Carvana management check
CVNA · Consumer Discretionary · Automotive Retail · CEO Ernest C. Iii Garcia
Filings as of
6 good · 0 to watch · 1 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Good
Have owners done well?
Beat its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2021 grew to $176, against $150 for the peer group the company picked itself.
- Good
Does pay follow performance?
Pay rose and fell with returnsOver 5 years, the CEO's pay actually paid (equity valued at the share price) had a correlation of 0.66 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Good
What does the CEO cost owners?
0.4% of net income$8.4m of reported pay in fiscal 2025, against $1.9bn of net income.
- Good
Do they own the stock?
CEO stake ≈ 35 years of payThe CEO holds 4,709,732 shares, directly or through trusts (unvested awards not counted): about 35 years of pay. Both: 1 buyer ($1.5m) and 6 sellers ($53.8m) in six months. 102 of 106 sales ran on pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans.
- Flag
Are owners being diluted?
Share count growingDiluted shares changed +5.7% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 0.5% of revenue in the latest year.
- Good
Is leadership stable?
1 leadership filings in 3 yearsCEO in the pay table: Mr. Garcia. 1 filings under 8-K item 5.02 (officers or directors leaving or joining, or new pay arrangements) in the last 3 years.
- Good
Are the books clean?
No red flags on fileNo restatements, auditor changes or late filings since 2023.
Against the S&P 500
Each check's score (0–100) and how it compares: the share of ranked S&P 500 companies it matches or beats, and the median in Consumer Discretionary.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 72 | 70 | |
| Pay for performance | 83 | 79 | |
| CEO cost | 79 | 44 | |
| Skin in the game | 100 | 36 | |
| Dilution | 0 | 74 | |
| Stable leadership | 100 | 80 | |
| Clean books | 100 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Automotive Retail, by management score. Carvana is 13th of 47 in its sector.
- 96HDHome Depot (The)76
- 100CVNACarvana76
- 102MARMarriott International76
- 106RLRalph Lauren Corporation76
- 164ORLYO'Reilly Automotive71
- 220AZOAutoZone67
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed March 25, 2026. "Actually paid" values stock awards at the share price, so it rises and falls with the stock.
| Fiscal year | CEO | CEO pay | Actually paid | Other executives (avg) | $100 became | Peers | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Mr. Garcia | $8.4m | $110.1m | $7.4m | $176 | $150 | $1.9bn |
| 2024 | — | $10.6m | $118.1m | $9.3m | $85 | $149 | $404.0m |
| 2023 | — | $6.5m | $38.1m | $5.7m | $22 | $110 | $150.0m |
| 2022 | — | $5.6m | −$10.1m | $5.0m | $2 | $78 | −$2.9bn |
| 2021 | — | $5.1m | $5.3m | $4.4m | $97 | $119 | −$287.0m |
The board says pay is tied most to Adjusted EBITDA. Its other key measures: •Retail Units Sold.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
Ernest C. Iii Garcia (Chief Executive Officer) held 4,709,732 shares directly after their latest Form 4 on Oct 1, 2026, roughly $296.9m at that filing's price.
Both: 1 buyer ($1.5m) and 6 sellers ($53.8m) in six months. 102 of 106 sales ran on pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans.
- BoughtMichael E MarooneDirector$1.5mJul 31, 2026
- SoldMark W. JenkinsChief Financial Officer · 10b5-1 plan$26.4mOct 1, 2026
- SoldBenjamin E. HustonChief Operating Officer · 10b5-1 plan$17.6mSep 1, 2026
- SoldIra J. PlattDirector$3.2mAug 14, 2026
Leadership and governance on file
- May 6, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: May 6, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $0 returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 0% of net income, and $368.0m of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $12.8bn | $13.6bn | $10.8bn | $13.7bn | $20.3bn |
| Net income | −$135.0m | −$1.6bn | $450.0m | $210.0m | $1.4bn |
| Stock-based pay | $39.0m | $69.0m | $73.0m | $91.0m | $96.0m |
| Buybacks | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dividends | — | — | — | — | — |
| Diluted shares | 83m | 101m | 201m | 132m | 224m |
Educational only, not investment advice. Figures are as filed with the SEC: pay from the proxy's pay-versus-performance table, capital allocation from 10-K XBRL data, insider trades from Form 4s over the last six months, events from the last 5 years of filings. The peer group is the one the company chose. See the method.