Why Is Carvana Stock Sliding On Wednesday?

Carvana Co (NYSE:CVNA) shares plummeted on Wednesday as a confluence of macroeconomic and company-specific headwinds weighed on the online auto retailer. Broader Market And Geopolitical Shocks The S&P 500 fell 0.55%, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.56% as Israel struck Iran's South Pars gas facility. This major escalation sent Brent crude surging 4.8% to $108.50. United States Oil Fund (NYSE:USO) climbed to $98.15, fueling fears that rising fuel costs will dampen consumer demand for vehicles. Inflation And Fed Pressure February producer price data (PPI) surged 0.7% month-over-month, doubling analyst estimates. Annual core PPI hit 3.9%, complicating the Federal Reserve's path to interest rate cuts. Higher rates typically increase financing costs for Carvana's retail customers. Short Interest And Gotham City Allegations Short interest in Carvana recently decreased to 13.26 million shares, representing 10.58% of the float. Carvana reported fourth-quarter results on Feb. 18, where revenue hit $5.60 billion. Despite beating estimates, profitability concerns previously triggered a 21.48% after-hours crash. Gotham City Research released a report in January alleging Carvana overstated 2023–2024 earnings by over $1 billion. A Carvana spokesperson told Benzinga the report is "inaccurate and intentionally misleading." Technical Analysis Carvana is trading 7.1% below its 20-day simple moving average (SMA) and 20.9% below its 100-day SMA, showing the rebound attempt is still fighting a down-sloping intermediate trend. Shares are up 80.37% over the past 12 months, but they're now positioned closer to the middle-to-lower end of the 52-week range after pulling back from the $486.89 high set on 2026-01-23. The RSI is at 42.57, which sits in neutral territory. MACD is at -20.7394 versus a signal line at -22.3649. Key Resistance: $332.00 Key Support: $299.50 CVNA Stock Price Activity: Carvana shares were down 5.37% at $297.84 at the time of publication on Wednesday, according to Benzinga Pro data. Photo: Around the World Photos via Shutterstock