Carvana Co. CVNA reported first-quarter 2026 earnings of $1.69 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.42 by 18.69% and increased from $1.51 in the year-ago quarter.
Better-than-expected revenues across all segments drove the strong performance. Revenues of $6.43 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.16 billion by 4.39% and increased 52% from last year.
Carvana Co. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Carvana Co. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Carvana Co. Quote
CVNA Revenue Mix Skews Toward Retail Strength
Retail vehicle sales rose 62% from last year to $4.83 billion and remained the company’s biggest source of revenues. The growth was driven by selling more vehicles as well as earning more money per vehicle.
Wholesale sales grew 24.9% from last year to $1.08 billion, helped by selling more units. Other sales also increased 35.2% to $526 million, making a solid contribution to the company’s overall revenues.
Carvana Volume Expansion Continues Across Channels
Carvana’s retail vehicle unit sales increased 40% year over year to a record 187,393, extending the company’s recent trend of strong unit growth. Retail revenue per unit improved 15.8% to $25,764, indicating higher selling prices on a per-unit basis versus the prior-year quarter.
Wholesale vehicle unit sales also increased, rising 31.7% to 83,574. Wholesale revenue per unit increased 4.8% to $10,338, suggesting more modest per-vehicle pricing gains in wholesale compared with retail.
CVNA Gross Profit Rises but Total GPU Slips
Total gross profit increased 36.8% year over year to $1.27 billion, reflecting higher volumes across the platform. Retail vehicle gross profit rose 38.2% to $593 million, while wholesale gross profit increased 36.9% to $152 million. Other gross profit also went up 35.2% to $526 million, matching the level of other sales and revenues for the quarter.
Even though total profit increased, profit per vehicle declined. Total gross profit per unit fell to $6,783 from $6,938 last year.
Retail vehicle gross profit per unit dropped slightly to $3,165 from $3,204, while wholesale gross profit per unit decreased to $811 from $829. Other gross profit per unit also went down to $2,807 from $2,905, which led to the overall decline in profit per unit.
Carvana SG&A Dollars Increase, Efficiency Improves
Selling, general and administrative expenses rose to $690 million from $535 million a year ago. Within SG&A, compensation and benefits totaled $245 million, advertising was $118 million, market occupancy costs were $19 million, logistics expense was $48 million and other SG&A costs were $260 million.
The company became more efficient as it sold more vehicles. Its SG&A expense per retail unit fell to $3,682 from $3,996 last year.
By per-unit category, Carvana operations costs were $1,622 per retail unit versus $1,658 a year ago, while overhead declined to $1,073 from $1,299. Advertising expense per retail unit increased to $630 from $538, consistent with higher spending levels as the company continued to drive demand.
CVNA Profitability and Liquidity Position Stay Firm
Operating income increased to $581 million from $394 million last year, helped by higher profits and better control over costs per vehicle. Net income came in at $405 million, with a profit margin of 6.3%. Adjusted EBITDA was $672 million, with a margin of 10.4%, showing overall strong profitability.
As of March 31, 2026, Carvana’s cash and cash equivalents totaled $2.41 billion compared with $2.33 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025. The company also reported total liquidity of $6.91 billion, including cash, available credit, additional borrowing capacity and other financial resources. Its long-term debt totaled $4.85 billion compared with $4.83 billion reported a year ago.
Carvana’s Outlook
In the second quarter, if market conditions remain stable, Carvana expects to sell more cars and generate higher adjusted EBITDA than in the previous quarter, potentially reaching record levels on both. The company also expects strong growth in retail units sold and adjusted EBITDA for the full-year 2026.
CVNA currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Key Releases From Auto Space
Mobileye Global Inc. MBLY reported first-quarter 2026 results on April 23. It posted earnings of 12 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 8 cents by 58.52%. The bottom line rose 50% year over year, driven by higher shipments of EyeQ system-on-chip. The company posted revenues of $558 million, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $520 million by 7.36% and increased 27.4% year over year.
Operating cash flow was $75 million, reflecting the company’s ability to convert its ADAS scale into cash generation.
Mobileye also approved a share buyback program of up to $250 million. By the end of the first quarter, MBLY had $1.21 billion in cash, after spending $591 million (net of cash received) on the Mentee Robotics acquisition.
Gentex Corporation GNTX reported first-quarter 2026 results on April 24. It posted adjusted earnings of 48 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 44 cents by 8.28%. The figure increased 11.6% from 43 cents a year ago. Net sales came in at $675 million, topping the consensus mark of $647 million by 4.36%. Revenues rose 17.1% from $577 million in the year-ago quarter, aided by contributions from VOXX and a richer mix of advanced features.
Liquidity improved during the quarter. As of March 31, 2026, GNTX’s cash and cash equivalents were $164.8 million compared with $145.6 million as of Dec. 31, 2025. Short-term investments increased to $10.3 million from $5.4 million.
Radical New Technology Could Hand Investors Huge Gains
Quantum Computing is the next technological revolution, and it could be even more advanced than AI.
While some believed the technology was years away, it is already present and moving fast. Large hyperscalers, such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Oracle, and even Meta and Tesla, are scrambling to integrate quantum computing into their infrastructure.
Senior Stock Strategist Kevin Cook reveals 7 carefully selected stocks poised to dominate the quantum computing landscape in his report, Beyond AI: The Quantum Leap in Computing Power .
Kevin was among the early experts who recognized NVIDIA's enormous potential back in 2016. Now, he has keyed in on what could be "the next big thing" in quantum computing supremacy. Today, you have a rare chance to position your portfolio at the forefront of this opportunity.
See Top Quantum Stocks Now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Gentex Corporation (GNTX): Free Stock Analysis Report
Mobileye Global Inc. (MBLY): Free Stock Analysis Report
Carvana Co. (CVNA): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).