Herc Holdings Inc. HRI reported impressive first-quarter 2026 results wherein both earnings and revenues beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate.
The better-than-expected results had a positive impact on the market, as the stock has increased 1.5% since the earnings release on April 28, 2026.
Quarterly earnings per share of 21 cents outperformed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $1.02 but declined 84% year over year. Revenues of $1.14 billion outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.01 billion and grew 32.3% year over year. The increase was driven by a 33% rise in equipment rental revenues, resulting from the larger fleet size after the H&E acquisition and higher volume from mega projects.
Herc Holdings Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Herc Holdings Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Herc Holdings Inc. Quote
HRI’s Segmental Highlights
The equipment rental revenues of $981 million, accounting for 86% of total revenues, grew 32.8% year over year at the end of the first quarter of 2026. Sales of rental equipment increased 31.4% year over year to $138 million during the period, continuing to align the mix with customer demand.
Sales of new equipment, parts and supplies revenues totaled $13 million, increasing 18.2% year over year. Meanwhile, Service and other revenues grew 16.7% year over year to $7 million at the end of the March-end quarter.
Other Q1 Details of HRI
Total operating expenses in the reported quarter increased by $293 million from the year-ago quarter to $1.6 billion.
Adjusted EBITDA increased 33% to $448 million compared with $338 million in the prior-year period, while adjusted EBITDA margin was flat year over year at 39.3%.
Herc Holdings exited the first quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $43 million compared with $52 million at 2025-end. Long-term debt was $7.96 billion compared with $8.02 billion at the prior-quarter end.
During the reported quarter, HRI declared a quarterly dividend of 70 cents per share payable to its shareholders of record as of Feb. 18, on March 4, 2026.
Remaining Aspects of HRI’s 2026 Guidance
For full-year 2026, Herc Holdings expects Equipment rental revenues to range from $4.275-$4.4 billion. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be in the band of $2-$2.1 billion.
Net rental equipment capital expenditures are anticipated to be between $500 million and $800 million and and Gross capex is expected in the range of $800 million to $1.1 billion.
The H&E acquisition is expected to strengthen HRI’s market position through expanded specialty operations, enhanced sales capabilities and broader exposure to resilient metropolitan markets.
HRI’s Zacks Rank
Currently, HRI has a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Q1 Performances of Other Transportation Companies
Delta Air Lines DAL reported first-quarter 2026 earnings (excluding $1.08 from non-recurring items) of 64 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 61 cents. Earnings increased 39.1% on a year-over-year basis. Revenues in the March-end quarter were $14.2 billion, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $14 billion and increasing on a year-over-year basis.
J.B. Hunt Transport Services JBHT posted first-quarter 2026 earnings per share of $1.49, up 27% from $1.17 a year ago. The result topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate by $0.04, reflecting a 2.8% rise.
Operating revenues totaled $3.06 billion, rising 4.6% year over year. Revenues beat the consensus mark of $2.94 billion, resulting in a 3.9% rise, as demand proved resilient across several service offerings, led by Intermodal volume growth and higher revenues per load in select highway-related businesses.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).