Markets
markets

Carvana tumbles on report from short seller Gotham City Research

Used car retailer Carvana is down more than 16% on Wednesday, with shares on pace for their worst day since April.

A new report from short seller Gotham City Research, which had teased its publication in a post on X earlier in the day, appears to be dragging shares down. In the report, Gotham alleges Carvana’s 2023-24 earnings were overstated by more than $1 billion. (For perspective, Carvana’s earnings in those two years totaled just over $550 million.)

Gotham’s report also alleges that Carvana’s earnings are “far more dependent” on auto loan companies DriveTime and Bridgecrest than the market currently takes into account and that DriveTime’s subsidies fuel over 73% of Carvana’s earnings before interest and taxes. In its post teasing its findings, Gotham said Carvana would “age as one of the biggest Corporate Scandals of America over time.”

Per the report:

“We see problems with accounting, disclosure, and business practices that will lead to regulatory trouble. At best, we believe CVNA is far less profitable than believed, as a standalone business. At worst, CVNA is more like Tricolor, rather than Amazon. Either way, shares face massive downside risk to the share price.”

Carvana did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

More Markets

See all Markets
markets

Ford raises its full-year guidance, receives $1.3 billion tariff refund

Ford reported its first-quarter results after markets closed on Wednesday. The automaker’s shares climbed roughly 7% in after-hours trading on the news.

For Q1, Ford reported:

  • Adjusted earnings of $0.66 per share, compared to the $0.18 per share expected by Wall Street analysts polled by FactSet. The figure includes Ford’s tariff reimbursement.

  • $43.25 in total revenue, vs. the $42.66 billion consensus forecast. Automotive revenue came in at $39.8 billion, compared to estimates of $38.9 billion.

  • A $1.3 billion tariff refund.

Ford boosted its full-year guidance for adjusted earnings before interest and taxes to between $8.5 billion and $10.5 billion, up from between $8 billion and $10 billion.

Late last year, Ford announced it would take $19.5 billion in charges — one of the largest write-downs ever — relating mostly to its EV business. Of those charges, $7 billion will be spread across this year and next, the company said.

Earlier this month, Ford recorded an 8.8% drop in Q1 sales from the same period last year, a similar result to Detroit rival GM, which posted a 9.7% sales drop.

markets

Microsoft beats on revenue and earnings in Q3, but only meets expectations for cloud growth

Microsoft shares dipped after the company reported strong Q3 earnings postmarket Wednesday, posting ​​sales of $82.9 billion for the quarter, beating FactSet analyst estimates of $81.4 billion. Earnings per share were $4.27, handily beating estimates of $4.05. 

In a closely watched number, Microsoft’s Azure cloud business increased 40% year on year, just above the 39.7% estimated. The metric technically beat expectations, but may not be the beat investors were looking for.

Total capital expenditure for the quarter was $31.9 billion, up 49% year on year, above estimates of $27.5 billion and down from Q2’s $37.5 billion.

One thing investors were eager to find out: how is the company doing in its effort to fulfill the billions in backlogged commercial bookings? Last quarter, the company reported a staggering $625 billion in remaining performance obligations, and 45% of that was for just one customer — OpenAI.

For the third quarter, Microsoft reported a backlog of $627 billion, up 99% year on year. The company said the RPO increase was 26% — in line with “historical seasonality” — when excluding OpenAI.

Breaking down the results by the company’s business lines:

  • ☁️ 🤖 Intelligent Cloud (Azure, server products): $34.7 billion in revenue, up 30% year on year.

  • 📝 📊 Productivity and Business Processes (Microsoft 365, LinkedIn, Dynamics): $35 billion in revenue, up 17% year on year.

  • 💻 🎮 More Personal Computing (Windows, Xbox, Bing): $13.2 billion in revenue, down 1% year on year.

Microsoft CFO Amy Hood said in the earnings release:

“We delivered results that exceeded expectations across revenue, operating income, and earnings per share, reflecting strong execution and growing demand for the Microsoft Cloud.”

Latest Stories

Sherwood Media, LLC produces fresh and unique perspectives on topical financial news and is a fully owned subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc., and any views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of any other Robinhood affiliate, including Robinhood Markets, Inc., Robinhood Financial LLC, Robinhood Securities, LLC, Robinhood Crypto, LLC, Robinhood Derivatives, LLC, or Robinhood Money, LLC. Futures and event contracts are offered through Robinhood Derivatives, LLC.