Copart, Inc. (CPRT) - Company Research

Last Updated: 26 August 2026

Copart runs the world's largest online salvage vehicle auction network. When an insurer writes a car off, Copart collects it, stores it on land it usually owns outright, and sells it on its VB3 virtual auction platform to a global pool of roughly one million registered members. About 85% of revenue is pure consignment fee income — Copart never owns the car — which is why gross margins sit near 46% and the balance sheet carries no debt at all. This report is a factual review of what the company has actually reported, drawn entirely from Copart's SEC filings, earnings releases and earnings calls. It contains no analyst ratings, no price targets and no forecasts. The most recent reported fiscal year is FY2025, ended 31 July 2025; the most recent reported quarter is Q3 FY2026, ended 30 April 2026. FY2026 closed on 31 July 2026 but has not yet been reported.

1. Company Snapshot

Field	Value
Legal name	Copart, Inc. (incorporated California 1982, reincorporated Delaware January 2012)
Headquarters	14185 Dallas Parkway, Suite 300, Dallas, Texas 75254, USA
Founded	1982 by Willis J. Johnson; IPO 1994
Listing	NASDAQ Global Select Market, ticker CPRT
Sector / industry	Industrials — commercial services; online vehicle auctions and vehicle remarketing
CEO / Leadership	A. Jayson (Jay) Adair, Chief Executive Officer since 31 July 2026. Willis J. Johnson, Chairman. Jane Pocock, President since 1 August 2026. Leah C. Stearns, Chief Financial Officer. Adair is the son-in-law of Chairman Willis Johnson, a relationship disclosed in the 8-K announcing his appointment.
Employees	Approximately 11,600 full- and part-time employees as at 31 July 2025 per the FY2025 Form 10-K, roughly 64% in the United States and 36% international. Some third-party data providers quote 13,800; the 10-K figure is the reported one.
Operating facilities	281 globally at 31 July 2025, across 11 countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Brazil, Germany, Finland, Spain, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Bahrain
Registered members (buyers)	Approximately 1 million registered members in over 185 countries
Revenue (FY2025, ended 31 Jul 2025)	$4,646.9m, up 9.7% year on year
Net income attributable to Copart (FY2025)	$1,552.4m, up 13.9% year on year
Diluted GAAP EPS (FY2025)	$1.59
Market capitalisation	Approximately $30.9bn (925,811,482 shares outstanding at 30 April 2026 at a share price of $33.33, 26 August 2026)
Dividend	None. Copart has never paid a cash dividend since becoming a public company.
Funded debt	Nil. The only debt-like liabilities are $93.1m of operating and finance lease obligations at 30 April 2026.

2. Bull and Bear Case

Bull Case

• Land near cities is close to unreplicable: salvage vehicles are bulky, must be stored for weeks and must sit near where accidents happen. Property and equipment net stood at $3,715.9m at 30 April 2026, roughly 38% of total assets. Copart's own 10-K identifies the binding constraint as the ability to expand facilities in "no-growth regulatory environments" — municipalities near major metros simply do not permit new salvage yards, so a challenger cannot outspend its way in.
• A fortress balance sheet with genuine optionality: Copart carries no funded debt and held $4,199.7m of cash and held-to-maturity securities at 30 April 2026. On 23 January 2026 it replaced its old secured revolver with a $1,250m unsecured facility maturing January 2031, of which $1,228m was undrawn. Management described total liquidity of roughly $5.5bn on the Q3 call. Very few companies can fund a downturn, a hurricane surge and a buyback simultaneously without borrowing.
• International is compounding while the US digests: in Q3 FY2026 international revenue rose 14.1% and international operating income rose 25.0%, against United States revenue down 0.4% and US operating income down 0.5%. International units grew 5.9%, insurance average selling prices 8.4% and non-insurance ASPs 16.7%. Spain, Germany and Brazil are still early-stage markets on the Copart model.
• Total-loss frequency keeps grinding higher: management stated on the Q3 FY2026 call that US total loss frequency peaked at 23.6% in calendar Q1 2026, nearly five percentage points higher than four years earlier. Cars contain more sensors, cameras and structural adhesives, so the repair-versus-write-off maths tilts further towards Copart's inventory every model year, even as accident frequency itself declines.

Bear Case

• The core US business is shrinking in units: Q3 FY2026 global unit volume fell 2.4% and US insurance units fell 4.2%, roughly 3% excluding catastrophe effects. Only a 4.6% rise in average selling price kept revenue positive. Nine-month FY2026 revenue is down 0.2% year on year and nine-month net income up just 0.1%. A moat built on network effects is one thing; a moat that needs used-car prices to keep rising to show growth is another.
• Earnings growth is currently purchased, not generated: in Q3 FY2026 net income fell 1.0% while diluted EPS rose 2.4%. The entire difference is a 3.6% reduction in the diluted share count. Copart spent $1,632.5m on buybacks in nine months while cutting capital expenditure 46.3%, from $481.3m to $258.6m. Reported EPS growth is therefore flattering the underlying business, and the cash that funds it is finite.
• A governance cloud around an abrupt leadership change: the CEO seat has changed twice in about three years. Jeff Liaw's departure was announced on 29 June 2026 and the shares fell 8.02% that day to $28.10. Three law firms subsequently opened investigations into possible securities law violations. The newest director, appointed 13 August 2026, is a senior partner at the firm that serves as Copart's own outside corporate counsel, and the new CEO is the Chairman's son-in-law.
• Adjacent operators are growing units while Copart's decline: RB Global reported automotive gross transaction value up 13% with unit volumes up 11% in Q2 2026, and OPENLANE reported vehicles sold up 27%, over a period in which Copart's global units fell 2.4%. These are different end-markets, but the divergence is wide enough to raise the question of whether Copart is losing assignment share rather than simply riding an industry cycle.

3. Business Segments

Copart reports two geographic segments, United States and International. The chief operating decision maker is the Chief Executive Officer and the measures reported are service revenue, vehicle sales and operating income. Within those segments the more informative cut is the revenue-model split, because the two models have completely different margin profiles.

Segment	% of revenue	What it is
United States	82.96% ($3,855.1m of FY2025 revenue)	The core salvage business. Vehicles assigned by insurers after a total-loss determination, collected typically within 24 hours and sold on VB3 usually within seven days. Delivered 87.28% of FY2025 group operating income, at a US operating margin of 38.1% in Q3 FY2026.
International	17.04% ($791.9m of FY2025 revenue)	United Kingdom (22 facilities plus Green Parts Specialist), Brazil (23), Germany (9), Spain (8 owned), Finland (4), Canada, Republic of Ireland, and the Middle East (UAE, Oman, Bahrain). Only 12.72% of group operating income because 34.7% of international revenue is low-margin purchased-vehicle sales versus 10.5% in the US. Growing at 14.1% in Q3 FY2026.
Service revenues (revenue-model view)	85.40% ($3,968.7m of FY2025 revenue)	The consignment model. Copart never takes title. It charges the seller and the buyer auction and auction-related transaction fees, recognised as net revenue rather than gross vehicle selling price. Close to a pure fee stream, which is what produces the ~46% blended gross margin.
Vehicle sales (revenue-model view)	14.60% ($678.3m of FY2025 revenue)	The principal or purchase model. Copart buys the vehicle outright, mainly under certain non-US insurance contracts at a percentage of pre-accident value, and via Cash For Cars purchases from the public, then resells for its own account. Gross selling price is booked as revenue against a matching cost of vehicle sales of $603.0m, a gross margin of just 11.1%.

Insurance companies supplied 81% of total vehicles processed in FY2025, unchanged from FY2024 and down from 83% in FY2023.

4. Business Model and Moat

How it makes money. An insurer estimates repair cost against pre-accident value. If repair cost exceeds pre-accident value less estimated salvage value, the vehicle is generally classified a total loss. The insurer settles with the policyholder, takes title, and assigns the vehicle to a remarketer. Copart collects the car, stores it, photographs and catalogues it, and auctions it. On a consignment vehicle it books only its fees as revenue, so roughly one dollar of service revenue is close to one dollar of economic value captured. That accounting distinction is the whole reason a business with $4.6bn of revenue produces $1.7bn of operating income.

The auction technology. Virtually all vehicles are sold on VB3, Virtual Bidding Third Generation. It runs a two-step process: an open preliminary bidding phase over the internet during the preview period, similar in format to an eBay listing, followed by a live virtual auction in which the BID4U proxy system bids on behalf of the high preliminary bidder up to their stated maximum. The 10-K's stated rationale is that removing the need to attend in person "increases the pool of available buyers for each sale, which brings added competition and an increase in the amount that buyers are willing to pay", while eliminating the expense and capital of holding live auctions.

Why land is the real moat. The network effect is straightforward — more buyers means higher bids, which means a higher percentage return on salvage for the insurer, which means more assignments, which means more inventory, which attracts more buyers. The 10-K lists "the anticipated percentage return on salvage" first among the factors insurers weigh when choosing a remarketer. But the network effect only works if you have somewhere to put the cars. Copart owns rather than leases wherever it can, and salvage yards are zoned for heavy industrial use in places that no longer grant such permissions. Owned acreage is also the catastrophe-response asset: surge capacity for a hurricane only exists if the empty land was bought years earlier.

Embedding into the insurer's workflow. Copart provides major insurance sellers with office and facility space for vehicle inspection stations located inside its own yards, of which there are over 100. It also runs Title Express, a title procurement and lienholder payoff service supported by direct computer links into the DMV systems of multiple states. Title is the single largest source of delay in a total-loss claim, because a car cannot legally be sold without clean title. Solving that inside the yard is a switching cost that a pure marketplace cannot replicate quickly.

Adjacent and machine-learning products. Purple Wave, acquired in fiscal 2024 and 80% owned with a 20% redeemable non-controlling interest, auctions offsite heavy, agricultural and construction equipment; its gross transaction value grew more than 25% in the twelve months to Q3 FY2026. Cash For Cars buys directly from the public. Co.ai applies machine learning and computer vision to total-loss determination and salvage valuation, and IntelliSeller uses machine learning to decide when to set minimum bids and when to re-auction a unit. Other brands include DRIVE Auto Auctions, National Powersports Auctions, CrashedToys, and Green Parts Specialist in the UK. A domestic long-haul delivery product launched around Q3 FY2026 added roughly $15m of year-on-year facility operations cost.

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5. Financial Health

All figures below are taken from Copart's Form 10-K filings, Form 10-Q filings and earnings press releases. Copart executed two 2-for-1 stock splits — one effective for trading on 4 November 2022 and one distributed after the close on 21 August 2023 — a cumulative 4x adjustment. Every per-share figure in this section is stated on the current post-split basis, so FY2021 diluted EPS appears as $0.97 rather than the $3.90 originally filed.

Fiscal Year	Revenue ($m)	YoY %	GAAP EPS	Adjusted EPS	Dividend/share	Long-term debt (YE)
FY2021 (ended 31 Jul 2021)	$2,692.5m	n/a (base year)	$0.97	$0.97 †	Nil	$400m
FY2022 (ended 31 Jul 2022)	$3,500.9m	+30.0%	$1.13	$1.13 †	Nil	$0m
FY2023 (ended 31 Jul 2023)	$3,869.5m	+10.5%	$1.28	$1.28 †	Nil	$11m
FY2024 (ended 31 Jul 2024)	$4,236.8m	+9.5%	$1.40	$1.40 †	Nil	$0m
FY2025 (ended 31 Jul 2025)	$4,646.9m	+9.7%	$1.59	$1.59 †	Nil	$0m

† Copart reports no adjusted or non-GAAP earnings measure of any kind. Its press releases contain only GAAP income statement, balance sheet, cash flow and segment tables, with no non-GAAP reconciliation anywhere. The GAAP figure is repeated in the Adjusted EPS column for completeness.

The five-year revenue compound annual growth rate from FY2021 to FY2025 is 14.6% and the diluted EPS compound annual growth rate is 13.2%. Long-term debt of $400m at FY2021 was a term loan retired during FY2022; the $11m at FY2023 was a residual finance lease obligation. Copart has carried no funded debt since.

Quarter / Half	Revenue	Adjusted EPS	GAAP EPS
Q3 FY2026 (ended 30 Apr 2026)	$1,237.1m	$0.43 †	$0.43
Q2 FY2026 (ended 31 Jan 2026)	$1,121.7m	$0.36 †	$0.36
Q1 FY2026 (ended 31 Oct 2025)	$1,155.0m	$0.41 †	$0.41
Q4 FY2025 (ended 31 Jul 2025)	$1,125.1m	$0.41 †	$0.41
Q3 FY2025 (ended 30 Apr 2025)	$1,211.7m	$0.42 †	$0.42
FY2025 total (ended 31 Jul 2025)	$4,646.9m	$1.59 †	$1.59

Q2 FY2026 revenue of $1,121.7m is derived by subtracting the reported Q1 and Q3 quarters from the reported nine-month total of $3,513.8m. It cross-checks against the Q2 press release statement that revenue fell $41.6m, or 3.6%, year on year. Every other revenue and EPS figure above is as reported.

The quarterly EPS path is the story: $0.42, then $0.41, then $0.41, then $0.36, then $0.43. Nine-month FY2026 revenue of $3,513.8m is down 0.2% on the prior year and nine-month net income of $1,156.8m is up 0.1%. Part of that is a genuine comparison problem — the 10-Q attributes a $56.3m nine-month decline in US service revenue primarily to one-time hurricane Helene and Milton revenue recognised in FY2025 that did not repeat. But excluding catastrophe effects, Q3 FY2026 US insurance units still fell just over 3%.

Cash generation remains strong. FY2025 operating cash flow was $1,799.8m against capital expenditure of $568.99m, giving free cash flow of $1,230.8m. On a trailing twelve-month basis to 30 April 2026, operating cash flow was $1,685.4m and capital expenditure $346.2m, giving free cash flow of $1,339.2m. The improvement is almost entirely the capex cut rather than higher cash earnings.

6. Valuation Metrics

Raw metrics, August 2026. Not opinions on whether the stock is cheap or expensive.

Metric	Value
Market cap	~$30.86bn (925,811,482 shares outstanding at 30 April 2026 at $33.33). Buybacks have almost certainly continued since that balance sheet date, so the true current count is probably lower.
Enterprise value	~$26.75bn (market cap $30.86bn plus total debt $0.09bn less cash and held-to-maturity securities $4.20bn, per the 30 April 2026 balance sheet). Enterprise value is roughly $4.1bn BELOW market cap because Copart is deeply net cash.
Trailing P/E (GAAP)	~20.7x ($33.33 divided by trailing twelve-month diluted GAAP EPS of $1.61, derived as FY2025 $1.59 less nine-month FY2025 $1.18 plus nine-month FY2026 $1.20). Copart reports no adjusted earnings measure, so there is no separate adjusted multiple.
P/E (forward)	n/m — Copart provides no financial guidance of any kind. It issues no revenue, EPS, margin or capital expenditure outlook, so no company-derived forward multiple can be constructed.
P/S (TTM)	~6.65x (market cap $30.86bn divided by trailing twelve-month revenue of $4.639bn)
EV/EBITDA (TTM)	~13.9x (enterprise value $26.75bn divided by trailing twelve-month EBITDA of $1.919bn; EBITDA = trailing operating income $1,696.3m plus depreciation, amortisation and accretion of $222.9m taken from the cash flow statement, which is the wider of the two disclosed measures)
P/FCF	~23.0x (market cap $30.86bn divided by trailing free cash flow of $1.339bn; free cash flow = trailing operating cash flow $1,685.4m less capital expenditure $346.2m per the cash flow statement). Note that capital expenditure was cut 46.3% year on year in the nine months to April 2026, which flatters this figure.
Price/book	~3.5x (market cap $30.86bn divided by total stockholders equity of $8,774.3m at 30 April 2026)
52-week high	$50.11
52-week low	$26.81
Short interest (% of float)	4.98% (42,127,031 shares short against a float of 845,386,239, settlement date 31 July 2026). A vendor field quotes 5.67% on a different float denominator.
Days to cover	3.29 (short ratio, settlement date 31 July 2026)
Net cash per share	~$4.44 ($4,199.7m of cash and securities less $93.1m of lease obligations, across 925.8m shares)
Dividend yield	Nil — no dividend has ever been paid

7. What Are They Building

Land, but at a slower pace. FY2025 added one new facility in the United Kingdom, two in Spain and three in the United States, bringing the total to 281. Capital expenditure ran $511.0m in FY2024 and $569.0m in FY2025, overwhelmingly land and yard development. That posture changed abruptly in FY2026: nine-month capital expenditure was $258.6m against $481.3m a year earlier, a 46.3% reduction, while $1,632.5m went into share repurchases. Whether that reflects opportunism at a lower share price or a shorter land runway than the growth narrative assumes is the open question the FY2026 10-K may answer.

A larger, unsecured credit line. On 23 January 2026 Copart entered a Senior Revolving Credit Agreement with Wells Fargo as administrative agent: an unsecured revolving facility of up to $1,250m including standby letter of credit and swingline subfacilities, maturing 23 January 2031. It replaced a secured revolver dated 21 December 2021 that would have matured in December 2026. Pricing runs at the applicable fixed rate plus 0.75% to 1.125% depending on consolidated total net leverage. At 30 April 2026, $1,228m was undrawn. Moving from secured to unsecured, upsizing and extending to 2031 gives Copart dry powder for acquisitions, capital expenditure, buybacks and international expansion on top of its cash pile.

Machine learning inside the workflow. Three named products use machine learning: Co.ai, a proprietary total-loss determination and valuation suite using computer vision to give sellers online salvage value estimates; IntelliSeller, which decides when to set minimum bid values and when to re-auction a unit to optimise return and cycle time; and Total Loss Express 360 for expedited total-loss assessment. Notably, the 10-K also treats artificial intelligence as a risk, warning that if new industry standards emerge around AI, machine learning and generative AI, Copart's existing websites and proprietary systems "may become obsolete".

Purple Wave and heavy equipment. Gross transaction value grew more than 25% in the twelve months to Q3 FY2026, driven by territory expansion and enterprise account penetration. This is Copart's push beyond cars into agricultural, construction and industrial equipment, which puts it directly onto RB Global's historic Ritchie Bros. turf.

International expansion. Spain has been the fastest-growing new market, with two new facilities opened in FY2025 and eight owned facilities plus three leased storage locations. Germany operates on a distinct model, generating revenue from listing vehicles on behalf of insurers and insurance experts to determine residual value and facilitate a sale for the insured, across nine facilities. Brazil is the largest international footprint after the UK at 23 facilities. The Middle East operates one leased facility each in the UAE, Oman and Bahrain.

Catastrophe response as infrastructure. The 10-K frames storm response as a core competence, citing the retrieval, storage and remarketing of tens of thousands of flood-damaged vehicles in South Florida after Hurricanes Helene and Milton in autumn 2024. That capability requires investment in equipment and empty acreage held in advance. It also cuts both ways: the FY2025 comparator was inflated by catastrophe volume that has not repeated in FY2026.

8. Peers and Competitors

Note two structural points before reading the table. IAA and Ritchie Bros. do not trade separately — both are brands inside RB Global. And OPENLANE changed its NYSE ticker from KAR to OPLN in December 2025.

Peer	Market cap (August 2026)	Key 2025/2026 metric
Carvana (NYSE: CVNA) — adjacent online used-car retailer	$112.75bn	Q2 2026 retail units sold 197,325, up 38% year on year, and revenue $7.376bn, up 52%, both all-time quarterly records. Record net income $513m and record GAAP operating income $680m. FY2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance raised to $2.7bn–$3.0bn from $2.24bn achieved in 2025. (Source: Carvana Q2 2026 results release, 29 Jul 2026.)
RB Global (NYSE: RBA) — owner of IAA, Copart's closest salvage competitor	$15.75bn	Q2 2026 gross transaction value up 11% to $4.7bn and total revenue up 11% to $1.3bn. Automotive GTV up 13%, driven by an 11% increase in unit volumes, with average price per vehicle sold about 2% higher. FY2026 GTV growth guidance raised to 9%–11% from 6%–9%. Carries $4.70bn of total debt against Copart's nil. (Source: RB Global Q2 2026 results.)
OPENLANE (NYSE: OPLN, formerly KAR) — dealer wholesale and off-lease marketplace	$4.19bn	Q2 2026 revenue $554.6m, up 15% from $481.7m; adjusted EBITDA up 19% to $103.2m; net income up 33% to $44.3m; marketplace GMV up 41% to roughly $10.5bn; vehicles sold up 27% to 481,000. FY2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance raised to $385m–$400m. (Source: OPENLANE Q2 2026 8-K.)
ACV Auctions (NASDAQ: ACVA) — dealer-to-dealer wholesale marketplace	$1.24bn	Q2 2026 revenue $214m, up 10% year on year, but marketplace units sold flat at 211,472. Record adjusted EBITDA of about $21m, above the top of guidance; non-GAAP net income $10m; transport revenue up 19% on 125,000 transports delivered; Auction and Assurance ARPU $554, up 6%. Still loss-making on a trailing GAAP basis. (Source: ACV Auctions Q2 2026 results.)
Copart (NASDAQ: CPRT) — for reference	$30.86bn	Q3 FY2026 global unit volume down 2.4% with average selling price up 4.6%; global insurance units down 2.7% and US insurance units down 4.2%. Trailing twelve-month revenue $4.64bn and diluted EPS $1.61. Zero funded debt and $4.20bn of cash and securities. (Source: Copart Q3 FY2026 results release, 21 May 2026.)

The comparison that matters is the unit line. RB Global's automotive unit volumes grew 11% and OPENLANE's vehicles sold grew 27% over the same period in which Copart's global units fell 2.4%. These serve different end-markets — salvage versus dealer wholesale — but the gap is wide enough to warrant scrutiny. Discuss the sector with other members on the ChartsView Forum.

9. Insider Activity

Chief Executive Officer Jay Adair took the role on 31 July 2026, having previously served as Executive Chairman. He made no open-market sales of Copart stock in 2026; his only disposals were three gift transactions on 20 January 2026 into family trusts and a family limited partnership. Chairman Willis Johnson filed no Form 4 at all in 2026. Across every Form 4 filed by Copart insiders in calendar 2026, not one insider purchased a single share on the open market. The table below covers all reported non-gift transactions of substance.

Name	Date	Type	Shares	Price	Value	Plan Type
Jane Pocock, President	16 Aug 2026	Grant (RSUs and options)	25,308 RSUs plus 500,000 options	$0.00 grant	Not a purchase	2007 Equity Incentive Plan award
Leah C. Stearns, CFO	16 Aug 2026	Grant (RSUs and options)	12,654 RSUs plus 200,000 options	$0.00 grant	Not a purchase	2007 Equity Incentive Plan award
David J. Berger, Director	13 Aug 2026	Grant (options)	24,341 options	$0.00 grant	Not a purchase	2007 Equity Incentive Plan, vesting monthly over 12 months
Jeffrey Liaw, then CEO	28 Jul 2026	Option exercise and sale	27,745 sold	$30.49	~$845,800	Rule 10b5-1 plan adopted 15 Apr 2025
Jeffrey Liaw, then CEO	15 Jul 2026	Option exercise, no sale	2,089 exercised	$6.78 and $8.70 strikes	No proceeds	Exercise only
Daniel J. Englander, Director	13 Jul 2026	Sale	80,000	$27.55 weighted average	~$2,204,000	No Rule 10b5-1 plan cited
Diane M. Morefield, Director	8 Jul 2026	Option exercise, no sale	50,000 exercised	$19.775 strike	No proceeds	Exercise only
Jeffrey Liaw, then CEO	15 Apr 2026	Option exercise and sale	26,213 sold	$33.18 and $33.17	~$869,700	Rule 10b5-1 plan adopted 15 Apr 2025
A. Jayson Adair, then Executive Chairman	20 Jan 2026	Gift (three transactions)	50,161	Gift, no consideration	No proceeds	Transfers to revocable trust, irrevocable family trust and JTGJ Investments LP
Jeffrey Liaw, then CEO	15 Jan 2026	Option exercise and sale	25,137 sold	$40.17	~$1,009,800	Rule 10b5-1 plan adopted 15 Apr 2025

Two observations. Jeff Liaw's 2026 sales totalled roughly 79,095 shares for about $2.73m, all under a pre-existing 10b5-1 plan, at descending prices of $40.17, then $33.18, then $30.49, which simply tracks the share price down. The outlier is director Daniel Englander's sale of 80,000 shares at $27.55 on 13 July 2026, close to the 52-week low, with no 10b5-1 plan cited. Meanwhile the company itself repurchased 43,433,164 shares for $1,632.5m in the nine months to 30 April 2026, at a weighted average price of $37.63.

10. Key Risks

• Volume decline masked by pricing: Q3 FY2026 US insurance units fell 4.2% and global units fell 2.4%; only a 4.6% rise in average selling price kept revenue positive. Nine-month FY2026 revenue is down 0.2%. If used-vehicle values mean-revert while unit counts keep falling, revenue declines outright. Pricing is not a durable substitute for volume.
• Buyback-dependent EPS: Q3 FY2026 net income fell 1.0% while diluted EPS rose 2.4%, entirely on a 3.6% share-count reduction. Reported per-share growth currently overstates the operating performance of the business, and the cash and capex reallocation funding it are finite resources.
• Securities investigations and a governance cloud: following the 29 June 2026 announcement of Jeff Liaw's departure, which sent the shares down 8.02% to $28.10, Pomerantz LLP, Kessler Topaz Meltzer and Check and Bragar Eagel and Squire each opened investigations into possible securities law violations. These are law firm investigations, not filed class actions or regulatory proceedings, but the clustering is material.
• Related-party board composition: the new CEO is the son-in-law of the Chairman, a relationship disclosed in the appointment 8-K. The director appointed on 13 August 2026 is a senior partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati, which serves as Copart's outside corporate counsel, and the 8-K concedes the company anticipates continuing to engage the firm. Combined with the point above, this is a legitimate governance concern.
• Weather and catastrophe dependence: the 10-Q attributes a $56.3m nine-month decline in US service revenue primarily to one-time hurricane revenue recognised in FY2025 that did not repeat. A quiet storm season depresses revenue; a severe one requires surge capital and operational strain. Management's long-term framing rests on declining accident frequency being offset by rising total-loss frequency, which is a bet on two opposing trends staying in balance.
• Customer concentration in a consolidating industry: 81% of vehicles processed in FY2025 came from insurance company sellers, and the 10-K states the primary selection factor is the anticipated percentage return on salvage. Contracts are competitively tendered against RB Global's IAA, and the divergence in reported unit growth between the two raises the question of assignment share loss.
• Land expansion constraint, now compounded by a capex cut: the 10-K flags the difficulty of expanding facilities in no-growth regulatory environments. The moat is also the ceiling. Halving capital expenditure in FY2026 while accelerating buybacks may indicate attractive land opportunities are scarcer than the growth story assumes.
• Technology obsolescence, in the company's own words: the 10-K warns that if new industry standards and practices emerge such as the increased use of artificial intelligence, machine learning and generative artificial intelligence, Copart's existing websites and proprietary technology and systems may become obsolete, and that developing proprietary technology entails significant technical and business risks.

11. Recent Developments

• 04 Sep 2025 — FY2025 results delivered a record year. Revenue $4.647bn, up 9.7%; net income $1.552bn, up 13.9%; diluted EPS $1.59, up 13.6%. Q4 EPS of $0.41 versus $0.33 a year earlier, up 24.2%.
• 26 Sep 2025 — FY2025 Form 10-K filed. Disclosed 281 facilities, approximately 11,600 employees, 967,478,690 shares outstanding, zero funded debt, no dividend, and no share repurchases at all in FY2023, FY2024 or FY2025.
• 20 Nov 2025 — Q1 FY2026 results and a disclosure change. Revenue $1,155.0m, up 0.7%; diluted EPS $0.41 versus $0.37, up 11.7%. Copart added a segment reporting table to its earnings press release for the first time.
• 23 Jan 2026 — new $1.25bn unsecured revolving credit facility. Signed with Wells Fargo as administrative agent, maturing January 2031, replacing the prior secured Bank of America facility that would have matured December 2026. Disclosed in an 8-K filed 26 January 2026.
• 19 Feb 2026 — Q2 FY2026 was the first outright decline in years. Revenue about $1,121.7m, down $41.6m or 3.6% year on year; gross profit down 6.2%; net income $350.7m, down 9.5%; diluted EPS $0.36 versus $0.40, down 10.0%.
• 21 May 2026 — Q3 FY2026 results beat but net income fell. Revenue $1,237.1m, up 2.1%, and EPS $0.43, up 2.4%, but net income down 1.0%. The release disclosed 43.4m shares repurchased year to date for over $1.6bn.
• 29 Jun 2026 — CEO transition announced and the shares fell 8.02%. Jeff Liaw to step down as CEO and resign from the board effective 31 July 2026, with Executive Chairman Jay Adair appointed CEO the same date. Liaw becomes Senior Advisor through 31 July 2027 on a package including a $450,000 lump sum, waiver of the ten-year holding period on his April 2022 RSUs, and elimination of price hurdles on performance options. The stock closed at $28.10.
• 01 Jul 2026 — law firm investigations opened. Kessler Topaz Meltzer and Check issued an investigation alert for Copart investors; Pomerantz LLP and Bragar Eagel and Squire also opened investigations into possible securities fraud and unlawful practices.
• 08 Jul 2026 — Jane Pocock promoted to President effective 1 August 2026, filling a previously vacant role. She joined Copart in January 2019 as Managing Director of Copart UK and was previously Chief Executive of Vans Direct.
• 13 Jul 2026 — director sells 80,000 shares near the lows. Daniel J. Englander sold 80,000 shares at a weighted average $27.55, about $2.2m, with no Rule 10b5-1 plan cited, and separately distributed 40,000 Ursula Capital Partners shares to limited partners.
• 31 Jul 2026 — Jay Adair formally becomes CEO and Jeff Liaw departs the board. This date is also Copart's FY2026 year end.
• 17 Aug 2026 — David J. Berger appointed to the board, effective 13 August 2026. He is a senior partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati, Copart's outside corporate counsel, with a practice focused on corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, and shareholder activism.

12. Key Dates to Watch

• Expected Sep 2026 — Q4 and FY2026 results, covering the fiscal year ended 31 July 2026. Copart has not yet issued its customary "to release results" announcement, which normally appears about a week beforehand. FY2025 results were released on 4 September 2025 and several earnings calendars list 9 September 2026, but that date is not company-confirmed.
• Expected Sep 2026 — FY2026 Form 10-K filing, which will disclose the full-year figures, the year-end share count and whether buybacks continued after 30 April 2026. The FY2025 10-K was filed on 26 September 2025.
• Expected Oct 2026 — DEF 14A proxy statement, which will set the annual meeting date and disclose the FY2026 compensation arrangements for the new leadership team. The 2025 proxy was filed on 24 October 2025.
• Expected Dec 2026 — 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Not yet announced, but the 2025 meeting was held on 5 December 2025 and the 2023 meeting on 8 December 2023. The 8-K appointing David Berger confirms a 2026 annual meeting will occur, since his initial term expires at it.
• Expected Nov 2026 — Q1 FY2027 results, covering the quarter ending 31 October 2026.
• 31 Jul 2027 — end of Jeff Liaw's Senior Advisor arrangement and the associated transition payments.
• 23 Jan 2031 — maturity of the $1.25bn unsecured revolving credit facility, of which $1,228m was undrawn at 30 April 2026.

Copart pays no dividend, so there are no declaration, ex-dividend or payment dates to track. Short interest is published on NASDAQ's bi-monthly settlement cycle; the most recent settlement date is 31 July 2026.

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