Carvana Co. (CVNA) Sustains Rapid Unit Growth as Lending Fears Ease

Sands Capital Management, LLC's Technology Innovators Fund released its Q4 2025 investor letter for "Technology Innovators Fund". A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The Fund delivered mixed performance during the fourth quarter of 2025, as market returns were increasingly driven by a narrow group of large-cap growth stocks, with the portfolio’s top ten holdings accounting for roughly 59% of assets, while several high-valuation innovation names faced pressure from slowing momentum and investor risk aversion. The fund’s results reflected stock-specific challenges rather than broad macroeconomic shocks, with weaker performance in certain emerging technology holdings offset by strength in select platform and infrastructure businesses. During the quarter, the portfolio declined 6.3% on a quarter-to-date basis, and the fund generated a 14.7% return over the one year, reflecting stock-specific challenges rather than broad macroeconomic shocks, with weaker performance in certain emerging technology holdings offset by strength in select platform and infrastructure businesses. Management emphasized its long-term investment horizon, noting an average annual portfolio turnover of 21%, and stated that many portfolio companies continued to generate solid full-year earnings growth in 2025, supported by durable revenue models tied to artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and digital transformation, even as enthusiasm for speculative growth faded late in the quarter. In addition, please check the Fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.

In its fourth-quarter 2025 investor letter, Sands Capital Management, LLC's Technology Innovators Fund highlighted stocks like Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA). Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) is an online used-car retailer focused on delivering a fully digital vehicle buying experience with nationwide delivery. The one-month return of Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) was -22.62% while its shares traded between $148.25 and $486.89 over the last 52 weeks. On February 13, 2026, Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) stock closed at approximately $342.87 per share, with a market capitalization of about $74.34 billion.

Sands Capital Management, LLC's Technology Innovators Fund stated the following regarding Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) in its Q4 2025 investor letter:

"Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) is the world’s largest ecommerce used car retailer by revenue. Shares advanced after third-quarter results sustained exceptional growth and eased concerns about the lending business. Revenue rose 55 percent year over year, supported by 44 percent unit growth—marking the fourth consecutive quarter of more than 40 percent growth in an otherwise soft used car market. Certain developments in the broader subprime auto lending space weighed on shares in the months ahead of earnings, but these demonstrated to be idiosyncratic—for Carvana, Q3 results were incrementally positive for lending, with sequential loan margin growth and solid performance in recent vintages. Looking ahead, we remain confident in Carvana’s ability to sustain strong unit growth, supported by the large addressable market, substantial vehicle inventory, and continued improvements in delivery speed."

Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 109 hedge fund portfolios held Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) at the end of the third quarter, which was 91 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the risk and potential of Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

In another article, we covered Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) and shared the list of the best US stocks to buy and hold in 2026. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2025 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.