The effect of the stacking order of carbon fiber composites on impact damage was studied. The main form of damage was delamination starting at the interface between individual ply. The force-time response when the impact was applied was monitored and the energy absorbed by the panel was analyzed. The energy absorbed during interlayer separation was found to be affected by the stacking order, and the residual energy absorbed by peel propagation increased linearly as the total peel area increased. It was found that the compressive strength after impact was related to the maximum delamination area.