Carvana Q1 Earnings Preview: 'Amazon Of Auto Retail' Looks To Beat Estimates For 5th Straight Quarter

Online used car seller Carvana Co CVNA could continue stock momentum with a strong first-quarter financial report when the company reports after market close Wednesday.

Earnings Estimates: Analysts expect Carvana to report first-quarter revenue of $3.98 billion, up from $3.06 billion in last year's first quarter, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

The company has beaten analyst estimates for revenue in four straight quarters and six of the last 10 quarters overall.

Analysts expect the company to report first-quarter earnings per share of 66 cents, up from 23 cents per share in the first quarter.

The company has beaten analyst estimates for earnings per share in four straight quarters and eight of the last 10 quarters overall.

What Analysts Are Saying: An improving leverage ratio and the paying down of debt saw Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas upgrade Carvana stock from Equal-Weight to Overweight in March.

The analyst raised the price target from $260 to $280, while highlighting upside growth in EBITDA margins and retail unit growth.

"Carvana's performance is particularly impressive when compared to its auto retailing peers who have struggled to grow used volumes this year," Jonas said.

The analyst said Carvana only has 1% market share of the U.S. used car market and is just now approaching its prior peak retail unit volumes, which were met back in 2021 and 2022.

Jonas called Carvana a "potential Amazon of auto retail."

Piper Sandler analyst Alexander Potter said Carvana is better insulated than competitors on tariff risks. The analyst said that while macro uncertainty remains, Carvana can "grow aggressively" in the used car market.

Potter upgraded the stock from Neutral to Overweight with a $225 price target at the time.

Bank of America analyst Justin Post recently reiterated a Buy rating on Carvana with a $220 price target.

The analyst brushed off concern from Amazon.com Inc entering the used car space. Post said Amazon's move could benefit the entire online used car sector.

Here are other recent analyst ratings on Carvana and their price targets:

Wells Fargo: Maintained Overweight rating, lowered price target from $310 to $290
JMP Securities: Maintained Market Outperform rating, lowered price target from $340 to $275
Citigroup: Maintained Buy rating, lowered price target from $320 to $280
Baird: Maintained Neutral rating, lowered price target from $250 to $200

Key Items to Watch: In April, Carvana announced plans to integrate an auction and reconditioning Megasite in New Jersey. The move was viewed as a way to expand production capacity and improve options for retail and wholesale customers.

Analysts and investors will be looking for updates on the company's retail locations and reach.

Carvana reported fourth-quarter revenue that was up 46% year-over-year with 114,379 vehicle sales representing 50% year-over-year growth.

Analysts and investors will hope for more growth in items like revenue, vehicles sold and net income margin in the quarter. Carvana previously said it expected the number of retail units sold to grow sequentially in the first quarter.

CVNA Price Action: Carvana stock was up 0.3% to $258.59 on Tuesday versus a 52-week trading range of $97.55 to $292.84. Carvana stock is up 30.4% year-to-date in 2025, with shares up over 111% in the last year.

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