Dallas-based Copart Inc. (Nasdaq: CPRT) said first-quarter 2026 revenue grew by less than 1% to $1.16 billion year over year due to common collision repair headwinds, such as an ever-growing rate of “total loss” declaration and consumers cutting insurance coverage.
However, gross profit and net income grew — up 4.9% to $537 million and 11.5% to $404 million, respectively — on strong pricing resulting from an “open all night” global market and increased buyer competition.
Earnings per share also grew 10.8% to 41 cents in Q1, which ended Oct. 31. Copart reported results and held its earnings call Nov. 20.
During the call, CEO Jeffrey Liaw said global trends and the auction house’s execution delivered results.
“Higher pure sale rates, expanding international demand, greater bidder participation, stronger pre-auction engagement, and rising gross returns collectively attest to our principal competitive advantage … [in] the global marketplace,” he said, adding that these are “the hard-won results of our aggressive investments in storage capacity, technology, and people.”
Global and U.S. unit sales down, multiple fundamentals up
Also on the call, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Leah Stearns said total global units and fee units sold each dipped more than 6%. Fewer hurricanes and floods overseas than last year meant fewer wrecked cars to auction off, she said.
As a result, unit sales declined about 5% or less, but some categories were down just 2% or lower.
Stearns connected these results to industry trends, including those noted above.
Liaw focused on Copart’s insurance business, noninsurance business, and five key drivers of its global growth.
On the company’s decline in global insurance units sold, Liaw noted that “soft claims counts as a result of consumer retrenchment in their auto insurance purchasing behavior offset by rising total loss frequency.”
Total loss frequency for the first nine months of 2025 was 22.6%, up almost a full percentage point YOY, Liaw said, citing . But Copart’s average selling prices are at an all-time high, up globally almost 7% in the quarter. U.S. insurance average selling prices grew by more than 8%, beating an industry index and triple the rate of Copart competitors.
Liaw said more frequent total losses also means “an increasing portion of the cars that we sell on behalf of the insurance industry are actually cars that will be repaired and drivable again, both in the U.S. and overseas.”
He cited “five core indicators” of Copart’s global game plan:
- - Its “always-on digital global marketplace,” with vehicles available anywhere at any time
- - More buyers who compete and bid up prices
- - Unique bidders, showing buying isn’t saturated
- - Preliminary bidding by proxy before live auctions begin, indicating high interest
- - Gross returns, which are a common industry metric (the selling prices for salvaged vehicles divided by pre-accident value)
On the last two, Liaw said since 2022, “preliminary bids per lot auction instance have increased steadily,” and “U.S. insurance returns have increased substantially” — the latter to its highest level of his time at Copart.
Paul Hughes