Carvana lays off 1,500 employees amid falling stock price

Nov. 18 (UPI) -- Carvana laid off 1,500 employees Friday amid a falling stock price. The layoffs come two weeks after lower-than-expected performance prompted a selloff of shares.

"Today is a difficult day. The world around us has continued to get tougher and to do what is best for the business, we have to make some painful choices to adapt," Carvana CEO Ernie Garcia wrote in an email to employees obtained by CNBC.

The layoffs mainly affected employees in the corporate and technology departments.

The online-only used car retailer's sales skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, with stocks reaching an all-time intraday high of $376.83 per share on Aug. 10, 2021.

The surge in business left Carvana with too few vehicles to match demand, prompting the company to purchase online car retailer ADESA and a large number of vehicles at high prices.

Demand tapered off amid higher interest rates and economic uncertainty, leading to a dramatic 97% stock price decrease this year.

Carvana laid off 2,500 employees in May while the executive team agreed to forgo the rest of their 2022 salaries.

Carvana's stocks fell from $8.56 per share at 9:30 a.m. to $8.06 per share as of 4 p.m. Friday.

Tech companies including Twitter, Facebook's parent Meta and Amazon have announced significant layoffs this year.