Key Highlights
- United Rentals delivered Q1 earnings per share of $9.71, surpassing the Street’s $8.95 expectation
- First-quarter revenue reached $3.99 billion, marking an 8.7% year-over-year increase and exceeding the $3.87B forecast
- Annual revenue outlook elevated to $16.9B–$17.4B from the previous $16.8B–$17.3B projection
- Strength emerged from nonresidential construction, infrastructure projects, power generation, and mining sectors
- Bernstein maintained its Outperform stance, with URI shares climbing 37% over the trailing twelve months
United Rentals delivered an impressive first-quarter performance that exceeded analyst expectations across key metrics, triggering a massive rally in the company’s shares.
Shares of URI skyrocketed approximately 20% during Thursday’s trading session to reach the $960 level, claiming the title of the S&P 500’s strongest performer for the day. The equipment rental giant has now surged 32% in April alone and gained 19% since the start of the year.
Adjusted earnings per share for the first quarter registered at $9.71, comfortably exceeding the analyst projection of $8.95 by $0.76. This represents an improvement from the $8.86 per share reported in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Total revenue reached $3.99 billion, reflecting an 8.7% climb from the prior year’s $3.72 billion and surpassing the Street’s $3.87 billion projection.
Rental revenue—representing the company’s primary business line—advanced to $3.42 billion, up from $3.15 billion in the first quarter of 2025, establishing a new record for any first quarter. The average original equipment cost increased by 5.7%, while overall fleet productivity registered a 2.3% improvement.
Chief Executive Matthew Flannery attributed the expansion to broad-based strength across multiple segments. On the construction front, nonresidential projects and infrastructure investments drove momentum, while the industrial division saw particular strength from power generation, mining operations, and minerals extraction.
Emerging construction initiatives spanning healthcare facilities, data center developments, manufacturing plants, and infrastructure modernization all played a role in the quarter’s robust results.
Company Elevates Full-Year Projections
United Rentals boosted its full-year revenue projection to a range of $16.9 billion to $17.4 billion, representing an increase from the earlier $16.8B to $17.3B forecast. The updated midpoint of $17.15 billion slightly surpasses Wall Street’s consensus estimate of $17.07 billion.
The company refined its adjusted EBITDA guidance to $7.625B–$7.875B, tightening from the prior $7.575B–$7.825B range. Meanwhile, free cash flow expectations remained steady at $2.15B–$2.45B.
Flannery informed analysts that the year is “unfolding more favorably than we anticipated just a few months ago,” noting that field-level feedback continues to show optimism, particularly surrounding major project activity.
2026 World Cup Presenting Growth Opportunity
Flannery specifically highlighted one upcoming catalyst: the 2026 FIFA World Cup. United Rentals anticipates serving as “a key partner” for the global tournament beginning in the second quarter.
Preparation work is already progressing across host cities throughout the United States, Mexico, and Canada, encompassing stadium modifications to meet FIFA specifications and extensive infrastructure enhancement projects.
First-quarter adjusted EBITDA totaled $1.76 billion, exceeding consensus forecasts by 5%. The General Rentals division posted gross margins of 33.8%, approximately 180 basis points above analyst estimates. Specialty segment gross margins reached 41.4%, falling roughly 200 basis points short of projections, although Specialty rental revenues nonetheless exceeded expectations by 5%.
Bernstein SocGen Group confirmed its Outperform rating on URI in response to the quarterly results, keeping its price target at $903. The stock’s current trading level near $960 positions it substantially above that target following Thursday’s dramatic advance.
URI now commands a market capitalization of approximately $50.5 billion, with the shares delivering roughly 37% returns to shareholders over the past year.
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