What happened
Shares of Carvana (CVNA 8.79%) sank 34.4% in October, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence . The automotive e-commerce stock had recently hit an all-time high, but sell-offs for the broader market caused shares to give up many of their recent gains.
Heading into October, Carvana stock was up roughly 200% on the year. So while there wasn't any substantial business setbacks to push shares lower in the month, it's understandable that a more cautious outlook for the broader market prompted shares to post steep declines after such rapid stock growth.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
There wasn't any big negative news behind Carvana's sell-offs last month, but the company did expand its car-vending-machine services to four new American cities. The company's platform allows shoppers to pick from used cars online and have them delivered within 24 hours to a "vending machine" pickup location, and business is zooming along thanks to strong demand and expansion into new markets.
The company published third-quarter earnings results after the market closed on Nov. 7, delivering strong performance in the period. Sales rose 137% year over year to reach $535 million, marking the company's 19th consecutive quarter of triple-digit revenue growth. Gross profit climbed 181% to reach $57 million.
Now what
Carvana stock has bounced back in November, trading up roughly 26.2% in the month so far, thanks to some recovery for the broader market and its strong earnings report.
Following the better-than-expected third-quarter performance, the company raised its full-year targets. It's now guiding for 2018's unit sales to come 93,858 units and 96,358 units, up from its previous guidance for unit sales between 91,500 and 95,500. Revenue for the year is now expected to be between $1.94 billion and $2 billion, up from the previous target of between $1.85 billion to $1.95 billion. For the current quarter, the company is guiding for sales to come in between $570 million and $630 million -- good for 126.5% year over year growth at the midpoint.
After last month's drop and this month's rebound, Carvana stock is up roughly 156% on the year and trades at roughly 3.5 times this year's expected sales.
