CVNA Q1 Earnings Beat on Solid Revenues, Adjusted EBITDA Doubles

Used car e-retailer Carvana CVNA reported first-quarter earnings of $1.51 per share, which breezed past the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 75 cents and the year-ago quarter’s loss of 41 cents per share. Better-than-expected revenues across all segments led to the outperformance. Revenues of $4.23 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.7% and rose 38% year over year.

Key Highlights

Total gross profit amounted to $929 million, up 57.2% year over year. Total gross profit per unit (GPU) was $6,938, rising from $6,432 in the year-ago period. SG&A expenses were $535 million, up 17.3% year over year. Carvana achieved an adjusted EBITDA of $488 million for the first quarter of 2025. Adjusted EBITDA margin in the quarter under review was 11.5%, up from 7.7% in the first quarter of 2024.

Carvana Co. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Carvana Co. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Carvana Co. Quote

Segmental Performance

Retail vehicle sales totaled $2.98 billion in the quarter, rising 37% year over year and beating our estimate of $2.87 billion on the back of higher-than-expected sales volume. In the reported quarter, the number of vehicles sold to retail customers rose 45.7% to 133,898 from the prior-year period and exceeded our estimate of 121,868 units. Gross profit amounted to $429 million, up 51.6% year over year. Gross profit per unit came in at $3,204, which rose from $3,080 generated in the year-ago period but missed our expectation of $3,523.

In the first quarter, wholesale vehicle sales totaled $863 million, up 31.4% year over year. Sales topped our estimate of $702 million amid higher-than-expected unit sales. During the reported quarter, the number of vehicles sold to wholesale customers soared 43.7% to 63,454 from the prior-year period and exceeded our estimate of 57,311 units. Gross profit came in at $111 million, up 40.5% from the corresponding quarter of 2024. GPU came in at $829, down 3.6% year over year but above our estimate of $697.

In the period under consideration, other sales and revenues rose 70% year over year to $389 million and beat our forecast of $310.3 million. Gross profit was $389 million, up 70% year over year. GPU came in at $2,905, up 16.6% year over year. It fell short of our estimate of $2,930.

(Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.)

Financial Position

Carvana had cash and cash equivalents of $1.85 billion as of March 31, 2025, compared with $1.71 million as of Dec. 31, 2024. Long-term debt was $5.27 billion as of March 31, 2025, compared with $5.25 billion recorded on Dec. 31, 2024.

Outlook

Carvana expects significant growth in both retail units sold and adjusted EBITDA in full-year 2025, including a sequential rise in both retail units sold and adjusted EBITDA in the second quarter of 2025.

CVNA currently carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) each at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Peer Releases

Lithia Motors LAD reported first-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share of $7.66, which improved from the prior-year quarter’s $6.11 but missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7.77. Lithia Motors clocked revenues of $9.18 billion, which increased 7.3% year over year but lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $9.33 billion. Lithia Motors had cash/cash equivalents/restricted cash of $430.3 million as of March 31, 2025, up from $402.2 million as of Dec. 31, 2024. Long-term debt was $5.9 billion as of March 31, 2025, down from $6.1 billion as of Dec. 31, 2024.

Sonic Automotive SAH posted first-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings per share of $1.48, which topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.46 and improved 8.82% from the year-ago quarter. Sonic Automotive reported revenues of $3.65 billion, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.54 billion and rose from the year-ago quarter’s $3.38 billion. Sonic Automotive had cash & cash equivalents of $64.6 million as of March 31, 2025, up from $44 million as of Dec. 31, 2024. Long-term debt was $1.49 billion as of March 31, 2025, down from $1.51 billion as of Dec. 31, 2024.

AutoNation, Inc. AN reported first-quarter 2025 adjusted earnings of $4.68 per share, which increased 4% year over year and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.35. AutoNation registered revenues of $6.69 billion, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.57 billion and rose from $6.48 billion reported in the first quarter of 2024. As of March 31, 2025, the company’s liquidity was $1.6 billion. At the end of the first quarter, AutoNation’s non-vehicle debt was $3.96 billion. 

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