- Company name
- Copart
- Sector
- Vehicle auctions
- About
- Copart runs online auctions for wrecked and total-loss vehicles. Insurance companies supplied 79% of the units Copart sold in fiscal 2026. Buyers bid on the cars, mostly to dismantle them for parts or to export them. Copart has 286 yards in 11 countries, and it owns much of the land under them. 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 that this is the start of a bigger shift and that the yard network is easier to switch away from than it looked. U.S. units fell 5.7% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026, and operating income fell faster than revenue. The change of CEO adds to the uncertainty: Jeff Liaw left on July 31, 2026, and Jay Adair, the previous CEO, returned. The $1.9 billion cash purchase of ACV Auctions adds integration risk. Copart expects ACV to have no effect on earnings per share in the first full year and to add to them from fiscal 2028. For the gap to close, U.S. insurance unit volume must become stable once the lost customer is in the comparison base, from early 2027. Copart said that without this one customer, its U.S. insurance assignments grew 2.3% in the fourth quarter, so other insurers must keep that growth. The ACV deal must also close by the end of 2026 without a long antitrust review. The next report, expected around November 19, 2026, shows the first quarter of volume under Adair. A clear answer on volume takes two to four quarters, to the fiscal 2027 results in September 2027.
- Risks
- A large insurance customer moved business to Copart's main competitor, RB Global, and the effect started to show in January 2026. Copart does not name the customer. If Copart keeps losing volume after this loss is in the comparison base, this was not one lost contract. It is a sign that 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 that the deal will not add to earnings per share before fiscal year 2028. If regulators ask for more information, the closing can move into 2027. If the deal fails for antitrust reasons, Copart must pay ACV a fee of $115.3 million.
Costs grow faster than revenue now. In fiscal 2026, revenue grew 0.4% and operating income fell 2.6%. If this continues, profit keeps falling even while revenue grows.
Since October 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice has investigated Copart about anti-money-laundering controls. The fiscal 2026 annual report still describes this investigation.
- Balance sheet
- Cash: $4.5B
Debt: $0.0M
Net cash: $4.5B
Undrawn credit line: $1.2B, 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, cash equivalents and restricted cash were $1,908 million, and held-to-maturity Treasury bills were $2,582 million. Lease liabilities were $88 million, of which $86 million were operating leases. Net interest income was $182 million in fiscal 2026. $598 million of the cash sat in foreign subsidiaries, and Copart intends to keep it abroad. Land at cost was $2,501 million. Total equity was $9.1 billion, with only $511 million of goodwill. Copart signed its unsecured $1.25 billion revolving credit facility on January 23, 2026. 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, at an average of $37.63. 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. Passed. 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. Outcome: 52.84% of ACV shares were tendered, and Copart extended the offer to October 15 only to wait for the end of the antitrust waiting period.
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.
Oct 15, 2026: ACV tender offer expires after second extension. Pending. Watch: Copart accepts the tendered shares and the deal closes passes; another extension or a failed offer 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 the customer loss is in the base. 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
- 2026-10-08: Copart extended its tender offer for ACV Auctions a second time, to 5:00 p.m. ET on October 15, 2026. At the October 7 expiry, 52.84% of ACV shares were tendered, which is more than the majority the offer needs. The reason Copart gave for the extension is to let the U.S. antitrust waiting period end on October 13.
2026-10-01: Copart extended its tender offer for ACV Auctions to October 7, 2026. Copart withdrew and refiled its U.S. antitrust form on September 28 to give regulators more time. About 47.8% of ACV shares were tendered by September 30. ACV shareholders filed three lawsuits about the offer's disclosures in September.
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 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%, and the operating margin fell from 36.7% to 32.0%. Net income fell 17.4%. U.S. units fell 5.7%. Without the one lost insurance customer, U.S. insurance assignments grew 2.3%.
2026-09-10: Copart agreed to buy ACV Auctions for $1.9 billion in cash, a premium of about 45% to ACV's price on August 10, 2026. ACV runs a separate marketplace, where car dealers buy and sell used cars from each other. Copart expects no effect on earnings per share in the first full year, and a gain from fiscal 2028.
2026-07-08: Copart named Jane Pocock, the head of Copart UK, as President from August 1, 2026.
2026-06-29: Copart said that Jeff Liaw will step down as CEO on July 31, 2026, and that Jay Adair, the Executive Chairman and the previous CEO, will take the role again on that day. Liaw stays as a special advisor.