ACV Auctions CEO’s AI Rebuttal Couldn’t Stop a 36% Slide

• ACV Auctions (ACVA) reported Q4 revenue of $183.6M (up 15.1%) and guided 2026 revenue of $845M to $855M with adjusted EBITDA of $73M to $77M; shares fell 25% post-earnings, down 36.16% YTD.

• CEO claims ACV Auctions is the AI disruptor in wholesale auto, not at risk from it, but 2026 guidance below expectations and an $18.71M bankruptcy charge drove the post-earnings selloff.

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ACV Auctions CEO George Chamoun used the company’s February 23, 2026 earnings call to make a pointed claim: ACV is not at risk from AI disruption in wholesale auto — it is the disruptor. Whether the market believes him is another question.

When asked about competitive risks from emerging AI players, Chamoun pushed back directly. “The irony, Rajat, is we are that disruptor. We are the AI disruptor in this category. We’re the company who’s trying to help a traditional retailer like a franchise dealer, as cars drive through a service drive, take pictures and videos and predict the retail price within $38 that it’s going to sell for and estimate wholesale value within $100 to a point where we’ll guarantee it.”

That guarantee claim is central to ACV’s plan. The company’s no-reserve auction format, the ACV Guarantee, reached 19% of Q4 mix, and Chamoun said he would be “thrilled” to see it reach the mid-20% range in 2026. Conversion rates improved year-over-year in Q4 — unlike most competitors, he said — supported by over 10 bidders per car on average, with some segments exceeding 20.

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The most forward-looking part of the call centered on Viper, ACV’s next-generation AI inspection system being deployed at dealership service lanes. The rollout is early: 5 to 10 units per month currently, with a target of 100 to 200 units in the field by end of 2026 and more than 200 dealers expressing interest. Chamoun framed the opportunity in concrete dealer economics: dealerships are purchasing between 4% and as much as 10% of all repair orders coming through their service drive, which he said could translate to 40 to 100 cars per month at the rooftop level.

Existing product traction supports the thesis. Dealers that launched ClearCar in 2025 increased their wholesale volumes on ACV by over 50%, and a recent cohort of ACV Max dealers increased wholesale vehicle sales by an average of 40% within one quarter of launching Max.

The underlying business delivered: Q4 revenue of $183.6 million grew 15.1% year-over-year, beating estimates, with adjusted EBITDA exceeding the high end of guidance. Full-year 2025 revenue reached $760 million, up 19%. For 2026, Chamoun guided revenue of $845 million to $855 million and adjusted EBITDA of $73 million to $77 million, representing roughly 28% EBITDA growth.

A one-time $18.71 million charge tied to the Tricolor bankruptcy through ACV Capital drove a GAAP EPS miss, and 2026 guidance came in below analyst expectations on both lines. The stock fell roughly 25% the day after the call and sits down 36.16% year-to-date as of March 6.

Chamoun acknowledged the market is starting 2026 soft, with dealer wholesale down 6.5% in January, but maintained that only about 30% of the industry has transitioned to digital, leaving substantial runway. Watch Viper deployment velocity and ACV Guarantee mix as the clearest signals of whether the AI disruption story is translating into durable share gains.

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