(Bloomberg) -- Carvana Co., the online platform for used-car sales, reported third-quarter results that missed Wall Street expectations, citing a deteriorating economy and softening demand for pre-owned vehicles.
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The loss per-share widened to $2.67 per share excluding some items, the Tempe, Arizona-based company said Thursday in a statement. Analysts were projecting a loss of $1.91. Sales fell to $3.39 billion, below analysts’ projections for $3.71 billion.
Rising interest rates have made used-car purchases more costly for consumers and have led to investor concerns that dealers might have to mark down vehicles to avoid getting stuck with a lot of unsold inventory. Roughly 40 million Americans buy used cars every year.
“The environment has continued to get increasingly difficult since the end of the quarter and it is probable things will continue to get more difficult before they get easier,” Ernie Garcia, the company’s chief executive officer and Mark Jenkins, the chief financial officer, said in a letter to shareholders.
Read more: Sagging used-car prices may burn US dealers
Carvana shares pared a drop of as much as 11% in the postmarket to trade down 7.8% to $13.23 as of 4:22 p.m. in New York. They’re down 94% for the year as of the market close Thursday and once traded as high as $376.83.
Sales of used cars in the latest quarter fell to 102,570 vehicles, down 8% on the year and below an estimated 114,073.
The company said it would not provide an outlook for 2023. “We believe forecasting the environment over the coming months and quarters is difficult,” the shareholder letter said.
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