Carvana

Carvana was founded by Ernest Garcia III, Ryan Keeton and Ben Huston in 2012. The company's initial funding round came from the used car retailer and finance company, DriveTime.In November 2013, Carvana opened its first iteration of a car vending machine. In 2015, a fully automated, commemorative coin-operated version of the signature car vending machine opened in Nashville, Tennessee. As of May 2022, Carvana operates 32 vending machines in the US.In April 2017, the company went public and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CVNA. Also in 2017 Carvana acquired rival automotive startup Carlypso to enhance vehicle data and analytical tools. In April 2018, Carvana spent $22 million to acquire Mark Cuban-backed Car360 for its smartphone technology for taking vehicle photos with 3D computer vision, machine learning, and augmented reality.In response to COVID-19, Carvana introduced touchless delivery and pick-up in March 2020. In Q2 of 2020, the company reported a 25% increase in vehicle sales, as a result of physical dealership sellers being closed as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Carvana had a gross revenue of $1.12 billion, up 13% for the months April–June 2020.In 2020, Carvana sold 244,111 vehicles and posted annual revenue of $5.587 billion, making it the second largest online used-car retailer in the U.S.As of August 2021, Carvana's as-soon-as-next day delivery was available in 300+ markets across the country.During the COVID-19 pandemic, Carvana's market value surged when consumers turned to vehicle online marketplaces.A May 10, 2022, article in The Wall Street Journal reported that Carvana had to lay off 12 percent of its staff after falling short of growth expectations. Carvana stock was 90 percent off its 52-week stock price as interest in the company collapsed.On November 4, 2022, Carvana's stock price dropped around 40 percent following its poor third-quarter financial results. The total number of used vehicles sold declined by 8 percent to 102,570. Analysts blamed rising borrowing costs and elevated used-car prices.