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Carvana buys used cars from consumers, auctions and wholesale suppliers, inspects and reconditions them, then lists qualifying vehicles on its website. Buyers pay for the cars and choose home delivery or pickup. These retail sales provide most of its revenue. Cars that do not meet its retail standards go to wholesale buyers; its wholesale marketplace, which includes ADESA, also earns auction fees and related service revenue.
A vehicle purchase can also generate financing income. Carvana originates customer loans and sells them to financing partners or pools them for sale to investors through securitizations. Loan sales supply a substantial share of gross profit, so the business depends on buyers willing to fund those loans and the prices they pay. Carvana also earns commissions on optional products, including vehicle service contracts administered by DriveTime and insurance offered through Root.
The operation depends on acquiring desirable cars, preparing and delivering them efficiently, and selling inventory promptly. Vehicle sales and lending require licenses and compliance with rules that vary by jurisdiction; regulators can restrict those activities or suspend licenses.
The risk section is the longest, dullest part of the filing. This keeps only what can really hurt you: where it hits, how hard, when it plays out.
Every company claims an edge. Each one is checked against hard numbers like margins and returns: which hold, and which line gives way first.
Carvana’s profits also depend on add-on sales, including vehicle service contracts administered by privately held DriveTime—a company to watch beyond this list.
CarMax competes with Carvana both to buy consumers’ used cars and to sell cars, financing and related products to retail buyers. Its used-car sales and customer financing offer a comparison for Carvana’s core business, with CarMax serving shoppers online and in stores.
Lithia Motors competes with Carvana for used-car buyers through its dealerships and Driveway shopping website. Watch its used-car business rather than treating total sales as a direct comparison: Lithia also sells new cars, financing, insurance and repair services.
AutoNation competes with Carvana for U.S. retail buyers purchasing used cars and financing. Its used-car sales and financing commissions are the relevant comparison; AutoNation earns those commissions by arranging third-party loans and also finances qualified buyers through its own subsidiary.
Ally Financial buys loans Carvana makes to car buyers, supporting Carvana’s loan-sale revenue through a commitment of up to $6 billion over 364 days. Carvana-sourced loans were 10.4% of Ally’s consumer auto-loan portfolio at December 31, 2025, making their delinquencies and losses worth watching for evidence of those borrowers’ credit quality.
Sonic Automotive’s EchoPark used-car stores and franchised dealerships compete with Carvana for U.S. used-car buyers.
OPENLANE competes with Carvana’s ADESA auctions and wholesale marketplace to attract vehicle sellers and dealer buyers. OPENLANE charges buyers and sellers transaction fees, so its marketplace fee revenue offers a comparison for the auction-fee side of Carvana’s wholesale business.
ACV Auctions competes with Carvana’s wholesale marketplace for dealer transactions and vehicles to sell. Its online auctions and physical remarketing centers connect dealers and commercial sellers with buyers; watch the vehicle supply it attracts, which ACV says helps draw more buyers and sellers.
CarGurus competes with Carvana’s website for shoppers researching and buying used cars, but directs them to dealers rather than selling the cars itself. Dealers pay subscriptions for shopper leads and marketing, making that revenue a useful lens on the competing route to those buyers.
America’s Car-Mart competes with Carvana by selling used cars with financing, but focuses on older vehicles and buyers with limited resources or credit problems. Its sales and financing availability speak most directly to that narrower customer group, rather than Carvana’s entire market.
Asbury Automotive competes with Carvana for used-car buyers and their purchases of financing and protection products. Its dealerships arrange third-party loans, while its Total Care Auto business sells finance and insurance products—the add-on business to compare with Carvana’s complementary-product sales.
Group 1 Automotive competes with Carvana by selling used cars and associated financing products through dealerships and its digital platform. Its fees for arranging loans and selling third-party vehicle service and insurance contracts offer a comparison for the extra revenue Carvana earns alongside car sales.
Penske Automotive’s dealerships compete with Carvana for vehicle buyers, but its international and commercial-truck businesses make total results a less direct comparison. Focus on its retail automotive business when assessing competition for car buyers, rather than truck sales and distribution.
Root supplies Carvana’s exclusive integrated auto-insurance offering: buyers pay Root for coverage, and Carvana receives commissions and warrants when policies sell. Watch the partnership’s renewal terms, since the agreement expires September 1, 2027.
Ally Financial Inc. earningsALLY
Ally Financial's report will show how its auto borrowers are repaying, a signal about the credit quality of loans it buys from Carvana.
Read auto-loan delinquencies alongside actual loan losses. If both remain contained, Ally's auto borrowers appear to be holding up, a supportive but indirect signal for loans Carvana sells. If both worsen, rising credit pressure could make loan buyers less willing to buy, or less willing to pay as much. Ally's overall figures do not prove how Carvana-sourced loans are performing; they are only part of its auto-loan portfolio.
Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. earningsABG
Asbury Automotive's report will show whether its dealers sell financing and protection products alongside used cars, the same add-on business where it competes with Carvana.
Read Asbury's used-car sales alongside results from Total Care Auto, its finance and insurance product business. If both hold up, its dealers are attracting used-car buyers and selling add-ons with the cars, so Carvana still faces competition for that business. If used-car sales hold but product results weaken, add-on sales or economics may be under pressure; that does not establish what happened to Carvana's own sales.
Carvana Co. earningsThis company
Carvana's report will show whether selling more used cars is also bringing in enough gross profit per car to support its loan-sale and add-on income.
Read retail units sold alongside total gross profit per retail unit. That per-car measure also includes loan-sale gains, add-on commissions and wholesale vehicle gross profit. If units rise and total gross profit per unit holds or grows without a marked decline in retail vehicle gross profit per unit, growth is not coming from volume alone. If units rise but per-unit gross profit falls, especially on retail vehicles, each extra sale is contributing less and loan-sale gains and add-ons are carrying more of the profit.
Fed Interest Rate Decision
Carvana’s online used-car sales depend on what shoppers can afford, so the Fed’s policy-rate decision matters because it can change buyers’ borrowing costs and monthly payments and, in turn, retail vehicle sales.
Expected4.0%Last release4.0%
If it comes in above expectations
If the Fed rate is higher than expected, borrowing generally becomes costlier and monthly payments rise; that may put more Carvana shoppers off buying, reducing retail units and the related vehicle, loan-sale and product revenue.
If it comes in below expectations
If the Fed rate is lower than expected, borrowing generally becomes cheaper and monthly payments fall; that may bring more shoppers within reach of a Carvana vehicle, supporting retail units and related revenue streams.
ACV Auctions Inc. earningsACVA
ACV Auctions' report will show whether sellers and dealers are still active on online auctions competing with Carvana for wholesale vehicles and transactions.
See whether ACV's online auction activity and transaction revenue move together. If activity and revenue hold up, sellers and buyers are still transacting on its platform, sharpening competition for Carvana's wholesale marketplace. If both weaken, this rival's activity is easing, but that does not mean Carvana has gained vehicles or transactions.
Root, Inc. earningsROOT
Root's report will show how the insurer behind Carvana's integrated auto-insurance offer is doing; Carvana earns commissions and warrants when policies sell.
Read policy-business growth alongside underwriting results. A growing policy business with sound underwriting points to a healthier insurer and a firmer business base for Carvana's insurance channel. Weaker policy activity or widening underwriting losses would make that channel less certain. Root's overall figures are not the results of Carvana-referred policies and cannot by themselves establish whether the companies will renew their agreement.
Retail Sales MoM (Oct)
Retail sales track how much consumers spend at retailers, giving a read on the discretionary spending that can bring shoppers to Carvana’s online used-car store and support vehicle sales and related financing and product revenue.
Read retail sales as a signal of consumers’ willingness to spend: stronger spending may support purchases from Carvana’s online used-car store and related financing and product sales, while weaker spending may make those purchases harder to sustain.
CarMax Inc. earningsKMX
CarMax's report will show whether shoppers are still buying used cars and financing them through a retailer competing directly with Carvana.
Read CarMax's used-car sales alongside its customer-financing business. If both hold up, shoppers are still buying used cars and financing purchases through a large retailer, so the demand and competition facing Carvana remain active. If both weaken, activity through this retail route is cooling, but that does not establish the size of any change at Carvana.
