Baird analyst Colin Sebastian said in pre-market opening research note that his survey of Internet users shows a "significant uptick" in Carvana's (CVNA) brand awareness since late 2017, at levels well below national dealers. As such, the analyst still sees a meaningful opportunity for Carvana to scale market share. Sebastian also surveyed vehicle pricing between Carvana and industry leader CarMax (KMX), suggesting a more disciplined pricing strategy by the former. Overall, the analyst remains constructive on shares as Carvana emerges as the leading e-commerce pure-play in the large used-car market. He reiterated an Outperform rating and $60 price target on Carvana's shares. In afternoon trading, shares of Carvana have gained over 10% to $67.72.

Bullish option flow detected in Carvana with 22,528 calls trading, 1.4x expected, and implied vol increasing over 1 point to 103.82%. May-24 75 calls and May-24 90 calls are the most active options, with total volume in those strikes near 5,200 contracts. The Put/Call Ratio is 0.41. Earnings are expected on May 1st.

JPMorgan raised the firm's price target on Carvana to $70 from $65 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. The analyst expects Carvana's Q1 EBITDA to come in at $180M, well ahead of consensus estimates of $122M, driven by strong volume growth, benefiting partially from partner inventory and strong commercial de-fleeting, as well as its ongoing efforts to return to growth while sustaining healthy unit economics. The firm continues to see meaningful upside to standing consensus estimates even beyond Q1. It believes Carvana's "ongoing strong revision trajectory should be enough to support shares."