United Rentals (NYSE:URI) used its latest investor conference call to review record 2025 results, discuss demand trends across its general rental and specialty businesses, and outline 2026 guidance that management said points to another year of profitable growth. Chief Executive Officer Matt Flannery and Chief Financial Officer Ted Grace emphasized continued strength from large projects and key verticals such as data centers and power, while also addressing margin headwinds tied to fleet repositioning and a timing-related slowdown in matting revenue.
Fourth-quarter results set new records for revenue and rental revenue
For the fourth quarter, United Rentals reported total revenue of $4.2 billion, up 2.8% year-over-year. Rental revenue grew 4.6% to $3.6 billion, which management said was a fourth-quarter record. Fleet productivity rose 0.5% and contributed to original equipment rental (OER) growth of 3.5%.
Grace said rental revenue growth was supported by “large projects and key verticals.” He also noted ancillary and re-rent revenue increased by more than 9%, adding a combined $62 million, with ancillary growth continuing to outpace OER.
Specialty expansion and large-project tailwinds remain central
Flannery said the company again saw growth across both its general rental and specialty businesses in the quarter, and described Specialty growth as “healthy and broad-based.” United Rentals opened 60 specialty “cold starts” during 2025, including 13 in the fourth quarter, as it pursued geographic expansion and “white space” opportunities.
Management reiterated confidence that Specialty can continue to grow at a double-digit rate “for the foreseeable future,” citing geographic expansion, cross-selling, and adding new products to the portfolio.
By end market, Flannery said construction grew across infrastructure and non-residential construction, while industrial showed particular strength in power. Data centers and power were again identified as growth drivers, though management stressed they were not the only ones. Flannery said the company’s project pipeline is “larger than ever,” with new projects beginning in areas including healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and infrastructure.
When asked about the longevity of “mega project” spending, Flannery said the outlook is “very healthy” and that the company does not believe it is in the “later innings,” pointing to what he called a broad set of tailwinds across multiple categories of investment.
Used equipment sales, matting timing, and margin headwinds
United Rentals sold $769 million of original equipment cost (OEC) in the fourth quarter at a 50% recovery rate. Grace said the company generated $386 million of proceeds at an adjusted margin of 47.2%. Full-year OEC sold was $2.73 billion, slightly above 2024 but below the company’s $2.8 billion guidance, because the company held on to some “high-time-use fleet” to meet demand. Grace said the shortfall was largely concentrated in the fourth quarter and was tied to categories such as aerial products and telehandlers that remained on rent.
On the used market more broadly, Grace said conditions have “normalized” after extremes in 2022 and 2023, and the company expects healthy used demand in 2026 at recovery rates that support unit economics across the fleet lifecycle.
Management also pointed to “choppiness” in the matting business during the quarter. Grace attributed the issue to the pushout of one large pipeline project that had been expected to benefit the fourth quarter. He said the contract remains in place and the project is moving forward, but timing shifted. Despite that, he reported matting was up 30% on a pro forma basis in 2025 and up 55% as reported. He added the company remains ahead of its original plan to double the matting business within five years following the Yak acquisition, while noting the segment can be “a little lumpier” due to project timing.
On margins, Grace said adjusted EBITDA margin of 45.2% implied 120 basis points of compression year-over-year, or 110 basis points excluding the impact of used. The largest cost headwind was elevated delivery expense, primarily driven by fleet repositioning costs, which he estimated created roughly a 70 basis point headwind in the quarter. He also cited ancillary growth as roughly a 20 basis point headwind and noted above-trend inflation in facilities and insurance.
Cash generation and shareholder returns
For 2025, United Rentals spent nearly $4.2 billion on maintenance and growth rental CapEx and generated $2.2 billion of free cash flow, for a free cash flow margin of about 14%. Grace provided a similar figure, stating free cash flow was $2.18 billion for a 13.5% margin. The company ended December with net leverage of 1.9 times and total liquidity of more than $3.3 billion.
Flannery said the company returned nearly $2.4 billion of excess cash flow to shareholders in 2025 through share repurchases and dividends. Grace broke that out as $464 million via dividends and $1.9 billion through repurchases, equating to “a little better than $37 per share.”
2026 guidance: revenue growth, flat margins at midpoint, and higher CapEx
Management’s 2026 guidance calls for total revenue of $16.8 billion to $17.3 billion, implying 5.9% growth at the midpoint. Used sales are expected to be about $1.45 billion on OEC sold of roughly $2.8 billion, which Grace said implies total revenue growth excluding used of 6.2% at the midpoint.
Adjusted EBITDA is guided to $7.575 billion to $7.825 billion. Grace said that excluding the prior-year H&E termination fee benefit, the guidance implies adjusted EBITDA margins that are flat at the midpoint year-over-year. Flannery said the outlook reflects customer sentiment indicators, solid backlogs, and feedback from field teams, with growth again expected to be driven largely by big projects and geographically dispersed demand. He also said local markets are expected to be “flattish,” with the guidance not assuming a meaningful rebound but also not assuming deterioration.
On investment, gross rental CapEx is guided to $4.3 billion to $4.7 billion, about $300 million higher at the midpoint versus 2025. Net CapEx is expected to be $2.85 billion to $3.25 billion. Grace said maintenance CapEx is expected to be around $3.4 billion, implying growth CapEx of roughly $1.1 billion at the midpoint, with the increase aimed at supporting Specialty growth and fleet needs for large projects.
United Rentals also guided to 2026 free cash flow of $2.15 billion to $2.45 billion. The company plans to repurchase $1.5 billion of shares and raise its quarterly dividend by 10% to $1.97 per share (annualized at $7.88). Grace said the repurchases are supported in part by a new $5 billion share repurchase program intended to enable buybacks over the next several years.
About United Rentals (NYSE:URI)
United Rentals, Inc (NYSE: URI) is a leading equipment rental company headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. The firm provides rental solutions and related services to construction, industrial, commercial, and municipal customers. Its business model centers on providing access to a broad fleet of equipment on a short-term or long-term basis, enabling customers to avoid the capital expenditure of ownership and to scale equipment use to match project needs.
The company’s product and service offerings span general construction equipment and a range of specialty categories, including aerial work platforms, earthmoving and excavation machines, material handling equipment, pumps, power and HVAC systems, trench and shoring solutions, and tools.
