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. Quote

Key Highlights

Total 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 Performance

Retail 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 Position

Carvana 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.

Outlook

For 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 Consider

CVNA 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

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research