Why Carvana Shares Are Jumping Today

Carvana Co. CVNA shares are trading higher in the premarket session on Thursday.

Yesterday, after the bell, the company reported first-quarter 2024 results, growing retail units by 16% year-over-year. 

The company reported an adjusted EBITDA of $235 million, compared with a $(24) million loss a year ago. Adjusted EBITDA margin stood at 7.7%, compared with negative 0.9% a year ago.

Check This Out: Carvana Stock Jumps On Q1 Earnings: Revenue Beat, Vehicles Sold Up 16%, Strong Guidance And More

“I really do think in terms of just a single quarter carrying meaning about what the future holds for us. If we execute properly, I think this is probably our biggest quarter and it feels awesome,” Ernie Garcia, Carvana Founder and Chief Executive Officer, told CNBC during a phone interview Wednesday night.

Net income included a ~$75 million gain in the fair value of Carvana’s warrants to acquire Root, Inc. ROOT. This gain did not impact GPU or Adjusted EBITDA.

Non-GAAP gross profit jumped 64% year over year to $625 million. Total gross profit per retail unit on a non-GAAP basis jumped nearly 42%.

The company foresees additional cost reductions or efficiency improvements to enhance profitability, focusing on areas like advertising, overhead, and operational expenses, CNBC reported.

Carvana reported first-quarter revenue of $3.061 billion, which beat the consensus estimate of $2.673 billion, according to Benzinga Pro. 

Garcia mentioned to CNBC that Carvana is also concentrating on enhancing the reconditioning of vehicles and profitably rebuilding its vehicle inventory. 

In March, the inventory reached an almost record-low of 13 days’ supply. Over the past year, it has bolstered its capacity for vehicle reconditioning by approximately 60%.

“Acquiring inventories, generally speaking, feel relatively straightforward to scale, but growing the recondition capacity is difficult,” he told CNBC. “Inventory today is certainly tighter than we would like for it to be. We’re working hard to build it back up, but we’re extremely well positioned to do it,” CNBC added.

Carvana anticipates a sequential increase in its year-over-year growth rate in retail units in the second quarter. The company also expects a sequential increase in adjusted EBITDA.

Price Action: CVNA shares are trading higher by 36% to $118.45 premarket on the last check Thursday. 

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