12, let us begin with a brief recap of our first quarter results. Revenue of $204 million was at the high end of guidance and grew 12% year over year compared to very strong results in Q1 2025.
Adjusted EBITDA of $17 million exceeded the high end of guidance and grew 23% year on year, reflecting strong unit economics and expense discipline. Finally, non-GAAP net income of $7 million was at the high end of our guidance range. Next on Slide 13, let us review additional revenue details. Auction and assurance revenue was 57% of total revenue and grew 9% year over year against a tough comparison of 28% growth in Q1 2025. This performance reflects 3% unit growth in the context of a 5% decline in the dealer wholesale market while also facing a tough comparison of 19% unit growth in Q1 2025.
Auction and assurance ARPU of $542 grew 6% year over year and 3% quarter over quarter. Marketplace services revenue was 39% of total revenue and grew 19% year over year, reflecting continued strong performance for ACV Auctions Inc. Transport and ACV Auctions Inc. Capital. Lastly, our SaaS and data services products comprised 4% of total revenue, with growth declining modestly year over year as high single-digit ACV MAX revenue growth was offset by modest declines in our legacy standalone inspection services. Next, I will review Q1 costs on Slide 14. Non-GAAP cost of revenue as a percentage of revenue increased approximately 300 basis points year over year.
The increase was primarily driven by a higher mix of no reserve sales in our marketplace, which more than doubled year over year. While no reserve sales typically have modestly higher costs than standalone auction sales, they drive strong blended conversion rates, improved marketplace liquidity, and importantly, are accretive to adjusted EBITDA. In fact, adjusted EBITDA per unit increased 20% year over year in Q1. Non-GAAP operating expense excluding cost of revenue, as a percentage of revenue, decreased approximately 300 basis points year over year, reflecting operating leverage in our model while continuing to invest in key growth initiatives. Moving to Slide 15, I will frame our investment strategy as we drive profitable growth.
In 2026, we expect OpEx growth of approximately 8%, which is a decline from 12% in 2025. As a reminder, our 2026 OpEx includes approximately $11 million in additional go-to-market spending to support regional growth objectives. Even with these growth investments, adjusted EBITDA margin is expected to increase by approximately 100 basis points year over year. Next, I will highlight our strong capital structure on Slide 16. We ended Q1 with $341 million in cash and cash equivalents, and $200 million of debt. Note that our cash balance includes $230 million of marketplace flow. In the figure on the right, we highlight our solid operating cash flow, which reflects adjusted EBITDA growth and margin expansion.
We are also pleased to announce today that ACV Auctions Inc.'s board of directors has authorized a share repurchase program of up to $100 million, and in the coming days, the company plans to enter into an accelerated share repurchase program to repurchase an aggregate of $50 million of our common stock. Turning to guidance on Slide 17, we are reaffirming our 2026 revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance despite the uncertain macroeconomic backdrop and our updated view that the dealer wholesale market will decline in the mid-single digits this year. Now for the details. Second quarter revenue is expected to be $213 to $217 million, growth of 10% to 12%.
Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be $18 to $20 million, reflecting an 8% to 9% margin. We continue to expect 2026 revenue of $845 to $855 million, growth of 11% to 13%. Note that full-year revenue guidance assumes that our go-to-market investments are expected to drive modestly higher growth in the second half of the year. We continue to expect 2026 adjusted EBITDA to be $73 to $77 million, growth of approximately 28% year over year. We are expecting 2026 cost of revenue as a percentage of revenue to be modestly higher than in 2025. Lastly, we are expecting non-GAAP OpEx excluding cost of revenue to grow approximately 8% year over year.
And with that, let me turn it back to George.
George G. Chamoun: Thanks, William. Before we take your questions, I will summarize. We are pleased with our Q1 execution while navigating through challenging market conditions. We continue addressing these market challenges by enhancing our technology and operating models, ultimately making us even more resilient. We are attracting new dealer and commercial partners for our marketplace and expanding our addressable market, which positions ACV Auctions Inc. for attractive growth as market conditions improve. We are delivering on an exciting product roadmap powered by ACV Auctions Inc. AI to further differentiate ACV Auctions Inc. and drive operating efficiencies. We are focused on achieving strong adjusted EBITDA growth and delivering on our midterm targets that we believe will drive significant shareholder value.
We are committed to achieving these results while building a world-class team to deliver on our goals. With that, I will turn the call over to the operator to begin the Q&A.
Operator: We will now open the call for questions. Our first question comes from Bob Labick from CJS Securities. Your line is now live.
Bob Labick: Hi, good afternoon. Thank you for taking our questions. Part of your growth strategy you have talked about is filling out your territory managers and VCIs, which you restarted in Q4 last year. Can you talk about your progress in finding and hiring good candidates? We noticed that both operations and technology and SG&A grew less than sales in the quarter, and we were kind of expecting those lines, depending on where those hires fall, to pick up a little bit. How is that progress going, and what are you learning?
George G. Chamoun: Certainly. I will start and then William will chime in. We are making great progress. We have hired some exceptional teammates. I joined several of the new territory manager classes we bring here to headquarters. I am really happy with the talent. The talent comes not only from an auction background, but also from knowing dealer systems—either former general managers, used car managers—just really strong talent. From an inspector side, we have really stepped up our game where you have to go through several tests to become an ACV Auctions Inc. inspector. We really go through this gating process.
So we are getting great talent that is going to help us not only inspect cars, but also hit our other goals as it relates to making sure arbitration and everything else is in line. We have done a great job of hiring and training so far. William, if you want to chime in.
William R. Zerella: Yes. All I would add, Bob, is you are also seeing the benefit of some operating efficiencies, which flow through our operations costs. We are continuing to add, to George's point, VCIs. We are also making sure that we have the right inspectors in the right territories to ensure that we have the best quality out there in terms of our condition report. I would say we are making good progress and are pretty happy with how things are moving ahead.
Bob Labick: Great, thanks. And then, you talked about the overall market being down in the single digits in the first quarter and a similar outlook for the year. How does this impact your go-to-market strategy and your growth in finding new rooftops versus growing share at existing dealers? It is a tough market—does that change how you drive growth?
George G. Chamoun: Certainly, Bob. One data point is we had the most dealer visits between our territory managers and VCIs—number of different rooftops—last month than we have ever had as a company. If there are fewer cars available at certain rooftops, we need to go find another dealership down the road to do business. Not only did we have record-breaking sellers and buyers, but we also had a record number of new visits. We are really getting out there and getting the ACV Auctions Inc. name out there—that is blocking and tackling. Second is what you hear us doing with innovation and ACV Auctions Inc. AI.
Bringing out our products from ClearCar to Viper, you will start to hear more and more in the media about our progress. If we help dealers buy anywhere between 10 and 100 cars a month from their service drive and from local consumers, then we are not just a competitor to the local auction; we are an incredible partner to that dealership. So we are both growing—blocking and tackling by showing up more, and leading with ACV Auctions Inc. AI.
Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from Rajat Gupta from JPMorgan. Your line is now live.
Rajat Gupta: Great, thanks for taking the question. I had a question on the first quarter growth rate. It looks like industry conversion trends were pretty strong in March, a little better than seasonal given strong expectations around tax season. In the past, when we have had these brief periods of very strong conversion, you have tended to demonstrate higher share gains. It felt like your numbers came in line with what you had guided. Was there something that was coming in the way of those typical share gains you would see in strong conversion periods? And I have a quick follow-up.
George G. Chamoun: Rajat, as we mentioned on the call, it did not help that the Northeast, where we have our largest markets, had the most significant weather impact. Other parts of the country, like Texas and the Carolinas, grew 15% year over year, and Southern California grew 24% year over year. We had different results across the country depending on where weather was impacted. Our team in the Northeast still did a fantastic job, but they were impacted the most. With that said, you are seeing great execution and our opportunity to differentiate, as I mentioned earlier. We really weathered a quarter where weather was an issue and still not only hit our numbers but exceeded some expectations.
William R. Zerella: I would also add, Rajat, since you asked about March. Our conversion rate in March was 1 thousand bps above what it was for the entire quarter of Q4. We did see a significant improvement in conversion rates. If you do the simple math on our growth in March versus what the market did, we basically got back to roughly a 10% share gain when you do that same math. It is not an exact science, of course, but we did see some acceleration going into March and ending the quarter.
Rajat Gupta: Understood, that is helpful color. And the fact that you reiterated your full-year outlook despite lowering the industry outlook—where are you seeing the additional traction? Is it from commercial engagements, or how the exit rate is turning out on conversion? Can you unpack that?
George G. Chamoun: Certainly. We feel very comfortable with keeping our objectives for the year, even though the market itself is likely several hundred basis points worse than we were expecting. Why do I feel comfortable? One, growing the footprint of our field is working. Two, our differentiated offering on ACV Auctions Inc. AI broadly with Viper and ClearCar is working. Three, our commercial focus—the fact that we have over a dozen different major commercial accounts who have raised their hands to work with ACV Auctions Inc., whether upstream, pure digital, or downstream at one of our greenfields—gives us confidence. We feel good about this year even though market conditions are likely going to be a little worse than we originally projected.
Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from Andrew Boone from Citizens. Your line is now live.
Andrew Boone: Thank you for taking the questions. I would love to hear more about the Viper rollout. How are conversations with dealers going, and what should our expectations be for 2026?
George G. Chamoun: Certainly. The hardware, software, and AI capabilities all came together over the last few months. At ACV Auctions Inc. and at the majority of our initial rollout dealers, the response has been ecstatic. You will see one of these on a podcast next week with a large dealer group, where they will articulate how this is helping them in the service drive. The opportunity right now is that the hardware works, the software works, and the AI works. We can see a scratch, a dent, tire tread depths, whether there is an oil leak, whether the undercarriage has an issue—our AI can see what it needs to see. The next step is to upscale this.
This year will not be the scale year; we are rolling out about 150 of these between now and year-end. We do not want to get over our skis—make sure we can deliver, install, and support them—so we can enter early next year scaling Viper production and proving out the whole thing. We are also doing integrations with the back-end systems in dealership service lanes—companies like Tekion and others—so the data from Viper seamlessly goes right into the back-end systems. This year is about getting ready to really scale for next year. The most important thing, from an investor perspective, is the product works and the feedback is incredible.
Andrew Boone: Great. And on AI efficiency—both for inspectors in the field and internally—are you seeing a step function change?
George G. Chamoun: Yes. For inspectors, we are looking at time to inspect both pre- and post-having Viper live. Pre-Viper, we have driven meaningful reductions. For certain types of cleaner vehicles, we believe we are under 10 minutes now; for the worst vehicles, we are under 15 minutes, whereas all vehicles averaged about 30 minutes prior. We have two buckets now that are about half the time they used to be, and we have some work to do in the middle. Once Viper rolls out, we expect inspectors will spend 10 to 15 minutes per car—any car—which will be massively efficient. Internally, the amount of production we are seeing from our engineering and product team leveraging cloud platforms and LLM tooling is incredible.
Many team leads are pulling Q4 priorities into Q3. The amount of code and development on a per-person basis is supercharged. This is just getting started.
William R. Zerella: I would also add that we just signed a major enterprise agreement with one of the largest providers of LLMs. The approach will extend beyond engineering to other operational activities. We are in the early days, but we think there is huge opportunity.
Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from Naved Khan from B. Riley Securities. Your line is now live.
Naved Khan: Thank you. A couple of questions. First, I think you lowered your outlook for the industry to negative 5% for the full year, and you are reiterating your own guidance. What kind of unit growth are you embedding in that—are you still thinking about high single-digit unit volume growth? And related, we have heard commentary from others about off-lease volume coming back. Even with those factors, how do you still think about the negative 5%? Second, on pricing—are you contemplating any price increases or have you already rolled one out, and what are you seeing from competitors?
George G. Chamoun: I will start and then William can chime in. On the outlook, it is better to be prudent given the macro conditions. Many of you have heard from franchise dealerships about retail as well as from OEMs. The trade-in at the dealership creates the majority of the wholesale. As off-lease comes back, that could mitigate some of the dealer wholesale challenges. I would not bank on it yet. We are assuming the year stays the way it is now with broader macro challenges. We hope off-lease helps, but we are not planning for it. As it relates to price increases, we do minor price increases every year to take care of inflation and other costs.
That is always part of what we do. William?
William R. Zerella: In Q1, our ARPU grew 6% year on year, and that is a reasonable expectation for the full year—up in a similar fashion on a percentage basis. On unit growth, we do not guide to units. What we bake into guidance is an assumption that over time we will improve our share gains and unit growth versus whatever the market is doing. Hopefully that gives you some sense for modeling.
Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from John Healy from Northcoast Research. Your line is now live.
John Healy: Thanks for taking my questions. George, on the opportunity with commercial consignors—you mentioned “over a dozen” a couple of times. What is the line of sight to activity with those folks? Could we see activity before the end of the year, or is this more of a 2027 story? And what would be an acceptable batting average for capturing some of that business?
George G. Chamoun: Certainly. Separating upstream versus downstream: upstream is pure digital where you do not need land. We have already gone live with one of the top four national rental car companies, and we are going live with our second rental car company either later this quarter or early Q3. Of the four large rental companies, working with two shows we are making progress. We have two of the larger fleet companies who have done small tests with us, which have gone extremely well, with results as good or better than physical auctions. We are going from test to certain regional deployments with them—land and expand: get the contract, start with regional business, prove results, and then expand.
Downstream, we have two auto finance retail repo-type customers—one should go live in the next 30 to 60 days. They will start giving us 20 to 50 cars a week, we will ground the vehicles, do light recon—like putting in a battery—show it works, and start scaling. This year is about getting contracts, showing it works in at least one region, and then taking additional regions across the country.
John Healy: That is really helpful, thank you. And a follow-up for William: I think you said March implied something like a 10% growth rate—can you clarify that?
William R. Zerella: Sure. What I was implying was growth versus the market. In Q1 the market was declining. When we looked at our absolute unit growth in March versus what we understood the market did, we get closer to share gains in the 10% range, give or take. It is not exact, and I am not implying our absolute growth was 10%. The context is our growth vis-à-vis whatever the market is doing.
Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from Analyst from Barclays. Your line is now live.
Analyst: Good evening. A quick follow-up on the commercial side. You talked about traction with rental car companies and on the fleet side. Are you making traction with captive fincos and banks as well, or is it too early?
George G. Chamoun: On fleet, yes, as mentioned. On off-lease cars, we have a couple of OEMs where we are in significant conversations about giving us a window to sell some of their cars. I do not have those signed yet, which is why I did not broadcast it—I usually talk about things once signed and ready to deploy. We have another major OEM-type partner where we are now integrated into their flow, but we are not yet auctioning cars. We expect to win some captive business throughout the year. On banks and repos, we are already doing business with probably around 30% of banks today—likely more—through relationships we inherited from an acquisition.
Now it is about scaling those relationships to additional locations like Houston or Chicago.
Analyst: Thank you. And on the share repurchase, it is not a small amount. Can you talk about the decision to do shareholder returns now versus investing more in the business?
William R. Zerella: We felt this was a reasonable size for a buyback and a good ROI for shareholders based on our view of future opportunities, which we discussed today and previously. Given our liquidity—we had $341 million of cash and marketable securities on the balance sheet—we are leaning in with a $50 million ASR. We think it is a good use of capital. We still expect to generate free cash flow this year and expect that to grow over time. It is the right time and place to launch a buyback.
Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from Jeffrey Lick from Stephens. Your line is now live.
Jeffrey Lick: Afternoon, thanks for taking my question. Could you expand on commercial—where are you now in terms of standalone or greenfield sites? I think you had 10 when you opened a greenfield and maybe there was another. And can you elaborate on which commercial wins are true digital versus where you are using real estate?
George G. Chamoun: I separated that earlier into upstream versus downstream. When I mentioned we are working with one and now a second rental car company, that was upstream without land. I also mentioned a couple of fleet companies that did not require land—also upstream. For downstream at our locations, we are working with about 30% of commercial consignors today at one of our existing locations, and now it is about bringing them to our new locations. We have one open, one about to open. On the specific count of physical sites, more to come on that.
Jeffrey Lick: Understood. And on the guarantee, William, any color on penetration? You said it doubled. Why does no reserve or guarantee have higher costs?
George G. Chamoun: I will start and William can chime in. We charge a small fee for a customer that goes into no reserve. There is no fee discount on the buy side because it sells at no reserve in auction. There is higher ARPU on no reserve and higher cost, which changes the revenue margin percent. But the fascinating part is our EBITDA profile.
William R. Zerella: As mentioned on the call, our EBITDA per unit in Q1 was up 20%. Financially, slightly lower revenue margins are offset by OpEx leverage. About 70% of our OpEx is fixed, so we get full leverage of our inspection costs with a 100% conversion rate. Our midterm target for adjusted EBITDA per unit is $230 at 1.5 million units of volume. In two regions, we have already achieved or exceeded that target with future OpEx leverage. As we continue to grow volume and further populate territories with more scale, we will drive strong EBITDA margins on a per-unit basis. The geography on the P&L might change a bit, but it is all about final unit economics and profitability.
Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from Analyst from Raymond James. Your line is now live.
Analyst: Thanks and congrats on a great quarter. You said Vipers are enabling a huge breakthrough next year. Is the VCI investment cycle to support Viper deployment or just general growth? What should we expect for the future pace of VCI investment as Vipers reach scale?
George G. Chamoun: Great question. Our VCIs are being trained for multiple ways to help us scale. First, inspecting vehicles for wholesale is their primary task. Second, for arbitration, instead of sending cars to a third party—which cost us money—our inspectors now reinspect the car on-site. That improves customer satisfaction and helps us manage arbitration. Third, we use our inspectors for auditing ACV Auctions Inc. Capital. And for Viper, our last two installs were done by our ACV Auctions Inc. inspectors—no one from R&D had to fly out. The box arrived, our local inspectors assembled and brought it online within a few hours. Many inspectors are former mechanics and very skilled, and we train them across tasks.
William R. Zerella: In terms of scaling that workforce, we indicated we would add 100 inspectors this year. We are a little more than halfway there. That is more of a one-time upscaling of our field team—do not view it as an ongoing need at the same pace. That $11 million, plus adding territory managers and other go-to-market resources, is baked into guidance. Going forward, we will provide updates as we get closer to 2027.
Analyst: Thanks. Specifically on Vipers, how many are deployed so far, how many are you installing per month to get to that breakthrough next year, and how big is the backlog?
George G. Chamoun: We have about 18 live. We have somewhere around 75 waiting, and we will build another 60 to 70 more. We do have a backlog. We are prioritizing by giving each large dealer group a few—think two or three this year, not the five or 10 they are asking for—to spread the love, and we are transparent about next year being the scale year. Next year, we will be building several per month, but I am not ready to give a specific monthly number yet.
Operator: Thank you. The next question comes from Gary Prestopino from Barrington Research. Your line is now live.
Gary Prestopino: Good afternoon. George, you mentioned integrations with Viper into dealer DMS or service systems. What does the dealer do with that data? I assume at the point of service the technician or advisor can see the value of the car and make a pitch to the owner. Is the dealer also using that data for future leads with their current clients?
George G. Chamoun: Great questions. There are companies like MyKarma, Tekion, CDK’s service arm, and others. Some are both DMS and service platforms, some focus more on the service side. Whatever the dealer is using to power the service department, here is how it works: the car goes through Viper, we get an incredible data profile—every angle of the vehicle, tire treads, undercarriage—and we have additional IP coming next year. You also get ACV Auctions Inc. AI predictions on price and condition, plus the defects we typically see with that make and mileage—for example, if it is a Nissan Maxima with 120,000 miles, what is likely to happen in the next 10,000 miles. Step one was accomplishing that objective.
Step two is putting it into dealer systems so the process can scale. On the day of service, the advisor can say, “Two of your tires are bald; it will cost $800,” and, “It might be time to buy a new car.” It is not only day-of; we see consumers selling their car at our best-performing dealerships at five to seven, one is nine, out of 100 repair orders. With over 250 million repair orders a year through franchise dealers, if five out of 100 could lead to a consumer selling their car, it is massive. Dealers have a hard time scaling this manually—it takes too many people.
By leveraging hardware and our AI, it gets put into the dealership systems and then into the CRM, created as a lead. Some dealers route it to their BDC and sales team; some are using AI-driven bots for follow-up, and we are about to launch that with one of the major groups. Each deployment will be a bit different based on vendors. Our role at ACV Auctions Inc. is familiar: what is the condition and what is the price—we are the actual cash value.
Gary Prestopino: That is great. It sounds like a truly disruptive product in the market.
George G. Chamoun: Yes. Thank you, Gary.
Operator: We have reached the end of our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the floor back over for any closing comments.
George G. Chamoun: Thank you, operator. Everybody, thank you for joining us this evening. We look forward to seeing you on the conference circuit this quarter, and thanks for your interest in ACV Auctions Inc. Have a great evening.
Operator: Thank you. That concludes today's teleconference and webcast. You may disconnect your line at this time and have a wonderful day. We thank you for your participation today.
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ACV Auctions (ACVA) Q1 2026 Earnings Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool
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- ACV Auctions Inc. (ACVA) Tops Q1 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
May 6, 2026
ACV Auctions Inc. (ACVA) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.05 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.03 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.04 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items.
This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of +92.31%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this company would post a loss of $0.01 per share when it actually produced break-even earnings, delivering a surprise of +100%.
Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus EPS estimates two times.
ACV Auctions, which belongs to the Zacks Auction and Valuation Services industry, posted revenues of $204.19 million for the quarter ended March 2026, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.37%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $182.7 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates two times over the last four quarters.
The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call.
ACV Auctions shares have lost about 32.7% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 6%.
What's Next for ACV Auctions?
While ACV Auctions has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock?
There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately.
Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions.
Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for ACV Auctions was favorable. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to outperform the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is $0.05 on $214.34 million in revenues for the coming quarter and $0.18 on $848.13 million in revenues for the current fiscal year.
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Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Auction and Valuation Services is currently in the top 19% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1.
Another stock from the same industry, Copart, Inc. (CPRT), has yet to report results for the quarter ended April 2026.
This company is expected to post quarterly earnings of $0.42 per share in its upcoming report, which represents no change from the year-ago quarter. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days.
Copart, Inc.'s revenues are expected to be $1.23 billion, up 1.6% from the year-ago quarter.
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- ACV Auctions (NYSE:ACVA) Surprises With Q1 CY2026 Sales, Stock Soars
May 6, 2026
Online used car auction platform ACV Auctions (NASDAQ:ACVA) reported Q1 CY2026 results topping the market’s revenue expectations , with sales up 11.8% year on year to $204.2 million. The company expects next quarter’s revenue to be around $215 million, close to analysts’ estimates. Its GAAP loss of $0.06 per share was $0.02 above analysts’ consensus estimates.
Is now the time to buy ACV Auctions? Find out in our full research report.
ACV Auctions (ACVA) Q1 CY2026 Highlights:
Revenue: $204.2 million vs analyst estimates of $201.9 million (11.8% year-on-year growth, 1.1% beat) EPS (GAAP): -$0.06 vs analyst estimates of -$0.08 ($0.02 beat) Adjusted EBITDA: $17.1 million vs analyst estimates of $14.52 million (8.4% margin, 17.8% beat) The company reconfirmed its revenue guidance for the full year of $850 million at the midpoint EBITDA guidance for the full year is $75 million at the midpoint, above analyst estimates of $74.33 million Operating Margin: -4.5%, up from -7.9% in the same quarter last year Free Cash Flow was $65.08 million, up from -$23.37 million in the previous quarter Market Capitalization: $940.3 million
Company Overview
Founded in 2014, ACV Auctions (NASDAQ:ACVA) is an online auction marketplace for car dealers and wholesalers to buy and sell used cars.
Revenue Growth
A company’s long-term sales performance is one signal of its overall quality. Any business can put up a good quarter or two, but the best consistently grow over the long haul. Thankfully, ACV Auctions’s 21.3% annualized revenue growth over the last three years was impressive. Its growth beat the average consumer internet company and shows its offerings resonate with customers.ACV Auctions Quarterly Revenue
This quarter, ACV Auctions reported year-on-year revenue growth of 11.8%, and its $204.2 million of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 1.1%. Company management is currently guiding for a 11% year-on-year increase in sales next quarter.
Looking further ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 12.1% over the next 12 months, a deceleration versus the last three years. Despite the slowdown, this projection is above the sector average and implies the market sees some success for its newer products and services.
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Cash Is King
If you’ve followed StockStory for a while, you know we emphasize free cash flow. Why, you ask? We believe that in the end, cash is king, and you can’t use accounting profits to pay the bills.
ACV Auctions has shown decent cash profitability, giving it some flexibility to reinvest or return capital to investors. The company’s free cash flow margin averaged 6.6% over the last two years, slightly better than the broader consumer internet sector.
Taking a step back, we can see that ACV Auctions’s margin expanded by 11 percentage points over the last few years. This is encouraging because it gives the company more optionality.ACV Auctions Trailing 12-Month Free Cash Flow Margin
ACV Auctions’s free cash flow clocked in at $65.08 million in Q1, equivalent to a 31.9% margin. This cash profitability was in line with the comparable period last year and above its two-year average.
Key Takeaways from ACV Auctions’s Q1 Results
We were impressed by how significantly ACV Auctions blew past analysts’ EBITDA expectations this quarter. We were also glad its full-year EBITDA guidance slightly exceeded Wall Street’s estimates. On the other hand, its EBITDA guidance for next quarter missed and its revenue guidance for next quarter was in line with Wall Street’s estimates. Zooming out, we think this was a mixed quarter. The stock traded up 7.7% to $5.61 immediately after reporting.
Big picture, is ACV Auctions a buy here and now? The latest quarter does matter, but not nearly as much as longer-term fundamentals and valuation, when deciding if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here, it’s free.
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- ACV Announces First Quarter 2026 Results
May 6, 2026
Delivered Record Revenue with Adjusted EBITDA Exceeding Guidance
Announces $100 Million Share Repurchase Authorization and $50 Million Accelerated Share Repurchase Program
First quarter revenue of $204 million First quarter GAAP net income (loss) of ($11) million First quarter non-GAAP net income of $7 million First quarter Adjusted EBITDA of $17 million Reaffirms 2026 revenue guidance of $845 million to $855 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $73 million to $77 million; GAAP net income (loss) of ($51) million to ($47) million
BUFFALO, N.Y., May 06, 2026--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ACV (NYSE: ACVA), a leading digital automotive marketplace and data services partner for dealers and commercial clients, today reported results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2026.
"ACV delivered solid financial results in Q1-26, reporting record revenue and Adjusted EBITDA above the high-end of guidance. Results were driven by continued market share gains in dealer wholesale and strong adoption of our Marketplace Services," said George Chamoun, CEO of ACV. "Our suite of AI-powered dealer solutions gained further market traction, highlighted by the successful launch of VIPER with select dealer partners, which creates a powerful new driver of wallet share expansion and unit growth. We also continued to execute on our commercial wholesale strategy having recently engaged with over a dozen commercial accounts across major captives, banks, fleet companies, and auto finance providers. We believe that along with delivering market share gains in dealer wholesale, ACV is well positioned to expand our TAM and drive sustainable long-term revenue growth," concluded Chamoun.
"ACV's first quarter results reinforce our commitment to deliver profitable growth while also increasing investments to drive dealer wholesale market share, and to support our exciting new growth initiatives," said Bill Zerella, CFO of ACV. "Our team delivered these results while facing challenging retail and wholesale trends in the quarter. And, despite the uncertain macroeconomic backdrop we are reaffirming our 2026 revenue and Adjusted EBITDA guidance. We are also pleased to announce that ACV's Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program of up to $100 million and intends, in the coming days, to enter into an accelerated share repurchase program under this authorization to repurchase an aggregate of $50 million of its common stock," concluded Zerella.
First Quarter 2026 Highlights
Revenue of $204 million, an increase of 12% year over year Marketplace and Service Revenue of $182 million, an increase of 10% year over year Marketplace GMV of $2.7 billion, an increase of 5% year over year Marketplace Units of 213,492, an increase of 3% year over year GAAP net income (loss) of ($11) million, compared to GAAP net income (loss) of ($15) million in the first quarter of 2025 Non-GAAP net income of $7 million, compared to non-GAAP net income of $7 million in the first quarter of 2025 Adjusted EBITDA of $17 million, compared to Adjusted EBITDA of $14 million in the first quarter of 2025
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Second Quarter and Full-Year 2026 Guidance
Based on information as of today, ACV is providing the following guidance:
Second Quarter of 2026:
Total revenue of $213 million to $217 million, an increase of 10% to 12% year over year GAAP net income (loss) of ($14) million to ($12) million Non-GAAP net income of $8 million to $10 million Adjusted EBITDA of $18 million to $20 million Full-Year 2026:
Total revenue of $845 million to $855 million, an increase of 11% to 13% year over year GAAP net income (loss) of ($51) million to ($47) million Non-GAAP net income of $33 million to $37 million Adjusted EBITDA of $73 million to $77 million
Our financial guidance includes the following assumptions:
The dealer wholesale market is expected to decline in the mid-single digits year over year in 2026, a higher decline than previously expected. Conversion rates and wholesale price depreciation expected to follow normal seasonal patterns. Non-GAAP Operating Expense (excluding Cost of Revenue) is expected to increase approximately 8% year-over-year. Second quarter non-GAAP net income guidance excludes approximately $18 million of stock-based compensation expense and approximately $3 million of intangible amortization. Full-year non-GAAP net income guidance excludes approximately $66 million of stock-based compensation expense and $11 million of intangible amortization.
ACV’s First Quarter Results Conference Call
ACV will host a conference call and live webcast today, May 6, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. ET to discuss the financial results. To access the live conference call participants are invited to dial 877-704-4453 (international callers please dial 1-201-389-0920) approximately 10 minutes prior to the start of the call. A live webcast and replay of the call will be available on the Company’s investor relations website at https://investors.acvauto.com/. Participants are encouraged to join the webcast unless asking a question.
About ACV Auctions
ACV is on a mission to transform the automotive industry by building the most trusted and efficient digital marketplace and data solutions for sourcing, selling and managing used vehicles with transparency and comprehensive insights that were once unimaginable. ACV offerings include ACV Auctions, ACV Transportation, ACV Capital, ACV MAX, True360, and ClearCar.
For more information about ACV, visit www.acvauto.com.
Information About Non-GAAP Financial Measures
ACV provides supplemental non-GAAP financial measures to its financial results. We use these non-GAAP financial measures, and we believe that they assist our investors to make period-to-period comparisons of our operating performance because they provide a view of our operating results without items that are not, in our view, indicative of our operating results. These non-GAAP financial measures should not be construed as an alternative to GAAP results as the items excluded from the non-GAAP financial measures often have a material impact on our operating results, certain of those items are recurring, and others often recur. Management uses, and investors should consider, our non-GAAP financial measures only in conjunction with our GAAP results.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Adjusted EBITDA is a financial measure that is not presented in accordance with GAAP. We believe that Adjusted EBITDA, when taken together with our financial results presented in accordance with GAAP, provides meaningful supplemental information regarding our operating performance and facilitates internal comparisons of our historical operating performance on a more consistent basis by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of our business, results of operations or outlook. In particular, we believe that the use of Adjusted EBITDA is helpful to our investors as it is a measure used by management in assessing the health of our business, determining incentive compensation and evaluating our operating performance, as well as for internal planning and forecasting purposes.
We define Adjusted EBITDA as net loss, adjusted to exclude: depreciation and amortization; stock-based compensation expense; interest (income) expense; provision for income taxes; and other one-time non-recurring items, when applicable, such as acquisition-related and restructuring expenses.
Adjusted EBITDA is presented for supplemental informational purposes only, has limitations as an analytical tool and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. Some of these limitations include that (1) it does not properly reflect capital commitments to be paid in the future; (2) although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the underlying assets may need to be replaced and Adjusted EBITDA does not reflect these capital expenditures; (3) it does not consider the impact of stock-based compensation expense, (4) it does not reflect other non-operating income and expenses, including interest income and expense, (5) it does not consider the impact of any contingent consideration liability valuation adjustments, (6) it does not reflect tax payments that may represent a reduction in cash available to us, and (7) it does not reflect other one-time, non-recurring items, when applicable, such as acquisition-related and restructuring expenses. In addition, our use of Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies because they may not calculate Adjusted EBITDA in the same manner, limiting its usefulness as a comparative measure. Because of these limitations, when evaluating our performance, you should consider Adjusted EBITDA alongside other financial measures, including our net loss and other results stated in accordance with GAAP.
Non-GAAP net income (loss), a financial measure that is not presented in accordance with GAAP, provides investors with additional useful information to measure operating performance and current and future liquidity when taken together with our financial results presented in accordance with GAAP. By providing this information, we believe management and the users of the financial statements are better able to understand the financial results of what we consider to be our continuing operations.
We define non-GAAP net income (loss) as net income (loss), adjusted to exclude: stock-based compensation expense, amortization of acquired intangible assets, and other one-time, non-recurring items, when applicable, such as acquisition-related and restructuring expenses.
In the calculation of non-GAAP net income (loss), we exclude stock-based compensation expense because of varying available valuation methodologies, subjective assumptions and the variety of equity instruments that can impact our non-cash expense. We believe that providing non-GAAP financial measures that exclude stock-based compensation expense allows for more meaningful comparisons between our operating results from period to period.
We exclude amortization of acquired intangible assets from the calculation of non-GAAP net income (loss). We believe that excluding the impact of amortization of acquired intangible assets allows for more meaningful comparisons between operating results from period to period as the underlying intangible assets are valued at the time of acquisition and are amortized over several years after the acquisition.
We exclude contingent consideration liability valuation adjustments associated with the purchase consideration of transactions accounted for as business combinations. We also exclude certain other one-time, non-recurring items, when applicable, such as acquisition-related and restructuring expenses, because we do not consider such amounts to be part of our ongoing operations nor are they comparable to prior period nor predictive of future results.
Non-GAAP net income (loss) is presented for supplemental informational purposes only, has limitations as an analytical tool and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. Some of these limitations include that: (1) it does not consider the impact of stock-based compensation expense; (2) although amortization is a non-cash charge, the underlying assets may need to be replaced and non-GAAP net income (loss) does not reflect these capital expenditures; (3) it does not consider the impact of any contingent consideration liability valuation adjustments; and (4) they do not consider the impact of other one-time charges, such as acquisition-related and restructuring expenses, which could be material to the results of our operations. In addition, our use of non-GAAP net income (loss) may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies because they may not calculate non-GAAP net income (loss) in the same manner, limiting its usefulness as a comparative measure. Because of these limitations, when evaluating our performance, you should consider non-GAAP net income (loss) alongside other financial measures, including our net loss, and other results stated in accordance with GAAP.
Information About Operating and Financial Metrics
We regularly monitor the following operating and financial metrics in order to measure our current performance and estimate our future performance. Our key operating and financial metrics may be calculated in a manner different than similar business metrics used by other companies.
Operating and Financial Metrics
Marketplace GMV - Marketplace GMV is primarily driven by the volume and dollar value of Marketplace Unit transactions. We believe that Marketplace GMV acts as an indicator of our success, signaling satisfaction of dealers and buyers, and the health, scale, and growth of our business. We define Marketplace GMV as the total dollar value of vehicles transacted within the applicable period, excluding any auction and ancillary fees.
Marketplace Units - Marketplace Units is a key indicator of our potential for growth in Marketplace GMV and revenue. It demonstrates the overall engagement of our customers and our market share of wholesale transactions in the United States. We define Marketplace Units as the number of vehicles transacted within the applicable period. Marketplace Units transacted includes any vehicle that successfully reaches sold status, even if the auction is subsequently unwound, meaning the buyer or seller does not complete the transaction. These instances have been immaterial to date. Marketplace Units excludes vehicles that were inspected by ACV, but not sold. Marketplace Units have generally increased over time as we have expanded our territory coverage, added new dealer partners and increased our share of wholesale transactions from existing customers.
Forward-Looking Statements
This presentation contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements concerning our financial guidance for the second quarter of 2026 and the full year of 2026. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as "anticipate," "believe," "contemplate," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "target," "will" or "would" or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions. You should not rely on forward-looking statements as predictions of future events.
The forward-looking statements contained in this presentation are based on ACV’s current assumptions, expectations and beliefs and are subject to substantial risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances that may cause ACV’s actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statement. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: (1) our history of operating losses; (2) our limited operating history; (3) our ability to effectively manage our growth; (4) our ability to grow the number of participants on our marketplace platform; (5) general market, political, economic, and business conditions; (6) our ability to acquire new customers and successfully retain existing customers; (7) our ability to effectively develop and expand our sales and marketing capabilities; (8) our ability to successfully introduce new products and services; (9) breaches in our security measures, unauthorized access to our marketplace platform, our data, or our customers’ or other users’ personal data; (10) risk of interruptions or performance problems associated with our products and platform capabilities; (11) our ability to adapt and respond to rapidly changing technology or customer needs; (12) our ability to compete effectively with existing competitors and new market entrants; (13) our ability to comply or remain in compliance with laws and regulations that currently apply or become applicable to our business in the United States and other jurisdictions where we elect to do business; (14) the impact that economic conditions could have on our or our customers’ businesses, financial condition and results of operations; and (15) the impact of such economic conditions in the wholesale dealer market included in our guidance for the second quarter of 2026 and full year 2026, and the related impact on the performance of our marketplace and our operating expenses, stock-based compensation expense and intangible amortization. These and other risks and uncertainties are more fully described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, filed with the SEC on February 23, 2026. Additional information will be made available in other filings and reports that we may file from time to time with the SEC. New risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance, achievements, or events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will occur. The forward-looking statements made in this presentation relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made in this presentation to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this presentation or to reflect new information or the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law.
ACV AUCTIONS INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(Unaudited)
(in thousands, except per share data) Three months ended March 31, 2026 2025 Revenue: Marketplace and service revenue $ 182,210 $ 165,937 Customer assurance revenue 21,982 16,760 Total revenue 204,192 182,697 Operating expenses: Marketplace and service cost of revenue (excluding depreciation & amortization) 79,820 69,402 Customer assurance cost of revenue (excluding depreciation & amortization) 18,980 13,977 Operations and technology 46,470 44,190 Selling, general, and administrative 56,238 59,018 Depreciation and amortization 11,920 10,541 Total operating expenses 213,428 197,128 Loss from operations (9,236 ) (14,431 ) Other (expense) income: Interest income 1,694 1,889 Interest expense (2,820 ) (1,910 ) Total other (expense) income (1,126 ) (21 ) Loss before income taxes (10,362 ) (14,452 ) Provision for income taxes 530 365 Net loss $ (10,892 ) $ (14,817 ) Weighted-average shares - basic and diluted 173,356 168,347 Net loss per share - basic and diluted $ (0.06 ) $ (0.09 )
ACV AUCTIONS INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(Unaudited)
(in thousands) March 31,
2026 December 31,
2025 Assets Current Assets: Cash and cash equivalents $ 340,970 $ 271,497 Trade receivables (net of allowance of $5,398 and $3,829) 268,867 197,225 Finance receivables (net of allowance of $22,256 and $29,026) 190,432 180,486 Other current assets 24,019 24,295 Total current assets 824,288 673,503 Property and equipment (net of accumulated depreciation of $7,304 and $6,589) 13,654 12,852 Goodwill 183,052 183,725 Acquired intangible assets (net of amortization of $42,642 and $40,202) 78,290 81,024 Capitalized software (net of amortization of $76,085 and $67,874) 84,840 81,964 Other assets 51,257 52,543 Total assets $ 1,235,381 $ 1,085,611 Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity Current Liabilities: Accounts payable $ 526,634 $ 390,830 Accrued payroll 10,732 9,308 Accrued other liabilities 22,988 20,711 Total current liabilities 560,354 420,849 Long-term debt 200,000 190,000 Other long-term liabilities 44,103 45,079 Total liabilities 804,457 655,928 Commitments and Contingencies Stockholders' Equity: Preferred Stock — — Common Stock 174 173 Additional paid-in capital 1,009,840 996,628 Accumulated deficit (579,348 ) (568,456 ) Accumulated other comprehensive income 258 1,338 Total stockholders' equity 430,924 429,683 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 1,235,381 $ 1,085,611
ACV AUCTIONS INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(Unaudited)
(in thousands) Three months ended March 31, 2026 2025 Cash Flows from Operating Activities Net loss $ (10,892 ) $ (14,817 ) Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by operating activities: Depreciation and amortization 11,920 10,547 Stock-based compensation expense, net of amounts capitalized 13,464 16,574 Provision for bad debt 5,254 1,603 Other non-cash, net 821 704 Changes in operating assets and liabilities: Trade receivables (74,294 ) (75,714 ) Other operating assets 41 (2,616 ) Accounts payable 126,445 122,834 Other operating liabilities 3,751 7,509 Net cash provided by operating activities 76,510 66,624 Cash Flows from Investing Activities Net increase in finance receivables (3,363 ) (17,276 ) Purchases of property and equipment (1,772 ) (1,346 ) Capitalization of software costs (9,663 ) (8,731 ) Purchases of marketable securities — (10,153 ) Maturities and redemptions of marketable securities — 6,638 Net cash used in investing activities (14,798 ) (30,868 ) Cash Flows from Financing Activities Proceeds from long term debt 85,000 100,000 Payments towards long term debt (75,000 ) (56,500 ) Proceeds from exercise of stock options 690 382 Payment of RSU tax withholdings in exchange for common shares surrendered by RSU holders (2,780 ) (11,808 ) Other financing activities — (42 ) Net cash provided by financing activities 7,910 32,032 Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash (149 ) 32 Net increase in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash 69,473 67,820 Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, beginning of period 271,497 224,065 Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash, end of period $ 340,970 $ 291,885
The following table presents a reconciliation of non-GAAP net income to net loss, the most directly comparable financial measure stated in accordance with GAAP, for the periods presented (in thousands):
Three months ended March 31, 2026 2025 Net loss $ (10,892 ) $ (14,817 ) Stock-based compensation 13,464 16,574 Amortization of acquired intangible assets 2,596 2,773 Amortization of capitalized stock based compensation 1,548 1,463 Acquisition-related costs — 403 Litigation-related costs (1) — 1,100 Other 610 — Non-GAAP Net income $ 7,326 $ 7,496 (1) Litigation-related costs are related to an anti-competition case which we do not consider to be representative of our underlying operating performance
The following table presents a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income (loss), the most directly comparable financial measure stated in accordance with GAAP, for the periods presented (in thousands):
Three months ended March 31, 2026 2025 Adjusted EBITDA Reconciliation Net loss $ (10,892 ) $ (14,817 ) Depreciation and amortization 11,920 10,546 Stock-based compensation 13,464 16,574 Net interest expense 1,126 21 Provision for income taxes 530 365 Acquisition-related costs — 403 Litigation-related costs (1) — 1,100 Other 955 (284 ) Adjusted EBITDA $ 17,103 $ 13,908 (1) Litigation-related costs are related to an anti-competition case which we do not consider to be representative of our underlying operating performance
The following table presents a reconciliation of non-GAAP net income (loss) to GAAP net loss, the most directly comparable financial measure stated in accordance with GAAP, for the periods presented (in millions):
Three months ended
June 30, 2026 Year ended
December 31, 2026 Non-GAAP net income (loss) to net income (loss) guidance Reconciliation Net income (loss) ($14) - ($12) ($51) - ($47) Non-GAAP Adjustments: Stock-based compensation $18 $66 Intangible amortization $3 $11 Amortization of capitalized stock-based compensation $2 $6 Other — $1 Non-GAAP net income (loss) $8 - $10 $33 - $37
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Contacts
Investor Contact:
Tim Fox
tfox@acvauctions.com
Media Contact:
Maura Duggan
mduggan@acvauctions.com
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- ACV Auctions Inc. (ACVA) Tops Q1 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
May 6, 2026 · zacks.com
ACV Auctions Inc. (ACVA) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.05 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.03 per share. This compares to earnings of $0.04 per share a year ago.
