Alta Fox’s CarGurus Gambit: A Dance with the Devil in Shares

On Nov. 14, 2025, Alta Fox Capital Management, LLC disclosed a new position in CarGurus (CARG +3.02%), acquiring 1,098,700 shares valued at an estimated $40.90 million. One might imagine the SEC’s filing room trembling as the ink dried, for such sums are not mere digits but declarations of war against the chaos of the market. Or so the rumor goes.

What happened

A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, dated Nov. 14, 2025, revealed Alta Fox had initiated a position in CarGurus by purchasing 1,098,700 shares as of Sept. 30, 2025. This act, though legal, carries the air of a conjurer pulling a rabbit from a hat-except the rabbit is a stock ticker and the hat is the fund’s portfolio. The valuation of $40.90 million, as of the reporting date, swelled the fund’s U.S. equity holdings to 19 positions, a number suspiciously close to the biblical “sign of the beast.” Or perhaps not.

What else to know

The CarGurus stake now constitutes 9.12% of Alta Fox’s 13F assets under management as of Sept. 30, 2025. A bold stroke, this. One imagines the fund’s managers as chess grandmasters, placing pawns and knights across a board where the pieces whisper secrets in the tongues of Wall Street. Their top five holdings post-filing read like a litany of ambition:

  • Daktronics (DAKT +1.17%): $92.69 million (20.7% of AUM)
  • NCR Atleos (NATL +1.42%): $77.60 million (17.3% of AUM)
  • REV Group (REVG +0.91%): $45.76 million (10.2% of AUM)
  • CarGurus: $40.90 million (9.1% of AUM)
  • DexCom Inc (DXCM 1.63%): $25.51 million (5.7% of AUM)

As of Dec. 8, 2025, CarGurus shares traded at $35.84, a price that reflects a 1-year return of -7%, trailing the S&P 500 by 20 percentage points. One might say the stock is waltzing with gravity-or perhaps it is merely being courted by the devil in a pinstripe suit.

Company overview

Metric Value
Revenue (TTM) $926.42 million
Net Income (TTM) $151.99 million
Price (as of market close 2025-12-9) $35.84
One-Year Price Change (7%)

Company snapshot

CarGurus:

  • Offers an online automotive marketplace, digital wholesale platform, and dealer data products. Imagine if Scheherazade traded tales for cars, or if Faust bartered souls for vehicle listings.
  • Serves car dealerships, manufacturers, and consumers globally. A feat that would make Pushkin blush, were he to trade verses for VIN numbers.
  • Leverages data-driven insights and technology. A modern Prometheus, perhaps, stealing fire from the gods of analytics to light the path of commerce.

CarGurus operates a leading digital platform that connects buyers and sellers in the automotive market. Its scale and diversified offerings position it as a key player in the online auto retail market. One might argue it is the Mephistopheles of car transactions, binding deals with algorithms and spreadsheets.

Foolish take

Alta Fox’s new purchase of CarGurus is an intriguing move, a bet placed on the edge of a knife. The firm typically targets underfollowed small caps, and CarGurus, a $3.6 billion entity, fits this profile like a glove made of smoke. The position, already 9% of the fund’s portfolio, is a wager of such magnitude that one might expect the devil himself to attend the next earnings call, sipping absinthe and muttering in Russian.

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From a Foolish perspective, CarGurus is an industry leader navigating short-term chaos. After a misstep in digital wholesale sales, the company has returned to its roots as the leading aggregator for vehicle listings. It has delivered an average free cash flow margin of 17%, a figure that would make a saint weep-and a capitalist grin.

Trading at 15 times FCF and 16 times forward earnings, Alta Fox’s investment aligns with its strategy. Yet, as any true believer in markets knows, even the most rational bets can summon forces beyond comprehension. One might hope CarGurus’ share count declines as swiftly as the moral compass of a Wall Street broker.

Glossary

13F: A quarterly report filed by institutional managers, a ritual as arcane as a medieval scribe’s incantations.

Assets Under Management (AUM): The total value of investments managed by a fund, a number that often outlives the sanity of those who chase it.

Position: The amount of a security owned by an investor, a claim ticket in the theater of finance.

Initiated Position: The first purchase in a company, a declaration of faith-or folly.

Reportable Assets: Investments disclosed in regulatory filings, a bureaucratic dance performed for the SEC’s amusement.

Trailing the S&P 500: Underperforming an index, a fate worse than being ignored by the market gods.

Digital Wholesale Platform: An online system for dealer-to-dealer sales, a marketplace where contracts are signed in blood-and spreadsheets.

Dealer Data Products: Tools providing dealers with analytics, a modern-day oracle for those who dare to sell cars.

Actionable Analytics: Data insights designed to inform decisions, a language spoken only by the enlightened and the desperate.

TTM: The 12 months ending with the latest quarterly report, a window into the past that investors treat as prophecy.

And so, dear reader, the curtain falls-or rises-on this tale of numbers and ambition. Whether Alta Fox’s gamble will yield riches or ruin remains to be seen. But in the theater of finance, every bet is a story waiting to be written. 🤡

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2025-12-09 19:39