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Carvana falls after posting worse-than-expected profit despite record revenue and vehicle sales

The company sold about 156,000 vehicles to retail customers in its third quarter.

Max Knoblauch

Used car seller Carvana posted its third-quarter earnings after the bell on Wednesday, and Wall Street responded by sending the stock down more than 10% after-hours.

The company posted earnings of $1.03 per share, compared to the $1.30 per share Wall Street anticipated. According to a company spokesperson, while Carvana doesn't report adjusted EPS, its EPS excluding certain impacts from a decline in value of root warrants would have been $1.50 per share.

The company said it expects its full-year earnings before interest and taxes to land at the upper end of its previous guidance (between $2 billion and $2.2 billion).

The company also:

  • Booked $5.65 billion in revenue, up 55% from the same period last year and better than expectations of $5.1 billion.

  • Sold 155,941 used vehicles to retail customers on the quarter, up 44% from last year and above the roughly 151,000 analysts polled by FactSet predicted.

With its retail sales growth, Carvana further closes its sales gap with rival CarMax, which sells significantly more used vehicles to customers despite having a market cap of about $72 billion less than Carvana’s. CarMax sold just shy of 200,000 vehicles to retail customers in its most recent quarter.

In recent months, Carvana shares have been hit by details of bankruptcy filings by companies like subprime auto lenders Tricolor Holdings and PrimaLend, as well as parts maker First Brands. Short sellers have raised alarms about Carvana’s likely exposure to riskier auto loans. In September, the share of subprime auto loans that were 60 or more days past due reached 6.5%, according to data from Fitch Ratings. US vehicle repossessions appear headed for a record-breaking year.

Earlier this year, the retailer said it’s aiming to sell 3 million retail units annually within 5 to 10 years. That lofty goal is more than 5x the number of vehicles Wall Street expects Carvana to sell this year.

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Lightwave Logic drops following Q1 earnings

Lightwave Logic released its Q1 earnings report Wednesday postmarket. The company reported increasing shortfalls as the photonics company continues to scale. Investors reacted by pushing the stock slightly down after-hours.

Here are the numbers: 

  • Revenue of $29,000, 27% growing year-over-year.

  • Net loss of $6.3 million, widening 34% year-over-year.

The material photonics company, which designs and provides polymers to speed the flow of information from chip to chip, hit a four-year high this week and has risen nearly 400% since January. Daily options volumes on the stock hit a record high ahead of this release.

The stock has been boosted by an explosion of AI data center demand and interest in the growing industry of photonic integrated circuits for data center connectivity.

On their afternoon earnings call, Lightwave Logic CEO Yves LeMaitre reiterated that he believes the company is "positioned to help address some of the most important challenges facing AI infrastructure over the coming decade."

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USA Rare Earth gains after delivering better-than-expected quarterly results

USA Rare Earth is rising in postmarket trading after releasing better-than-expected Q1 results.

Key numbers:

  • Revenue of $5.67 million (compared to analyst estimates of $4.22 million).

  • An adjusted loss per share of $0.12 (estimate: a $0.14 loss).

Management aims to achieve 3,000 metric tons per annum of run rate for metal-making and alloy capacity by year-end, along with 600 MTPA of run rate for magnet manufacturing capacity.

The results come during a period of unease in the global rare earth market. China previously moved to drastically curb critical mineral access in October, adding five new elements to its export controls and freezing supplies to semiconductor manufacturers. These materials may be on the agenda during discussions between US and Chinese leadership this week.

In response, the US has scrambled to build domestic production buffers. In January 2026, USA Rare Earth secured a landmark $1.6 billion government-backed package from the Department of Commerce, which included a $1.3 billion senior secured loan under the CHIPS and Science Act and $277 million in direct incentives in exchange for a 10% federal equity stake.

The company also announced a definitive agreement to acquire Serra Verde Group, owner of the Pela Ema rare earth mine and processing plant in Goiás, Brazil. The $2.8 billion acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

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Cisco surges on Q3 earnings beat and better-than-expected Q4 outlook

Cisco rose double digits after beating Q3 revenue and earnings estimates and giving optimistic projections due to increasing demand from the AI industry.

Shares were 13% higher in after-hours trading.

The tech company reported: 

  • Q3 revenue of $15.8 billion (compared to analyst estimates of $15.6 billion).

  • Q3 adjusted earnings per share of $1.06 (estimate: $1.04).

  • Q4 revenue guidance between $16.7 billion and $16.9 billion (estimate: $15.8 billion).

  • Q4 adjusted earnings guidance of $1.16 to $1.18 (estimate: $1.07).

Management upped its outlook for expected orders from hyperscalers this fiscal year to $9 billion from $5 billion.

Shares in the company have climbed more than 60% over the past calendar year and traded at record highs this week — surpassing $100 on Wednesday afternoon — fully riding the AI infrastructure wave. All these data centers need Cisco’s networking equipment as well as more from the likes of Arista Networks and HP Enterprise, both of which are being boosted postmarket from these results.

Chuck Robbins, chair and CEO of Cisco, said:

Cisco is well positioned as the critical infrastructure for the AI era, building on our technology leadership and customer trust, while innovating at the speed and scale that our dynamic world demands.

While demand for Cisco’s products has been climbing, the price of memory also remains elevated — which can create tension between booming sales and pressure on profitability.

Looking toward the full year, the company updated its outlook to expect revenue ranging between $62.8 billion and $63.0 billion, ahead of analysts’ estimates of $61.1 billion.

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