- Company name
- Copart
- Sector
- Vehicle auctions
- About
- Copart runs online auctions for wrecked and total-loss vehicles. Insurance companies list totaled cars on Copart's platform. Buyers bid on the cars, mostly for parts or export. Copart owns the land the cars sit on. This land, plus long-term local permits, is hard for a new competitor to copy.
- Thesis
- Copart trades at a discount because one large insurance customer moved its business to rival RB Global. The market fears this is the start of a bigger shift, not one lost contract. Jeff Liaw's sudden exit as CEO in July 2026 adds to this uncertainty. Jay Adair, the previous CEO, returned to the role the same day. The new $1.9 billion deal to buy ACV Auctions adds integration risk on top of this. ACV loses money today, and Copart does not expect it to add to profit before fiscal 2028. For the discount to close, total-loss car volume must stabilize once the RB Global loss fully laps the year-over-year numbers, expected by mid-2027. The ACV deal, launched as a tender offer on September 17, 2026, should close by the end of 2026. Its early progress will show whether it distracts management from the core auction business. Copart's next quarterly report is expected around December 2026. A clear read on whether the volume loss was a one-time event likely takes another two to four quarters, stretching into mid-2027.
- Risks
- A large insurance customer moved business to Copart's main competitor, RB Global, starting January 2026. The loss expands in stages through mid-2027. If Copart keeps losing volume after that, this was not one lost contract. It is a sign the business is easier to switch away from than the moat rating assumes.
The ACV Auctions deal adds integration risk. ACV loses money today. Copart says the deal will not add to profit before fiscal year 2028.
Costs are growing faster than revenue right now. If this continues, profit keeps falling even while revenue grows.
- Balance sheet
- Cash: $4.5B
Debt: $0.0M
Net cash: $4.5B
Undrawn credit line: $1.3B, to January 2031
Copart has no borrowings, and it can pay for the ACV Auctions deal from cash and stay debt-free. The deal costs about $1.9 billion in cash, with no financing condition, but net cash and interest income will fall after it closes. At July 31, 2026, cash includes restricted cash and $2,582 million of held-to-maturity securities. Lease liabilities were $88 million. This cash earned $182 million of net interest income in fiscal 2026. $598 million of the cash sat in foreign subsidiaries, and Copart intends to keep it abroad. Copart also owns most of its yard land. Total equity was $9.1 billion, with only $511 million of goodwill. Copart signed its unsecured revolving credit facility in January 2026, and it was undrawn except for $22.5 million of letters of credit. In fiscal 2026, Copart spent $1.6 billion to buy back 43.4 million shares. Thus cash and securities fell from $4.8 billion at July 31, 2025.
As of 2026-07-31.
- Checkpoints
- Oct 7, 2026: ACV tender offer expires after extension. Pending. Watch: A majority of ACV shares tendered by 5:00 p.m. ET passes; another extension because fewer than half of shares are tendered fails or delays the deal.
Oct 13, 2026: US antitrust waiting period for ACV deal ends. Pending. Watch: The waiting period ends without a second request from regulators passes; a second request, which delays closing into 2027, fails.
Nov 19, 2026 (estimate): Q1 FY2027 results: unit volume and operating margin. Pending. Watch: Stable US insurance unit volume outside the lost customer and a smaller fall in operating margin pass; wider volume loss or a further margin drop fails.
Dec 2026 (estimate): ACV Auctions acquisition closes. Pending. Watch: Closing by the end of calendar 2026 with a clear integration plan passes; a delay or a block by regulators fails.
Sep 2027 (estimate): Q4 FY2027 results after RB Global loss fully laps. Pending. Watch: Year-over-year insurance unit volume that is flat or growing passes; continued volume loss after the lost contract laps fails.
- Recent events
- 2026-10-01: Copart extended its tender offer for ACV Auctions to October 7, 2026. Copart refiled its U.S. antitrust form on September 28 to give regulators more time. The waiting period ends October 13. About 47.8% of ACV shares were tendered by September 30.
2026-09-17: Copart began a tender offer, through subsidiary Apple Merger Sub, Inc., to buy all outstanding ACV Auctions shares for $10.50 per share in cash. The offer first set an expiry of September 30, 2026. Copart later extended it to October 7, 2026. The offer needs a majority of shares tendered and antitrust clearance. The deal has no financing condition and is expected to close by the end of calendar 2026.
2026-09-10: Copart reported Q4 FY2026 results. Revenue grew 2.4% to $1.15 billion. Operating income fell 10.6%. The operating margin fell 4.7 percentage points.
2026-09-10: Copart agreed to buy ACV Auctions for $1.9 billion in cash. ACV runs a separate marketplace, where car dealers buy and sell used cars from each other.
2026-07-31: Jeff Liaw stepped down as CEO. Jay Adair, the previous CEO, returned to the role the same day.