Carvana (CVNA), the Phoenix-based online used car retailer founded in 2012, has been grabbing headlines recently. Earlier this week, the company launched a program to make used electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrid buying more attractive for customers with discounts of up to $4,000 for eligible vehicles. Against the backdrop of a growing used EV car market, falling inflation, and the possibility of a rate cut soon, the new offering comes at an opportune time from the company.
CVNA's stock price also got a boost from a recent upgrade to “Buy” from “Hold” at brokerage firm Needham, whose price target of $160 factors in an upside potential of 17.4% from current levels. Needham analysts Chris Pierce and Mackenzie Holleran added color to the upgrade by commenting, "After a volatile past we see Carvana becoming a profitable secular growth story, with increasing retail unit sales and improving gross profit per unit metrics from leveraging a high-fixed-cost base."
