Carvana Co. (CVNA): Stephen Mandel Is Bullish on This Stock

We just covered Lone Pine’s Non-AI Strategy Falters: 10 Non-AI Stocks Weighing Down Stephen Mandel’s 2026 Returns and Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) ranks 10th on this list.

Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) is a long-term holding in the 13F portfolio of Lone Pine Capital. The fund first disclosed a stake in the company back in the fourth quarter of 2019. This holding comprised a little over 25 million shares. The fund increased this position by over 400% in the next quarter, growing the share ownership to over 127 million. In the following quarter, this stake was trimmed by over 83% and sold off completely within months. Another position was opened in the fourth quarter of 2020 and sold off by late 2021. The present holding was disclosed in the first quarter of 2025. Filings for the fourth quarter of 2025 show that the fund owned 44 million shares in the firm, roughly the same as in the previous quarter.

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Wall Street has started treating Carvana Co. (NYSE:CVNA) as a hyper-growth machine that has successfully escaped its 2022-2023 liquidity crisis. The stock is currently being treated as one of the top retail picks with significant upside potential. The firm ended 2025 with record revenue of $20.3 billion, up 49%, and record adjusted EBITDA of $2.2 billion. With a 9.3% net income margin in 2025, Carvana has proven it can generate massive cash flow, which is a key requirement for institutional accumulation in the current rate environment. Management has a long-term vision of selling 3 million retail units annually, up from 600,000 in 2025. The firm already has the 34 reconditioning centers and logistics fleet needed to scale toward that 3-million-unit goal without needing new capital infusions.

While we acknowledge the risk and potential of CVNA as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than CVNA and that has 10,000% upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

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