Online car dealer Carvana (CVNA) reported a revenue and profit beat for the fourth quarter on Wednesday as the company continued its push into profitability.
However, its shares pulled back over 14% in early trading on Thursday, as analysts on the conference call were concerned about the lack of specificity with the company’s forward guidance.
For the fourth quarter, Carvana posted revenue of $3.55 billion versus $3.34 billion estimated per Bloomberg consensus estimates, up 32% from a year ago, though lower than the $3.66 billion reported in Q3. Carvana reported Q4 earnings per share of $0.56 versus $0.31 estimated, with adjusted EBITDA coming in at $359 million versus $329.4 million expected.
At close: February 20 at 4:00:02 PM EST
Carvana’s retail unit sales in Q4 hit 114,379 compared to 108,339 estimated for the quarter.
For the year, Carvana reported record adjusted EBITDA of $1.37 billion, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 10.1%
“In 2024, Carvana became the most profitable public automotive retailer in US history as measured by Adjusted EBITDA margin while also resuming industry-leading growth,” Ernie Garcia, Carvana founder and CEO, said in a statement.
Carvana’s full-year sales hit 416,000 retail units sold, up 33% compared to a year ago, resulting in record annual revenue of $13.67 billion, the company said.
In terms of outlook, Carvana expects “significant growth” in both retail units sold and adjusted EBITDA for full year 2025, including a sequential increase in both retail units sold and adjusted EBITDA in Q1, assuming the environment remains stable, the company said.
Carvana shares jumped nearly 300% in 2024 and were up 43% thus far in 2025 before Wednesday’s earnings release.
Carvana, which sells used cars exclusively online, thrived in the early part of the pandemic as US buyers desired to travel in the safety of their own vehicles and purchase their vehicles remotely without having to visit a dealership.
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Sales soared from 2020 through 2021, but by 2022, used car values also jumped significantly, leading Carvana to spend heavily to grow its inventory. Carvana’s sales grew from $3.9 billion in 2019 to $12.8 billion in 2021, though the company didn’t report a profit during that time.
Rising used car prices eventually led to consumers balking from sticker shock, which led to Carvana having expensive inventory on its hands that needed to be sold, often at a deep discount.
The company eventually had to cut its operating costs significantly and was more prudent with its purchases of used cars to sell to consumers and wholesalers, the company said. Carvana eventually had enough scale to cut costs of reconditioning cars for sale, refinanced its outstanding debt, and eventually turned its first annual profit in 2023.