Key Highlights

  • Revenue rose 42.4% to USD 8.04 billion in Q3 2026, the first quarter above USD 8 billion.
  • Retail units sold hit a record 217,385, up 39.4%, while retail vehicle revenue grew 53.8% to USD 6.14 billion.
  • Net income was USD 483 million, or USD 0.39 per diluted share, including a USD 53 million debt extinguishment loss.
  • Adjusted EBITDA reached a record USD 800 million at a 10% margin, up USD 163 million from last year.

Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) reported third-quarter 2026 net sales and operating revenues of USD 8.04 billion, up from USD 5.65 billion a year earlier and above a consensus estimate of USD 7.71 billion. Diluted earnings per Class A share were USD 0.39, versus USD 0.21 in the same quarter of 2025, but below a consensus estimate of USD 0.44.

Net income was USD 483 million, of which USD 289 million was attributable to the company after non-controlling interests, compared with USD 263 million and USD 151 million a year earlier. Operating income reached USD 714 million from USD 552 million. Results included a USD 53 million loss on debt extinguishment tied to the early redemption of senior secured notes.

Unit Economics and Cost Structure

Retail units sold climbed 39.4% to 217,385, the first quarter above 200,000, and retail revenue per unit rose 10.3% to USD 28,263. Total gross profit increased 32.5% to USD 1.52 billion, while total gross profit per retail unit slipped 5.0% to USD 6,997. Retail gross profit per unit rose 2.9% to USD 3,556, but wholesale gross profit per unit fell 18.2% and other gross profit per unit, which includes financing, fell 10.1%.

Selling, general and administrative expenses were USD 805 million versus USD 595 million. The company's chief financial officer said non-GAAP SG&A per retail unit was roughly flat, with operations expense up USD 109 per unit on fuel and logistics, offset by a USD 159 reduction in overhead per unit. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 10%, compared with 11.3%, which management linked to a mix of higher-priced vehicles and lower financing rates passed back to customers.

Balance Sheet and Full-Year Guidance

In August the company entered a USD 1.66 billion Term Loan B maturing in 2033 and used it, with cash on hand, to redeem its 2030 senior secured notes in full, which management said lowers annual interest expense by about USD 45 million. Net debt to trailing 12-month adjusted EBITDA stood at 0.8x and adjusted EBITDA to interest expense at 6.9x, both company records.

For the fourth quarter, management guided to a sequential increase in retail units sold and adjusted EBITDA, assuming a stable environment, with full-year 2026 adjusted EBITDA at the higher end of the previously communicated USD 2.7 billion to USD 3.0 billion range. CEO Ernest Garcia described a long-term target of 3 million units per year and a 13.5% adjusted EBITDA margin, and noted the company holds just over 2% of the used vehicle market. He also cited rising interest rates and gas prices as part of the operating backdrop.

Open Items and Reference Points

Four figures anchor the next report. The first is financing gross profit per unit, where other gross profit per retail unit fell 10.1% to USD 2,733 as benchmark rates rose and the company passed some of the gains to customers. The second is operations expense per unit, which rose USD 109 on fuel and logistics. The third is production capacity, since reconditioning output topped 200,000 units for the first time while available website inventory is growing more slowly than sales. The fourth is the guided fourth-quarter sequential rise in units and adjusted EBITDA against the USD 2.7 billion to USD 3.0 billion annual range, along with the Term Loan B's quarterly amortization of USD 4 million beginning in the first quarter of 2027.