Feb 18 (Reuters) - Online used-car retailer Carvana ( CVNA ) missed Wall Street estimates for fourth-quarter profit on higher costs, sending the company's shares tumbling 15% after the bell on Wednesday.

The miss ​marks a disappointing end to a stellar ‌year for the retailer known for its iconic vehicle vending machines. Its shares ⁠more than doubled in 2025 and the company entered the ⁠benchmark S&P 500 index.

Carvana ( CVNA ) cited bigger-than-expected expenses on ‌the inspection, repair, ‌and detailing of vehicles at several production sites during the quarter, along with higher ​retail depreciation rates that further ‌pressured per-unit cost.

Expenses for the period came in at about $2.16 billion.

"We do expect those cost dynamics to ​play out in Q1 as ​well and ‌do expect our non-vehicle cost to be up on a year-to-year basis in Q1," CFO Mark Jenkins said during ⁠an earnings call.

Meanwhile, revenue jumped about 58% to $5.6 billion ⁠in the last three months of 2025 on strong demand for pre-owned vehicles from Americans battling higher cost of living.

Excluding items, profit was $1.06 per share, compared to Street expectations of $1.10, as ⁠per ‌data compiled by LSEG.

Net income was $951 million, up ‌from $159 million a year earlier. The company's net income benefited ⁠from the release of about $618 million in valuation allowance.

Carvana ( CVNA ) again denied allegations by short seller Gotham City Research that the company had overstated its 2023-2024 earnings by more than $1 billion.

Gotham City had also said the company is "far more dependent on related parties" connected to the founder's ​family than previously disclosed.

"We don't sell loans to related parties. We disclose our related party transactions, and there's no ambiguity ​about that," Jenkins said.

(Reporting by ‌Nathan Gomes and Aatreyee Dasgupta in Bengaluru; ​Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)