Short Interest in Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) Increases By 426.2%

Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totaling 73,007,090 shares, an increase of 426.2% from the April 30th total of 13,873,145 shares. Approximately 7.8% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 10,927,061 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.7 days.

Insider Activity at Carvana

In other news, Director J Danforth Quayle sold 14,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $898,913.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 209,565 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,991,772.61. This represents a 6.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Benjamin E. Huston sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.99, for a total transaction of $3,849,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 529,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,791,131.52. This represents a 8.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 281,205 shares of company stock valued at $19,495,895 in the last quarter. 15.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CVNA. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Carvana by 40.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 29,867 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,243,000 after buying an additional 8,654 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Carvana by 251.4% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Carvana by 28.8% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 5,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,847,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. grew its stake in Carvana by 340.7% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 4,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,433,000 after acquiring an additional 3,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Carvana by 9.1% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,334,000 after acquiring an additional 825 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.71% of the company’s stock.

Key Carvana News

Here are the key news stories impacting Carvana this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised its earnings estimates for Carvana’s Q1 2027, Q1 2028, and FY2028 results, suggesting analysts see stronger longer-term profit potential. Carvana and Revolve Stocks Trade Up, What You Need To Know
• Positive Sentiment: Despite some near-term revisions lower, Carvana’s current-year earnings outlook remains well above the market consensus, which may reinforce investor confidence in the company’s profitability trend.
• Neutral Sentiment: Short interest in Carvana surged sharply in May, with 7.8% of shares sold short and a 6.7-day short-interest ratio, indicating elevated bearish positioning that could contribute to volatility and potential short-covering moves.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research trimmed its Q3 2027 and FY2027 EPS estimates slightly, which may temper enthusiasm about the pace of earnings growth in the medium term.
• Negative Sentiment: The firm also cut its Q4 2027 EPS estimate, signaling some caution around Carvana’s earnings trajectory later in the forecast period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CVNA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane raised their target price on shares of Carvana from $77.60 to $85.80 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Carvana from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Gordon Haskett lifted their target price on shares of Carvana from $67.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $97.00 target price (down from $485.00) on shares of Carvana in a research report on Sunday, May 10th. Finally, Wedbush reduced their target price on shares of Carvana from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.14.

Carvana Stock Performance

CVNA stock traded up $1.30 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $74.30. 5,392,081 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,651,273. Carvana has a 52-week low of $54.46 and a 52-week high of $97.38. The stock has a market cap of $81.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.24, a PEG ratio of 11.84 and a beta of 3.55. The company has a current ratio of 4.09, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $69.24 and its 200 day moving average is $74.82.

Carvana (NYSE:CVNA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $1.69 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $1.37. Carvana had a net margin of 6.40% and a return on equity of 41.46%. The business had revenue of $6.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.12 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Carvana will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

About Carvana

Carvana Co is an online-only retailer of used vehicles that operates a consumer-facing e-commerce platform for buying and selling cars. The company markets and sells inspected, reconditioned pre-owned vehicles through its website, where shoppers can browse inventory, view detailed 360-degree photos and vehicle history reports, finance purchases, and arrange delivery or pickup. Carvana’s model is built around a digital end-to-end car buying experience that aims to simplify vehicle transactions compared with traditional dealerships.

Its products and services include direct retail sales of used cars, trade-in and purchase offers for consumer vehicles, vehicle financing and related protection products, and a seven-day return policy that allows customers to test a vehicle in everyday use.