Company Reports

Copart's stock rose over 7% in Sept. 10 after-hours trading after the company released fiscal fourth-quarter results and said it is buying nonsalvage auction firm ACV for about $1.9 billion in cash ($10.50 per share). The deal is targeted to close by the end of calendar 2026.

Since its 1982 inception, Copart has grown into the largest online salvage-vehicle auction operator in the US, connecting buyers and sellers around the world. The firm has grown its top line over fivefold since fiscal 2011 via significant land expansion and robust service quality to drive higher salvage-vehicle volume. Copart receives the majority of its vehicle volume through contracts with large auto insurers and sells them on consignment for high margins to dismantlers or retailers in emerging markets. The company prioritizes maintaining amicable insurance relationships, which are fostered by having adequate storage capacity (even after catastrophes) and providing flexible service. All auctions have been online since 2003.

Since its 1982 inception, Copart has grown into the largest online salvage vehicle auction operator in the US, connecting buyers and sellers around the world. The firm has grown its top line over fivefold since fiscal 2011 via significant land expansion and robust service quality to drive higher salvage vehicle volume. Copart receives the majority of its vehicle volume through contracts with large auto insurers and sells them on consignment for high margins to dismantlers or retailers in emerging markets. The company prioritizes maintaining amicable insurance relationships, which are fostered by having adequate storage capacity (even after catastrophes) and providing flexible service. All auctions have been online since 2003.

Copart said June 29 that CEO Jeff Liaw will resign on July 31 and former head Jay Adair will return as CEO. On a July 6 analyst call, Adair said he wants faster growth around the firm's three pillars of international insurance expansion, US whole car (noninsurance), and tech services.

Since its 1982 inception, Copart has grown into the largest online salvage vehicle auction operator in the US, connecting buyers and sellers around the world. The firm has grown its top line over fivefold since fiscal 2011 via significant land expansion and robust service quality to drive higher salvage vehicle volume. Copart receives the majority of its vehicle volume through contracts with large auto insurers and sells them on consignment for high margins to dismantlers or retailers in emerging markets. The company prioritizes maintaining amicable insurance relationships, which are fostered by having adequate storage capacity (even after catastrophes) and providing flexible service. All auctions have been online since 2003.

Copart's fiscal 2026 third quarter saw diluted EPS up 2.4% year over year to $0.43 on just over 2% revenue growth in each of the consignment and vehicle sales segments. Share repurchases in the quarter totaled just over $1.4 billion, bringing the full fiscal year total to $1.63 billion.

Since its 1982 founding, Copart has grown into the largest online salvage vehicle auction operator in the US, connecting buyers and sellers around the world. The firm has grown its top line over fivefold since fiscal 2011 due to a combination of significant land expansion and robust service quality to drive higher salvage vehicle volume. Copart receives the majority of its vehicle volume through contracts with large auto insurers and sells them on consignment for high margins to dismantlers or retailers in emerging markets. The company prioritizes maintaining amicable insurance relationships, which are fostered by having adequate storage capacity (even after catastrophes) and providing flexible service. All auctions have been online since 2003.

Copart's stock fell over 10% in Feb. 19 after-hours trading after second-quarter fiscal 2026 EPS fell 10% year over year to $0.36, missing the $0.39 LSEG consensus. The company said it bought back over 13 million shares for over $500 million during the fiscal second and third quarters.

Since its 1982 founding, Copart has grown into the largest online salvage vehicle auction operator in the US, connecting buyers and sellers around the world. The firm has grown its top line over fivefold since fiscal 2011 due to a combination of significant land expansion and robust service quality to drive higher salvage vehicle volume. Copart receives the majority of its vehicle volume through contracts with large auto insurers and sells them on consignment for high margins to dismantlers or retailers in emerging markets. The company prioritizes maintaining amicable insurance relationships, which are fostered by having adequate storage capacity (even after catastrophes) and providing flexible service. All auctions have been online since 2003.

Copart's stock fell over 3% in Nov. 20 after-hours trading after it reported first-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue year-over-year growth of only 0.7%. Unit volume declined 6.7%, but excluding high disaster volumes in the prior-year quarter, units still fell 4.6%.

Since its 1982 founding, Copart has grown into the largest online salvage vehicle auction operator in the US, connecting buyers and sellers around the world. The company has grown its top line over five-fold since fiscal 2011 due to a combination of significant land expansion and robust service quality to drive higher salvage vehicle volume. Copart receives the majority of its vehicle volume through contracts with large auto insurers and sells them on consignment for high margins to dismantlers or retailers in emerging markets. The company prioritizes maintaining amicable insurance relationships which are fostered by having adequate storage capacity (even after storms) and providing flexible service. All auctions have been online since 2003.

Since its 1982 founding, Copart has grown into the largest online salvage vehicle auction operator in the United States, connecting buyers and sellers around the world. The company has grown its top line over five-fold since fiscal 2011 due to a combination of significant land expansion and robust service quality to drive higher salvage vehicle volume. Copart receives the majority of its vehicle volume through contracts with large auto insurers and sells them on consignment for high margins to dismantlers or retailers in emerging markets. The company prioritizes maintaining amicable insurance relationships which are fostered by having adequate storage capacity (even after storms) and providing flexible service. All auctions have been online since 2003.

Copart's stock fell nearly 3% in Sept. 4 after-hours trading despite fourth-quarter fiscal 2025 diluted EPS growing 24.2% year over year to $0.41 and beating the $0.36 LSEG consensus. Global units sold fell 0.9% on US weakness.

Copart's fiscal 2025 third-quarter results had no major positive or negative surprises, and diluted EPS rose 7.7% year over year to match the $0.42 LSEG consensus. The balance sheet remains debt-free, while cash and held-to-maturity securities rose to $4.38 billion, up 15.5% from Jan. 31, 2025.

Copart's second-quarter fiscal 2025 results gave us no reason to change our fair value estimate. Revenue rose 14% year over year, while adjusted diluted earnings per share grew 21.2% to $0.40 and beat the $0.37 LSEG consensus. Although operating margin fell by 60 basis points to 36.6% as gross margin and overhead costs as a percent of revenue both were unfavorable relative to the prior-year quarter, gross profit increased 13.2% and operating income rose 12.2%. Service, or consignment revenue, are vastly higher margin than Copart auctioning a vehicle it owns, and service revenue increased at nearly twice the pace of vehicle sale revenue (15% versus 8.6%). Consignment unit volume in the US and overseas rose by 8% and 11% respectively as Copart's powerful network effect continues to draw business to its vast and highly liquid virtual auctions. Management also continues to highlight the Title Express business, when Copart processes salvage titles so insurers no longer do it themselves, as helpful in bringing insurers salvage vehicles into the Copart ecosystem, and, in turn, Copart's auctions.

Copart started fiscal 2025 with solid growth. We are increasing our fair value estimate to $57 from $50. The change is from the time value of money, higher long-term operating income growth, and higher average US selling prices for fiscal 2025 due to the first quarter’s 1% decline outpacing the Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index’s 4% fall. We remain optimistic about Copart’s long-term unit volume growth, given we expect continued higher technology content in vehicles, enabling further increases in the total loss frequency rate (the percentage of vehicles in an accident deemed a total loss). Copart’s expansion into heavy equipment auctions with the recent Purple Wave deal continues to look good, with further double-digit growth in that business for the quarter. The company has doubled the sales team since the acquisition, which is causing higher overheads as a percentage of sales than we had been modeling for fiscal 2025. However, we expect that investment to lead to gross profit growth and scale over time.

Since its 1982 founding, Copart has grown into the largest online salvage vehicle auction operator in the United States, connecting buyers and sellers around the world. The company has grown its top line nearly five-fold since 2009 due to a combination of significant land expansion and robust service quality to drive higher salvage vehicle volume. Copart receives the majority of its vehicle volume through contracts with large auto insurers and sells them on consignment for high margins often to dismantlers. The company prioritizes maintaining amicable insurance relationships which are fostered by having adequate storage capacity (even after storms) and providing flexible service. All auctions have been online since 2003.

Since its 1982 inception, Copart has grown into the largest online salvage vehicle auction operator in the United States, connecting buyers and sellers around the world. The company has grown its top line nearly five-fold since 2009 due to a combination of significant land expansion and robust service quality to drive higher salvage vehicle volume. Copart receives the majority of its vehicle volume through contracts with large auto insurers and sells them on consignment for high margins often to dismantlers. The company prioritizes maintaining amicable insurance relationships which are fostered by having adequate storage capacity (even after storms) and providing flexible service. All auctions have been online since 2003.

Copart’s stock fell about 6% in Sept. 4 after-hours trading after the firm reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2024 diluted earnings per share of $0.33, down 8.3% year over year and missing the $0.36 LSEG consensus. We don’t see any change in our long-term view of the company’s wide-moat business, so we are leaving our fair value estimate unchanged. However, we will reassess all modeling inputs when we roll our model forward for the soon-to-be-filed 10-K. We see no reason to be alarmed by the quarter’s results as we calculate that the fourth-quarter free cash flow increased 60% to $301.3 million. July 31 liquidity was $4.6 billion, consisting of $3.4 billion in cash and investments plus $1.2 billion on the credit line. We would not mind a share buyback at or below $50 per share, given Copart’s ample cash and investments and the diluted share count increasing by 0.8% in fiscal 2024.

Copart’s fiscal 2024 third quarter again showed strong growth and solid profitability, a byproduct of the firm’s wide economic moat enabling share gain and falling used vehicle prices. This increased the insurance industry’s total loss frequency, which means more auction volume for Copart.