CPRT vs OPLN: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?

Same yardstick, side by side (as of September 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.

The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. CPRT and OPLN share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.

This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined CPRT and OPLN exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.

Copart operates a leading global online marketplace for buying and selling used, wholesale, and salvage vehicles, primarily through internet auctions. Its biggest customers are insurance companies, which send Copart vehicles that have been declared total losses after accidents, floods, or other damage; Copart processes, stores, and remarkets those vehicles to a global base of dismantlers, rebuilders, used-car dealers, and individual buyers. The company runs a virtual auction platform (VB3) supported by a vast network of physical storage yards across North America and other countries. Copart makes money mainly through auction and service fees charged to both sellers and buyers, plus vehicle towing, storage, title processing, and related services. Its asset-heavy land holdings and dense yard network create high barriers to entry. Copart benefits from rising vehicle complexity (which raises total-loss frequency) and from a global buyer base. It is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

Full CPRT guide

OPENLANE runs the wholesale layer of the used-car business, the market where dealers, rental fleets, leasing companies and captive lenders sell vehicles to other dealers rather than to consumers. It was KAR Auction Services until a 2023 rename, and it sold its US physical auction sites (the ADESA locations) to Carvana in 2022, leaving a business that is digital in North America and part physical in Europe. Two segments do the work. Marketplace lists and sells the cars, earning auction and related fees, SaaS and services revenue, and a small amount of outright vehicle resale. Finance is AFC, a floorplan lender extending short-term inventory-secured credit to independent dealers so they can buy at auction. In the June 2026 quarter Marketplace booked ~$447.3M of revenue against Finance's ~$107.3M, yet Finance carried the larger operating profit, ~$38.6M versus ~$28.9M.

Full OPLN guide

Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.

• CPRT drivers: Insurance total-loss tailwind; Global buyer network and pricing.
• OPLN drivers: The off-lease inflection in commercial consignment; US dealer-to-dealer share gains.

A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Copart trades at a premium growth valuation that prices in continued strong execution, leaving it sensitive to any slowdown. For OPLN, the commercial volume surge leaned partly on onboarding a single new private-label customer, so concentration matters and a lost contract would show up quickly in reported units.

Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick CPRT if you believe its drivers more; OPLN if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the CPRT and OPLN guides.

CPRT. Copart trades at a premium growth multiple that reflects its high-margin, asset-backed marketplace moat, secular total-loss tailwinds, and consistent earnings growth. The rich valuation embeds expectations for continued volume and margin strength; the net-cash balance sheet and high returns on capital are the quality features that justify the premium to investors who pay it.

OPLN. Trailing GAAP EPS of about -$0.59 is misleading on its own: consolidated net income over the last four quarters was roughly $200M, and the negative figure comes from a ~$242.2M premium recorded in Q4 2025 when the Series A convertible preferred was repurchased for ~$559.3M. Guided 2026 diluted EPS of ~$1.23 to ~$1.33 puts the stock near ~26x the midpoint, or closer to ~23x on the company's Operating Adjusted EPS range of ~$1.40 to ~$1.50. The enterprise-value multiple excludes AFC's ~$1.89B of obligations collateralized by finance receivables, which are secured by ~$2.62B of managed receivables and are conventionally treated as funding rather than corporate debt.

Headline figures (approximate, early 2026): CPRT shows revenue (ttm) ~$4.5 billion, operating margin ~35-40% (very high), net income (ttm) ~$1.5 billion, dividend none; reinvests and holds net cash; OPLN shows revenue (ttm) ~$2.08B, q2 2026 revenue ~$554.6M, up ~15% year over year, q2 2026 net income / adjusted ebitda ~$44.3M / ~$103M, 2026 company guidance adjusted EBITDA ~$385M to ~$400M; diluted EPS ~$1.23 to ~$1.33.

CPRT and OPLN are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined CPRT and OPLN exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.