Hyperdrive
Carvana Debt Comes Due With Business ‘Firmly in Retreat’
- Vehicle sales and gross profit plunged at end of dreadful year
- Analysts say debt, lack of visibility will weigh on shares
A Carvana Co. car vending machine in Westminster, California.
Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Carvana Co. is staring down rising interest payments each of the next three months with vehicle sales and earnings moving in the wrong direction.
The $7.61-a-share loss the used-car retailer registered last quarter was more than triple the deficit analysts were expecting. Coming off its lowest retail unit sales in two years, Carvana forecast another drop in the first three months of this year, as it shrinks inventory and slashes marketing spending.