Credit Acceptance Corporation (CACC) Stock Price & How to Invest
Last updated July 2026
Short answer
Credit Acceptance (CACC) is a specialty subprime auto lender that funds used-car loans for credit-challenged borrowers through a dealer profit-sharing model, so investing in it is essentially a bet on high-yield lending discipline and buybacks against real regulatory and credit-loss risk. It trades on the Nasdaq, pays no dividend, and returns capital almost entirely through aggressive share repurchases.
CACC stock price
As of 2026-07-24, Credit Acceptance Corporation (CACC) last closed at $574.08, up 10.3% over the past year. Over the past 52 weeks it has traded between $411.04 and $657.20.
Prices are daily closing prices from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. For the live quote, check your broker or Credit Acceptance Corporation's investor relations page. Walnut is informational, not investment advice.
What does Credit Acceptance Corporation (CACC) do?
Credit Acceptance Corporation is a Michigan-based specialty finance company that helps franchised and independent car dealers sell vehicles to consumers with damaged or limited credit. Rather than lending directly, it advances money to dealers against consumer auto loans and then shares the collections it recovers over the life of each loan, a structure that lets dealers approve buyers who would be turned away by prime lenders while giving Credit Acceptance a claim on future cash flows. Its average loan portfolio sits around $8 billion, and finance charges on those loans are the dominant revenue line.
The investment picture is that of a high-return but volatile lender. Credit Acceptance generates strong returns on equity (recently in the high-20s percent) and funnels essentially all of its capital into share buybacks rather than dividends, which has steadily shrunk the share count and lifted per-share metrics. The counterweight is that the business lives or dies on how much of each loan it ultimately collects, and that recovery rate, plus intense competition and long-running regulatory scrutiny, drives most of the swings in reported earnings and the stock.
What's driving Credit Acceptance Corporation (CACC)?
1. Buyback-driven per-share growth
Credit Acceptance pays no dividend and instead retires large blocks of stock, recently buying back hundreds of thousands of shares in a single quarter against roughly 10.5 million outstanding. With a small float, continued repurchases can lift earnings per share meaningfully even when total net income grows modestly. This makes per-share compounding a central part of the return story.
2. High-yield subprime lending economics
The company earns finance charges on loans to credit-challenged borrowers, a segment that carries far higher yields than prime auto lending. Its dealer profit-sharing model aligns incentives and gives it a claim on recoveries over the full loan term. When collections come in near or above forecast, the spread over its funding costs is very wide.
3. Funding access and lower loss provisions
Credit Acceptance funds itself largely through asset-backed non-recourse securitizations, recently completing a $450 million facility, which lets it keep originating without diluting equity. In early 2026 a lower provision for credit losses and slightly lower interest expense pushed net income up year over year. Stable funding markets and improving loss trends are key swing factors for reported profit.
4. Market share and volume recovery
The company has ceded some ground in the used-vehicle subprime segment, with unit share slipping to the low-single-digit percent range amid heavy competition. Regaining loan volume without loosening underwriting is the operational lever management is focused on. New leadership with a technology background is trying to modernize origination and servicing to defend share.
What are the risks to Credit Acceptance Corporation (CACC)?
The largest risk is credit performance, since the business collects only roughly two-thirds of loan value on average and small changes in the recovery rate move earnings sharply. Credit Acceptance has faced significant regulatory and legal pressure, including matters with the CFPB and state attorneys general alleging unfair or deceptive practices tied to loans made to borrowers likely to default, and any adverse settlement or rulemaking could raise costs or constrain the model. Competition from Santander Consumer, Westlake, Exeter, Consumer Portfolio Services, and banks moving into non-prime can compress spreads and share. A weakening consumer, rising unemployment, or falling used-car values would all pressure collections at once. Leadership turnover and the stock's thin float add execution and volatility risk on top of the underlying credit cycle.
How is Credit Acceptance Corporation (CACC) valued? (approximate, July 2026)
A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Credit Acceptance Corporation's investor relations page or your broker.
- Revenue (TTM): ~$2.3B
- Q1 2026 revenue: ~$580M
- Q1 2026 net income: ~$135.8M
- Market cap: ~$5.5B
- P/E (TTM): ~13x
- Average loan portfolio: ~$8B
Credit Acceptance reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of about $580 million and net income near $135.8 million (roughly $12.40 per diluted share), helped by a lower provision for credit losses. The stock trades around a low-teens trailing P/E with a return on equity in the high-20s percent, reflecting a profitable but cyclical lender. With no dividend, valuation and returns hinge on loss trends and the pace of buybacks.
Who competes with Credit Acceptance Corporation (CACC)?
Independent subprime auto lenders
Santander Consumer USA, Exeter Finance, Westlake Financial Services, and Consumer Portfolio Services compete directly for credit-challenged auto borrowers and set the pricing and underwriting backdrop for Credit Acceptance's core niche.
Bank and captive auto finance
Ally Financial, Capital One Auto Finance, and manufacturer-owned captives increasingly reach into non-prime lending, using lower funding costs to compete on rate and volume at the higher-credit edge of Credit Acceptance's market.
Dealer-integrated and used-car finance
CarMax Auto Finance and buy-here-pay-here dealer operations compete at the point of sale, offering in-house financing to the same used-vehicle buyers Credit Acceptance serves through its dealer partners.
How to invest in Credit Acceptance Corporation (CACC)
There are three common ways to get CACC exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic basket, so CACC sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.
Walnut takes the basket route. Describe a thesis where CACC fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.
New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.
The bottom line on Credit Acceptance Corporation (CACC)
CACC is a profitable, buyback-heavy subprime auto lender whose returns depend on its loan-loss discipline holding up under regulatory and competitive pressure.
More on Credit Acceptance Corporation (CACC)
Whether CACC is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is CACC a buy?, and where the stock could go from here in the CACC stock forecast.
For income investors, whether CACC pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does CACC pay a dividend?
Build a basket around CACC with Walnut
Use Credit Acceptance Corporation as one constituent in a thematic basket Walnut's AI helps you assemble. Describe a thesis you believe in, the AI proposes the holdings and weights, and you approve before any broker order.
FAQ
What does Credit Acceptance Corporation do?
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It is a specialty finance company that helps car dealers sell vehicles to consumers with poor or limited credit. It advances funds to dealers against consumer auto loans and shares the collections recovered over each loan's life, rather than lending to buyers directly.
How does CACC make money?
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Its main revenue is finance charges earned on a loan portfolio of roughly $8 billion. Profit comes from the spread between what it collects on subprime loans and its funding and servicing costs, with a dealer profit-sharing structure aligning it with the dealers that originate the loans.
Does CACC pay a dividend?
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No. Credit Acceptance does not pay a dividend and instead returns capital almost entirely through share buybacks. With only about 10.5 million shares outstanding, repurchases have steadily reduced the share count and boosted per-share metrics over time.
Is CACC profitable?
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Yes. It reported roughly $135.8 million of net income in the first quarter of 2026 on about $580 million of revenue, with a return on equity in the high-20s percent range. Earnings can be volatile because they depend heavily on loan-loss provisions and collection rates.
What are the main risks of investing in CACC?
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Credit performance is the biggest risk, since the company collects only about two-thirds of loan value on average and small changes move earnings sharply. Regulatory and legal actions from the CFPB and state authorities, heavy competition, and a weakening consumer are additional pressures.
Who are Credit Acceptance's main competitors?
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Direct rivals include Santander Consumer USA, Exeter Finance, Westlake Financial, and Consumer Portfolio Services. Banks and captives like Ally Financial and Capital One Auto Finance, plus CarMax Auto Finance and buy-here-pay-here dealers, compete at the edges of its market.
How is CACC valued?
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As of July 2026 the stock trades around a low-teens trailing price-to-earnings multiple with a market cap near $5.5 billion. Because it pays no dividend, valuation depends on earnings durability, loss trends, and the ongoing buyback that shrinks the share count.
How can I invest in CACC?
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Credit Acceptance trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker CACC and can be bought through any standard brokerage account, including a broker connected to Walnut. Walnut is not an investment adviser, so any decision should reflect your own research and risk tolerance.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Financial figures on this page are approximations; always verify current numbers with Credit Acceptance Corporation's investor relations page or your broker before making investment decisions.