NEW YORK, December 31, 2025, 15:04 ET — Regular session
- Carvana shares fell about 1.5% in afternoon trading, tracking a softer tape into the final session of 2025.
- Broader U.S. indexes edged lower in holiday-thinned volume ahead of the New Year’s Day market closure.
- Investors are looking to Carvana’s next earnings update for progress against its year-end volume and profit targets.
Carvana Co. shares were down 1.5% at $423.29 in afternoon trading on Wednesday, extending a choppy finish to the year for one of 2025’s biggest gainers.
The stock’s decline came as U.S. equities inched lower in the final trading session of 2025, with technology shares weighing on benchmarks in light, holiday-thinned volume.
Thin liquidity — how easily shares can be bought and sold without moving the price — can amplify swings in high-beta stocks, which tend to move more than the wider market. “It’s perfectly fine in any bull market to have moments of cost,” said Giuseppe Sette, co-founder and president of Reflexivity. Reuters
Other auto retail names also traded lower, with CarMax down about 0.8%, AutoNation off about 1.6% and Lithia Motors down about 0.8%.
No company-specific news was immediately available to explain the move, leaving Carvana to trade largely with broader risk appetite into the year-end. U.S. stock markets will be closed on Thursday for New Year’s Day and resume trading on Friday.
Carvana has been a standout in 2025, with shares more than doubling over the year as investors repriced the online used-car retailer’s turnaround and growth outlook.
In its most recent quarterly update, Carvana reported record third-quarter results, including revenue of $5.65 billion and net income of $263 million.
Management said it expected fourth-quarter retail units sold above 150,000 and adjusted EBITDA at or above the high end of its $2.0 billion to $2.2 billion full-year range. Adjusted EBITDA is a commonly used proxy for operating profit before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, excluding some items the company deems non-core.
The next major catalyst is Carvana’s fourth-quarter report, which Wall Street calendars currently peg around Feb. 18, though the company has not confirmed a date.
Carvana traded between $422.10 and $434.89 on Wednesday, after closing Tuesday at $429.55.
Markets are also digesting the lack of a “Santa Claus rally,” the seasonal tendency for stocks to rise over the last five trading days of December and the first two in January, as many traders stay sidelined into the holiday break. Reuters
For Carvana, investors are likely to keep the focus on unit growth, per-vehicle profitability and cash generation in early 2026, with interest-rate expectations and credit conditions still central to demand across the used-car market.
