Carvana 8-K

Summary

Q3 2026 results with Q4 and full-year outlook. Carvana delivered record retail unit sales and revenue, growing much faster than an approximately flat industry, which it attributes to market-share gains. It also reported higher net income but lower Adjusted EBITDA margin and gross profit per unit. Beginning with its Q4 2026 earnings call, Carvana plans to stop providing quarterly and annual financial outlooks and focus on longer-term goals.

Key Figures

• Net income attributable to Carvana Co. was $289M in Q3, versus $151M a year earlier; total net income includes non-controlling interests.
• Total gross profit per retail unit fell 5% to $6,997; non-GAAP total gross profit per retail unit fell 6% to $7,093. Carvana cited lower customer loan rates relative to benchmarks and lower wholesale gross profit per unit as retail sales scaled faster than wholesale marketplace gross profit. Higher fuel prices and rising benchmark interest rates together reduced estimated unit economics by ≈$200.
• Net income margin rose to 6.0% from 4.7%, while Adjusted EBITDA margin declined to 10.0% from 11.3%. Q3 net income included a $53M loss on debt extinguishment related to early redemption of Senior Secured Notes due 2030.

Guidance

Carvana said the 12.5% operating-margin target is equivalent to its prior 13.5% Adjusted EBITDA-margin target. It has not provided a quantitative reconciliation of forecast Adjusted EBITDA to forecast GAAP results.

Guidance changes, derived from earlier filings

Metric	Period	Earlier guidance	Guidance now	Change
Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP)	FY2026	$2.7B-$3.0B	Higher end of the $2.7B-$3.0B range, if the environment remains stable	reaffirmed
Annual retail units / operating margin (GAAP)	2030-2035	3M	3M units; 12.5% operating margin	reaffirmed

Investor Takeaways

• Watch Q4 retail units against the sequential-increase outlook and FY2026 Adjusted EBITDA against the upper end of the stated range; both expectations are conditional on a stable environment.
• Carvana says it has reached about 2% of the used-car market and about 1.5% of the overall market, with a current retail run rate of 870,000 units annually. Continued growth relative to the broader market would test its market-share-gain thesis.
• Track production capacity expansion toward the 3M-unit goal: 21 ADESA sites had integrated retail production capabilities, and three full buildouts under construction were expected to begin production in 2027.