CarGurus advertising spend, FY2025
CarGurus (CARG) reported $183M of advertising expense for the fiscal year ended Dec 31, 2025. That is 20.2% of revenue of $907M. Up 13.9% from FY2024.
Key facts
- Ad spend is 3.0x its FY2015 level ($61.9M), slower than revenue (9.2x).
- The highest year on file is FY2019 at $287M; FY2025 is 36% below it.
- Largest increase +81.3% in FY2016; largest cut -45.8% in FY2020.
- Ad spend has risen 2 years in a row.
- Ad spend is 20.2% of revenue, down from 28.2% in FY2020.
- CarGurus spends more on advertising than 31% of the 336 US-listed companies tracked. Its ad-to-revenue ratio is 3.9x the median of 5.2%.
Ad spend by fiscal year
Ad spend as % of revenue
History
Download CSV| Fiscal year | Period end | Ad spend | YoY | Revenue | Ad / revenue | Tag | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Dec 31, 2025 | $183M | +13.9% | $907M | 20.2% | AdvertisingExpense | 10-K Feb 19, 2026 |
| FY2024 | Dec 31, 2024 | $161M | +15.8% | $798M | 20.1% | AdvertisingExpense | 10-K Feb 19, 2026 |
| FY2023 | Dec 31, 2023 | $139M | -11.1% | $698M | 19.9% | AdvertisingExpense | 10-K Feb 19, 2026 |
| FY2022 | Dec 31, 2022 | $156M | +3.1% | $1.7B | 9.4% | AdvertisingExpense | 10-K Feb 20, 2025 |
| FY2021 | Dec 31, 2021 | $151M | -2.7% | $951M | 15.9% | AdvertisingExpense | 10-K Feb 26, 2024 |
| FY2020 | Dec 31, 2020 | $156M | -45.8% | $551M | 28.2% | AdvertisingExpense | 10-K Mar 1, 2023 |
| FY2019 | Dec 31, 2019 | $287M | +20.3% | $589M | 48.8% | AdvertisingExpense | 10-K Feb 25, 2022 |
| FY2018 | Dec 31, 2018 | $239M | +37.8% | $454M | 52.6% | AdvertisingExpense | 10-K Feb 12, 2021 |
| FY2017 | Dec 31, 2017 | $173M | +54.4% | $317M | 54.7% | AdvertisingExpense | 10-K Feb 14, 2020 |
| FY2016 | Dec 31, 2016 | $112M | +81.3% | $198M | 56.6% | AdvertisingExpense | 10-K Feb 28, 2019 |
| FY2015 | Dec 31, 2015 | $61.9M | n/a | $98.6M | 62.8% | AdvertisingExpense | 10-K Mar 1, 2018 |
What the figure is
Advertising costs as disclosed in the annual report (XBRL tag AdvertisingExpense).
Compared with similar spenders
The 6 companies closest to CarGurus in latest-year ad spend.
| Rank | Company | Ad spend | Ad / revenue | YoY | Fiscal year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 231 | Lemonade | $187M | 25.4% | +54.2% | FY2025 |
| 232 | Harley-Davidson | $185M | 4.1% | +35.1% | FY2025 |
| 233 | CarGurus | $183M | 20.2% | +13.9% | FY2025 |
| 234 | Workday | $181M | 1.9% | -11.3% | FY2026 |
| 235 | Darden Restaurants | $180M | 1.4% | +6.2% | FY2026 |
| 236 | J.M. Smucker | $179M | 2.0% | -0.9% | FY2026 |
| 237 | Hewlett Packard Enterprise | $179M | 0.5% | +53.0% | FY2025 |
Full ranking of 336 companies · Biggest increases #101 · Highest ad-to-revenue #35
Questions
How much does CarGurus spend on advertising?
CarGurus spent $183M on advertising in fiscal 2025, the year ended Dec 31, 2025, according to its 10-K filed Feb 19, 2026.
What percentage of revenue does CarGurus spend on advertising?
20.2% of revenue in fiscal 2025 ($183M of $907M). The median across the 336 companies tracked is 5.2%.
Is CarGurus spending more on advertising?
Yes. Ad spend rose 13.9% in fiscal 2025 from fiscal 2024. It has risen 2 years in a row.
How does CarGurus rank by advertising spend?
#233 of 336 US-listed companies with $100M or more in ad spend, ranked on each company's latest fiscal year.
What does CarGurus's advertising figure include?
Advertising costs as disclosed in the annual report (XBRL tag AdvertisingExpense).
Source
- Filing
- 10-K for FY2025, filed Feb 19, 2026
- Accession number
0001193125-26-059435- Company
- CarGurus, Inc., CIK 1494259, SIC 7374 (Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation)
- Data
- SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts, retrieved Nov 4, 2026. Methodology.
- Cite
- CarGurus advertising spend, FY2015-FY2025. Aleksei Trudov, io.trudov.com, from SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts (latest: 10-K filed Feb 19, 2026), retrieved Nov 4, 2026. https://io.trudov.com/company/cargurus/advertising-spend/
- Download
- CSV, all years · CSV, all 336 companies