PHOENIX -

Carvana has expanded its footprint to include South Carolina, adding the Columbia and Greenville markets on Wednesday.

Customers in these markets can choose to have their purchase delivered to their home or pick it up at one of Carvana’s five “Car Vending Machines.”

The Carvana “Fly and Drive” program subsidizes $200 in airfare for the customer to pick the vehicle at a vending machine in Austin, Texas; Dallas; Houston; Nashville or San Antonio.

 “As we continue to expand our presence in the southeast, we’re proud to now include Columbia and Greenville on the growing list of cities with free, as-soon-as-next-day vehicle delivery,” Carvana founder and chief executive Ernie Garcia said in a news release. "With summer right around the corner, we hope their Saturdays can now be spent on the golf course or at the beach, instead of at a dealership." 

Carvana said it has delivered vehicles in 48 states and provides free, soon-as-next-day delivery in 27 markets.

Q1 results announced next month

The company filed paperwork for an initial public offering this spring, and its shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on April 28.

Carvana is announcing its first quarter earnings results (from the period ending March 31) on June 6 and will host a conference call to discuss the results.

The following day, its senior management is scheduled to present to the investment community at the Bank of America Global Technology Conference in San Francisco. On June 14, they will do the same at the William Blair 37th Annual Growth Stock Conference in Chicago.

Earlier this spring, the company revealed some of its expected performance metrics from the first quarter.

During the three-month span that concluded on March 31, the online retailer said in an Securities and Exchange Commission filing that its projected retail sales would be between 8,250 and 8,350 units. In the year-ago quarter, Carvana indicated, its retail sales totaled 3,783 units.

Carvana attributed the sales growth in part to its market growth. The company operated in 11 markets during the first quarter of last year and in 23 markets in the opening quarter of this year.

“This increase in unit sales was also driven by growth in existing markets due to expanded inventory selection, enhanced marketing efforts, increased brand awareness and customer referrals,” Carvana said in the SEC filing.

The growth in vehicle turns pushed Carvana’s expectation for total net sales and operating revenues to be between $157.3 and $159.3 million, as compared to total net sales and operating revenues of $73.0 million in Q1 of last year.

“The increase in total net sales and operating revenues was primarily the result of the increase in unit sales,” the company said.

And perhaps the metric that might pique the interest of much of the used-vehicle industry, Carvana said it expects Q1 total gross profit to be between $9.3 million and $9.8 million, as compared to total gross profit of $4.0 million in the year-ago period.

“The expected increase in gross profit is primarily due to increased unit sales and increased used vehicle gross profit per unit, which was primarily driven by enhancements in our proprietary vehicle purchasing, pricing and logistics technology,” the company said in the SEC filing.

Despite that gross profit jump, Carvana acknowledged that total net losses are projected to rise year-over-year.

For the first quarter, the online retailer said in the SEC filing that its total net loss should be between $39.3 million and $38.3 million, as compared to total net loss of $17.3 million for the three months of 2016.

“The expected increase in net loss is primarily due to an increase in selling, general and administrative expenses associated with expansion to additional markets and investment in infrastructure and headcount to support our growth,” Carvana said.

Again, the full results will be announced on June 6. 

 

Staff Writer Nick Zulovich contributed to this report.