New York, Jan 7, 2026, 19:55 ET — After-hours
- Carvana shares closed up about 2.4% and ticked higher in extended trading.
- A filing showed Vanguard owned 11.86% of Carvana’s common stock as of Dec. 31.
- Jefferies kept a Buy rating and a $550 target, citing web-scrape checks pointing to faster unit growth.
Carvana Co (CVNA) shares rose on Wednesday after a filing showed The Vanguard Group held an 11.86% stake in the online used-car retailer at the end of 2025. The stock closed up about 2.4% at $450.78 and was up around 0.1% at $451.26 in extended trading as of 7:54 p.m. ET.
The disclosures land as investors keep looking for clean reads on demand and positioning in a stock that has swung hard with the tape. Carvana nearly doubled in 2025 and joined the S&P 500 in December, drawing steady index-fund flows but also raising the bar for the next earnings print.
Jefferies analysts this week reiterated a “Buy” rating and kept a $550 price target, pointing to preliminary “web scrape” data — automated pulls of public online listings and traffic signals — as evidence of stronger momentum into year-end. “Retail Units would grow 44% in Q4 and imply 7% upside to consensus,” the analysts wrote, while lifting their fourth-quarter EBITDA view to $522 million. Proactiveinvestors NA
Vanguard’s Schedule 13G/A — a passive ownership disclosure required when investors cross certain thresholds — reported 16,783,099 Carvana shares as of Dec. 31, equal to 11.86% of the class. Vanguard certified the position was held “in the ordinary course of business” and not to influence control, the filing showed. SEC
Used-car names mostly ran with Carvana in Wednesday’s session even as the broader market slipped. CarMax jumped 5.35% while ACV Auctions fell 0.94% and OPENLANE dropped 2.50%, according to MarketWatch data.
What matters now is whether Carvana can turn unit growth into steady profit as financing costs stay high and shoppers lean on monthly payments. Investors have been quick to fade any hint that demand is cooling, and quick to chase when checks point the other way.
But the risk is obvious: web-scrape signals can be noisy, and retail growth does not guarantee margins if pricing or funding turns against the company. Any stumble on unit trends or profit per vehicle could hit a stock that has already priced in a lot of improvement.
Next up is earnings. Carvana is estimated to report around Feb. 18, according to Nasdaq, with investors watching retail unit growth, gross profit per unit and any update on financing and inventory plans.
