Raphael Stevens

Hindenburg Research disclosed a short position in Carvana on Thursday, claiming the company’s recent turnaround is a “mirage” that is being propped up by unstable loans and accounting manipulation.
The report centers on Carvana’s practice of loan sales as well as the business relationship between CEO Ernie Garcia III and his father, Ernest Garcia II, who is Carvana’s largest shareholder.
Carvana in a statement called Hindenburg’s report “intentionally misleading and inaccurate” without going into specific details.

CFOTO | Future Publishing | Getty Images

Noted short seller Hindenburg Research disclosed a bet against Carvana on Thursday, claiming the online used-car retailer’s recent turnaround is a “mirage” that is being propped up by unstable loans and accounting manipulation.
The report, called “Carvana: A Father-Son Accounting Grift For The Ages,” centers on Carvana’s practice of loan sales as well as the business relationship between CEO Ernie Garcia III and his father, Ernest Garcia II, who is Carvana’s largest shareholder.

Shares of Carvana closed Thursday at $199.56, down 1.9% – marking its first close under $200 per share since October. The stock increased nearly 400% in 2023, as the company improved results and reduced costs as part of a turnaround plan led by Ernie Garcia III.
Carvana in a statement called Hindenburg’s report “intentionally misleading and inaccurate” without going into specific details.
“In the 7 years since our IPO, Carvana has been one of the most heavily researched public companies. The arguments in today’s report are intentionally misleading and inaccurate and have already been made numerous times by other short sellers seeking to benefit from a decline in our stock price,” Carvana said in an emailed statement Thursday afternoon. “We plan to stay focused on executing our plan for another great year in 2025.”
Hindenburg says it uncovered $800 million in loan sales “to a suspected undisclosed related party, along with details on how accounting manipulation and lax underwriting have fueled temporary reported income growth — all while insiders cash out billions in stock.”
Hindenburg also alleges that an increase in borrower extensions at Carvana is being enabled by the company’s loan servicer, an affiliate of private car dealership DriveTime, which is run by Garcia II. The “company seems to be avoiding reporting higher delinquencies by granting loan extensions instead,” according to Hindenburg.

CNBC could not immediately verify the claims in the Hindenburg report.
This is not the first time the Garcia family and its control of the company have been a target of some investors, including lawsuits in recent years alleging the Garcias run a “pump-and-dump” scheme to enrich themselves.
Carvana went public in 2017 after spinning off from DriveTime.
DriveTime was formerly a bankrupt rental-car business known as Ugly Duckling that Garcia II, who pled guilty to bank fraud in 1990 in connection to Charles Keating’s Lincoln Savings and Loan scandal, grew into a dealership network.
Most notably, Carvana still relies on the company for servicing and collections on automotive vehicle financing, and the two companies share revenues generated by the loans. The businesses also, at times, sell vehicles to each other, and Carvana leases several facilities from DriveTime in addition to profit-sharing agreements.

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO More

Aeromexico, Saudia and Delta dominated the rankings for most on-time airlines last year.
On-time arrivals are flights that arrive within 15 minutes of their scheduled time.
No airline topped 90% in on-time arrivals.

Travelers view the arrival and departure boards at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., on Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2021.
Elijah Nouvelage | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Air travel demand continued to surge in 2024, led by a bounce back in international trips.
From January through October alone, revenue-passenger miles worldwide, a demand metric, was up nearly 11% over last year, according to the International Air Transport Association. In 2025, IATA estimates aircraft departures of 40 million, up 4.6% from 2024.

Airlines scrambled to add flights and increase premium seating, which brings in higher revenue, especially on long-haul trips. Challenges from shortages of new aircraft to financial strife continued for some carriers, however, many passengers didn’t face the same flight disruptions as they did during acute staffing shortages coming out of the pandemic.

An Aeromexico airplane prepares to land on the airstrip at Benito Juarez international airport in Mexico City, Mexico.
Edgard Garrido | Reuters

The most on-time airlines spanned the globe, according to a ranking released Thursday by Cirium. The aviation data firm considers punctuality an arrival that occurs within 15 minutes of the scheduled time. Delta Air Lines topped the North American ranking despite its struggle to recover from the CrowdStrike outage in July that canceled thousands of flights.

Here’s how the world’s carriers fared:

(On-time rate in parenthesis)

Aeromexico (86.7%)
Saudia Airlines (86.35%)
Delta Air Lines (83.46%)
LATAM Airlines (82.89%)
Qatar Airways (82.83%)
Azul Airlines (82.42%)
Avianca (81.80%)
Iberia (81.58%)
Scandinavian Airlines (81.40%)
United Airlines (80.93%)

And here are the rankings for North American airlines:

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO More

Restaurant chains like Wendy’s, Denny’s and Applebee’s closed locations in 2024 as consumers dined out less often.
U.S. restaurant visits fell for the first 10 months of the year, according to Black Box Intelligence.
The casual-dining sector was hit hard, leading to bankruptcy filings and hundreds of restaurant closures.

A rough year for the restaurant industry led many chains to close underperforming locations in 2024, as they try to improve their sales in the years to come.
Inflation-weary consumers pulled back their restaurant spending in 2024 and instead sought value and discounts when they did choose to dine outside their homes. Overall U.S. restaurant visits fell for the first 10 months of the year, according to data from industry tracker Black Box Intelligence.

The decline in restaurant spending led to weak sales and a surge in bankruptcies for the industry. Twenty-six restaurant companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2024, nearly triple the number of filings in 2020, during the height of the pandemic.
With few exceptions, casual-dining chains in particular struggled to attract customers, adding to the segment’s challenges that have mounted since the Great Recession. Since the rise of fast-casual chains, many diners have opted for the convenience and promised quality of players like Chipotle or Sweetgreen over the casual-dining chains that dominated in the prior decades.
Here are the restaurant chains that announced closures in 2024:

Wendy’s

The Wendy’s logo is seen on a sign outside the restaurant in Muncy. 
Paul Weaver | Lightrocket | Getty Images

In late October, Wendy’s announced it would shutter 140 underperforming locations by the end of the year, in addition to the roughly 80 closures it had in the first three quarters.
Executives made the decision to prune some outdated restaurants that had annual unit volumes of about $1 million each to improve the company’s overall footprint.

Despite the closures, the company expects to end 2024 with an unchanged restaurant count, thanks to its new restaurant openings, Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner told investors on the company’s third-quarter earnings conference call.

Applebee’s

A sign is posted in front of an Applebee’s restaurant on June 12, 2024 in Hayward, California. 
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

In May, Applebee’s parent, Dine Brands, said it planned to shutter between 25 and 35 of the brand’s U.S. locations. By late September, Applebee’s global unit count had fallen by 36 locations compared with the year-ago period.
Applebee’s same-store sales have declined for the last six straight quarters, according to company filings.
Dine Brands, which also owns IHOP, has closed more stores than it has opened every year since 2016, with the exception of 2022.

Denny’s

In an aerial view, customers enter a Denny’s restaurant on February 13, 2023 in Emeryville, California. 
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Denny’s closed about 50 locations in 2024 and plans to shutter an additional 100 restaurants by the end of 2025. Including this year’s closures, the 24-hour diner chain still has roughly 1,300 open locations.
The restaurants marked for closure are in the lower third of the chain’s performers, with annual unit volumes of $1.9 million to $2 million, executives said at the company’s investor day in October. Once those restaurants shutter, Denny’s expects that both its same-store sales and annual unit volumes will improve. In its latest quarter, the chain’s same-store sales were roughly flat.
After 2025, Denny’s plans to open between 45 and 50 net new locations annually.

TGI Fridays

TGI Fridays logo is seen on one of their branches.
John Lamparski | Lightrocket | Getty Images

In November, TGI Fridays joined the slew of restaurant companies that filed for bankruptcy protection. But before it filed for Chapter 11, it shuttered 86 restaurants, starting with 36 closures in January and another 50 in late October.
The last round of closures took the chain’s footprint down to roughly 160 open locations worldwide. But the count could dwindle more. A bankruptcy court in Texas will determine TGI Fridays’ future, which could mean closures for the chain.

Red Lobster

The exterior of a Red Lobster restaurant on May 20, 2024 in Austin, Texas. Red Lobster has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after a failed lease-back agreement and “endless shrimp” promotion backfired against company revenue.
Brandon Bell | Getty Images

Red Lobster permanently shuttered more than 120 restaurants in 2024.
The seafood chain closed roughly 100 locations before it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May. Before it exited bankruptcy with a new owner and CEO, the company rejected the leases of another 23 restaurants.
But with 2024 now in the rearview mirror, Red Lobster is hoping that a comeback — with no more restaurant closures — is in its future.

Noodles & Co.

Michael Siluk | UCG | Universal Images Group | Getty Images

Fast-casual chain Noodles & Co. announced in August that it would close roughly 20 locations after reviewing its entire 475-restaurant footprint.
The review was part of the company’s efforts to improve its operations and finances after a rocky few years. Noodles & Co. has also been overhauling its menu, cutting items that don’t sell and adding new entrees that might appeal to more customers.
But the turnaround will take time. In its latest quarter, the company said same-store sales fell 3.3%.

Bloomin’

Customers arrive at an Outback Steakhouse restaurant on November 02, 2021 in Skokie, Illinois.
Scott Olson | Getty Images

Bloomin’ Brands, the parent company of Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s Italian Grill and Bonefish Grill, shuttered 41 underperforming restaurants in 2024.
The closures affected older locations with leases dating back to the 1990s and early 2000s, executives said on the company’s earnings conference call in February. To make the decision, the company weighed the locations’ sales and traffic, as well as the cost of investments to improve the locations. Most of the closures were Outback locations.
Like many other casual-dining companies, Bloomin’ has struggled to grow sales in recent quarters. Its U.S. same-store sales fell 1.5% in the third quarter.

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO More