Herc Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HRI) reported fourth-quarter adjusted earnings ahead of Wall Street estimates on Tuesday, though revenue came in below forecasts.
Shares gained 0.71% in after-hours trading following the announcement.
The Bonita Springs, Florida-based equipment rental group delivered adjusted earnings of $2.07 per diluted share for the final quarter of 2025, beating analyst expectations of $1.94.
Equipment rental revenue totaled $1.04 billion, falling short of the $1.25 billion consensus estimate. Overall quarterly revenue reached $1.21 billion, up 27% compared with the same period a year earlier.
Results were supported by the integration of H&E Equipment Services, which CEO Larry Silber described as “the largest acquisition in the rental industry.” Equipment rental revenue rose 24% year over year.
“We are extremely pleased with the pace and execution of the integration, and I want to thank Team Herc for their dedication and hard work through this period of change,” said Silber.
“In just six months, we successfully migrated technology systems and data in record time, completed sales and territory optimization initiatives, aligned the fleet mix by market, and achieved run-rate cost synergies ahead of our planned timeline,” he added.
For full-year 2025, Herc generated adjusted EBITDA of $1.82 billion, a 15% increase from the previous year, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 42%. Net income for the year totaled just $1 million, or $0.03 per share, largely reflecting transaction costs tied to the H&E acquisition.
Looking to fiscal 2026, the company forecast equipment rental revenue between $4.27 billion and $4.4 billion, below the $5.06 billion analyst consensus. Adjusted EBITDA is projected in a range of $2.0 billion to $2.1 billion.
Dollar utilization stood at 37.5% in the fourth quarter, compared with 40.6% a year earlier, mainly due to lower utilization rates for the newly acquired fleet ahead of optimization efforts.