By Pras Subramanian

Carvana (CVNA) stock tumbled on Thursday after the company posted mixed results for its fourth quarter, with revenue jumping but profits missing estimates.

The e-commerce used car dealer posted revenue of $5.60 billion vs. $5.27 billion estimated per Bloomberg, up 58% compared to a year ago. Carvana said that retail units sold hit 163,522 compared with 157,226 estimated, a jump of 58%.

But Carvana reported adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) of $511 million vs $535.7 million expected, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 10.1% missing estimates of 10.4%.

Shares of Carvana sank over 15% in premarket trading, having fallen as much as 20% on the heels of the results in Wednesday's after-hours.

Carvana’s outlook was vague and didn't provide estimates for Q1 results.

“Looking forward, Carvana expects significant growth in both retail units sold and Adjusted EBITDA in full year 2026, including a sequential increase in both retail units sold and Adjusted EBITDA in Q1 2026, assuming the environment remains stable,” Carvana CEO Ernie Garcia III said in his shareholder letter.

Read more: Live coverage of corporate earnings

Wall Street expected a Q1 adjusted EBITDA estimate of $671 million, with retail unit sales hitting 175,478.

Garcia said Q4 results were impacted by higher reconditioning costs of its vehicles, and it expects to see higher costs as well in Q1, though the company projects higher profit per unit.

Carvana's fully-automated, coin-operated car vending machine. (Photo: Business Wire). Business Wire

“We are the fastest growing and most profitable automotive retailer. The path to selling 3 million cars per year at 13.5% Adjusted EBITDA margins by 2030-2035 is clear,” Garcia added.

Carvana's shares have been under pressure this year. In January, the stock tumbled after short seller Gotham City Research alleged Carvana overstated earnings by not fully disclosing all the benefits it received from DriveTime, a privately held used-car retailer and subprime lender owned and controlled by Ernie Garcia II, the father of Carvana’s CEO.

Gotham said those benefits inflated Carvana's earnings by about $1 billion in 2023 and 2024. Carvana has denied the allegations in Gotham City's report.

Pras Subramanian is Lead Auto Reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on X and on Instagram.