CVNA Q3 Earnings Miss Estimates, Sales Rise Y/Y on High Deliveries

Used car e-retailer Carvana CVNA reported third-quarter earnings of $1.03 per share, which lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.33 per share but rose from the year-ago quarter’s earnings of 64 cents per share. Better-than-expected revenues across all segments led to the outperformance. Revenues of $5.65 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11.6% and rose 55% year over year.Carvana Co. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise Carvana Co. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Carvana Co. QuoteKey HighlightsTotal gross profit amounted to $1.15 billion, up 42% year over year. Total gross profit per unit (GPU) was $7,362, decreasing from $7,427 in the year-ago period. SG&A expenses were $595 million, up 27% year over year. Carvana achieved an adjusted EBITDA of $637 million for the third quarter of 2025. Adjusted EBITDA margin in the quarter under review was 11.3%, down from 11.7% in the third quarter of 2024.Segmental PerformanceRetail vehicle sales totaled $3.99 billion in the quarter, rising 57.1%% year over year and topping our estimate of $3.4 billion amid higher-than-expected unit sales. In the reported quarter, the number of vehicles sold to retail customers rose 43.5% to 155,941 from the prior-year period and exceeded our estimate of 145,112 units. Gross profit amounted to $539 million, up 41.8% year over year. Gross profit per unit came in at $3,456, which fell from $3,497 generated in the year-ago period and missed our expectation of $3,649.In the third quarter, wholesale vehicle sales totaled $1.18 billion, up 49.7% year over year. Sales topped our estimate of $850.3 million amid higher-than-expected unit sales. During the reported quarter, the number of vehicles sold to wholesale customers soared 42.3% to 80,369 from the prior-year period and exceeded our estimate of 71,670 units. Gross profit came in at $135 million, up 33.7% from the corresponding quarter of 2024. GPU came in at $866, down 6.9% year over year, but topped our expectation of $485.In the period under consideration, other sales and revenues rose 45.4% year over year to $474 million and beat our forecast of $360.2 million. Gross profit was $474 million, up 45.4% year over year. GPU came in at $3,040, up 1.33% year over year. It, however, fell short of our estimate of $3,556.Financial PositionCarvana had cash and cash equivalents of $2.14 billion as of Sept. 30, 2025, compared with $1.72 billion as of Dec. 31, 2024. Long-term debt was $4.81 billion as of Sept. 30, 2025, compared with $5.26 billion recorded on Dec. 31, 2024.OutlookFor the fourth quarter of 2025, Carvana expects more than 150,000 retail unit sales. It reiterates its expectation for full-year 2025 adjusted EBITDA in the range of $2-$2.2 billion.Zacks Rank & Stocks to ConsiderCVNA carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present.Some better-ranked stocks in the auto space are Geely Automobile Holdings Limited GELHY, XPeng Inc. XPEV and Standard Motor Products, Inc. SMP. Each stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GELHY’s 2025 sales and earnings implies year-over-year growth of 94.4% and 4.19%, respectively. EPS estimates for 2025 and 2026 have improved 56 cents and 69 cents in the past 30 days, respectively.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for XPEV’s 2025 sales and earnings implies year-over-year growth of 97% and 73.8%, respectively. The loss per share estimate for 2025 has narrowed 5 cents in the past 30 days.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for SMP’s 2025 sales and earnings implies year-over-year growth of 20.9% and 18.6%, respectively. The EPS estimate for 2025 has improved 17 cents in the past 90 days. The EPS estimate for 2026 has improved 2 cents in the past 30 days.Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Standard Motor Products, Inc. (SMP): Free Stock Analysis Report Carvana Co. (CVNA): Free Stock Analysis Report XPeng Inc. Sponsored ADR (XPEV): Free Stock Analysis Report Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd. (GELHY): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks