United Rentals, Inc. · URI · FY2026 Q2 · Calendar Q3 2026

United Rentals Q2: Record Revenue, Raised Guidance, and a Possible Investment-Grade Upgrade

United Rentals extended its record-breaking streak in Q2 2026, with revenue, rental revenue, EBITDA, and EPS all reaching new highs. A 12% revenue increase to $4.4 billion and 22% adjusted EPS growth to $12.76 were driven by robust demand from large-project construction, power, infrastructure, and specialty segments. Management raised full-year guidance for the second consecutive quarter, increased CapEx to expand fleet amid record time utilization, and highlighted a potential investment-grade credit upgrade from S&P. The market responded decisively, with the stock posting an abnormal return of over 11% on volume 2.6 times baseline, though a subsequent drift of roughly -4.5% indicates some profit-taking. The combination of accelerating rental revenue growth, disciplined capital allocation, and an improving credit profile underscores a company executing well in a demand-rich environment.

Reported After market closeNYSEIndustrials $67.92B market cap
80quality score

Company context

Snapshot as of publication

United Rentals, Inc., founded in 1997 and headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, functions as a prominent equipment rental firm through its various subsidiaries. The company's operations are divided into two main divisions: General Rentals and Specialty. The General Rentals segment offers a broad selection of construction and industrial machinery, including heavy equipment like backhoes, skid-steer loaders, earthmoving machinery, and forklifts, alongside aerial work platforms such as boom and scissor lifts. This division also provides general tools and lighter equipment, ranging from pressure washers to power tools. Its client base is diverse, encompassing construction and industrial enterprises, manufacturers, utility companies, municipalities, government bodies, and individual homeowners. Conversely, the Specialty segment focuses on more specialized construction products.…

Earnings scorecard

Reported versus consensus
Reported EPS Consensus $12
EPS surprise Reported versus consensus
Reported revenue Consensus $4.22B
Revenue surprise Reported versus consensus

Earnings History

Estimate Beat Miss Match
URI EPS earnings history estimate and actual scatter chart 9 reported fiscal quarters and 4 future estimate-only quarters. Q4 '23 estimate $10.93 Q4 '23 actual $11.26, beat Q1 '24 estimate $8.33 Q1 '24 actual $9.15, beat Q2 '24 estimate $10.54 Q2 '24 actual $10.70, beat Q3 '24 estimate $12.48 Q3 '24 actual $11.80, miss Q2 '25 estimate $10.51 Q2 '25 actual $10.47, miss Q3 '25 estimate $12.29 Q3 '25 actual $11.70, miss Q4 '25 estimate $11.79 Q4 '25 actual $11.09, miss Q1 '26 estimate $8.95 Q1 '26 actual $9.71, beat Q2 '26 estimate $11.53 Q2 '26 actual $12.76, beat Q3 '26 estimate $13.83 Q4 '26 estimate $13.04 Q1 '27 estimate $11.17 Q2 '27 estimate $14.25
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Analyst Consensus ?

ConsensusBuy40 ratings
Bullish2870.0%
Neutral717.5%
Bearish512.5%

Analyst 52W Price Targets

$1,066.39Current
$269Low
$977.37Average
$1,421High

Latest persisted target per named analyst; persisted current price from FN2's market snapshot as of Jul 29, 2026. Not an FN2 forecast.

Firm-level rating actions

FMP grade actions identify the grading firm, not a named analyst.

FirmRatingPrior ratingActionDate
Wells Fargo Overweight OverweightMaintainJul 24, 2026
UBS Buy BuyMaintainJul 24, 2026
Truist Securities Buy BuyMaintainJul 24, 2026
JP Morgan Overweight OverweightMaintainJul 24, 2026
Citigroup Buy BuyMaintainJul 24, 2026
Barclays Underweight UnderweightMaintainJul 24, 2026
B of A Securities Buy BuyMaintainJul 23, 2026
Morgan Stanley Overweight OverweightMaintainJul 17, 2026
Show 32 more rating actions

Named analyst price targets

Upside is calculated against the persisted current price $1,066.4. FMP does not supply a rating on these named-analyst rows.

FirmAnalyst52W targetPrice when postedUpsideDate
Morgan StanleyAnalyst unavailable$1,335$1,137.96 +25.2%Jul 24, 2026
KeyBancAnalyst unavailable$1,350$1,139.71 +26.6%Jul 24, 2026
Robert W. BairdAnalyst unavailable$1,300$1,139.71 +21.9%Jul 24, 2026
Wells FargoAnalyst unavailable$1,355$1,139.71 +27.1%Jul 24, 2026
BarclaysAnalyst unavailable$950$1,139.71 -10.9%Jul 24, 2026
UBSSteven Fisher$1,350$1,156.78 +26.6%Jul 23, 2026
Truist FinancialJamie Cook$1,421$1,111.76 +33.3%Jul 2, 2026
UBSAnalyst unavailable$1,300$1,130.8 +21.9%Jul 1, 2026
BNP ParibasAnalyst unavailable$1,320$1,121.66 +23.8%Jun 29, 2026
KeyBancAnalyst unavailable$1,250$1,083.72 +17.2%Jun 25, 2026
See 45 more

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Market reaction

event-close to next-session close
Stock move +10.1% Event window
SPY move -1.2% Same window
Abnormal move +11.3% Stock minus SPY
Volume 2.6× Versus trailing sessions
Subsequent drift -4.3% Up to 20 sessions
URISPY benchmark

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Transcript intelligence

What changed

Compared to Q1, United Rentals accelerated rental revenue growth from 9% to 13% and achieved record time utilization across its fleet. CapEx guidance was increased to fund additional fleet. The company divested its scaffolding business for a $49 million net benefit, whereas Q1 focused on four bolt-on acquisitions totaling approximately $400 million. S&P raised the credit outlook to positive, a new development not flagged in Q1. Free cash flow remained strong at approximately $1.2 billion. Full-year guidance was raised again, building on the Q1 increase to $16.9-$17.4 billion revenue and $7.625-$7.875 billion adjusted EBITDA.

Guidance delta

Full-year 2026 guidance was raised for the second consecutive quarter. In Q1, management raised revenue guidance to $16.9-$17.4 billion and adjusted EBITDA to $7.625-$7.875 billion. Following Q2, guidance was raised again, now forecasting near-10% revenue growth and higher EBITDA. CapEx guidance was also increased to fund additional fleet amid historically high utilization. Specific updated dollar ranges for revenue and EBITDA were not provided in the transcript analysis.

Key takeaways

  • Q2 set new records for total revenue, rental revenue, EBITDA and EPS, with revenue up 12% YoY to $4.4 billion and adjusted EPS up 22% to $12.76.
  • Full-year 2026 guidance was raised again, indicating near-10% revenue growth and higher EBITDA.
  • Demand from large-scale projects across construction, power, LNG terminals, and data centers remains strong and is accelerating.
  • Free cash flow stayed strong at roughly $1.2 billion and the balance sheet remains flexible for growth and shareholder returns.
  • CapEx guidance was increased to fund additional fleet amid historically high time utilization.
  • S&P raised the credit outlook to positive, signaling a possible investment-grade upgrade within 12 months.

Management priorities

  • Increase gross CapEx to add fleet and support high utilization.
  • Continue share buybacks and dividend payouts.
  • Pursue selective specialty acquisitions and product pilots.
  • Deploy AI-enabled pricing tools to improve rate capture.
  • Maintain focus on margin expansion and ROIC improvement.

Related earnings events

Industrials

Sources

  1. Earnings call transcript and parsed analysis · 2026-07-23T19:03:19.168103+00:00
  2. FN2 earnings calendar · 2026-07-14T01:23:12.683215+00:00
  3. Polygon adjusted daily market bars · 2026-07-29T14:03:33.269000+00:00
  4. Financial Modeling Prep analyst price-target consensus and quote snapshot · 2026-07-29T14:03:33.265834+00:00

Methodology

Reported and consensus figures come from FN2's earnings event records. Market reaction and volume are calculated from daily adjusted bars around the event; abnormal move subtracts the SPY move over the same window.

Analyst target low, average, and high values are derived at request time from each named analyst's latest persisted FMP target. The current-price marker comes from FN2's persisted market snapshot. They are sell-side estimates, not an FN2 valuation or recommendation.

Transcript intelligence is a structured synthesis of the current and prior earnings-call analyses. Missing values stay missing and are never estimated.

By FN2 Research · Updated . For educational purposes only; not investment advice.