United Rentals to Report Q1 Earnings: What Investors Need to Know
United Rentals, Inc.URI is scheduled to report its first-quarter 2026 results on April 22, after market close.
In the last reported quarter, the company’s adjusted earnings per share (EPS) missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 6.8% and inched down 4.3% year over year. Meanwhile, total revenues also lagged the consensus estimate by 1.1% but rose 2.8% year over year.
URI’s earnings surpassed estimates in one of the trailing four quarters and missed on the other three occasions, with a negative average surprise of 3.4%.
How Are Estimates Placed for URI Stock?
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter adjusted earnings has moved downward to $9.01 per share in the past 30 days. The estimated figure indicates a 1.7% increase from the year-ago quarter’s earnings of $8.86 per share.
The consensus estimate for total revenues is pegged at $3.87 billion, indicating growth of 4.2% from the prior-year quarter’s level.
United Rentals, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise
United Rentals, Inc. price-eps-surprise | United Rentals, Inc. Quote
Factors at Play for United Rentals’ Q1 Results
Topline Likely Supported by Large Projects, Specialty Strength: United Rentals expects 2026 revenues to be in the range of $16.8-$17.3 billion, indicating confidence in another year of growth. Management has said that demand in 2026 is expected to resemble the prior year, with large projects and geographically dispersed activity serving as key growth drivers. This is likely to have supported first-quarter revenues, particularly across infrastructure, utilities, manufacturing and data center-related projects.
Specialty Rentals (which contributed 31.7% to 2025 total revenues) are also expected to have remained an important contributor. The company continues to invest in expanding its specialty footprint through new locations and selective acquisitions. Increased adoption of specialty products and cross-selling opportunities is likely to have aided first-quarter performance. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for this segment’s revenue is currently pegged at $2.63 billion, depicting an increase from $2.57 billion a year ago.
General Rentals (which contributed 68.3% to 2025 total revenues) is likely to have benefited from stable non-residential construction demand, though management indicated that local market activity is likely to remain relatively flat. As a result, revenue growth may have depended more on national accounts and large project activity than on smaller local construction markets. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for this segment’s revenue is currently pegged at $3.32 billion, depicting an increase from $3.15 billion a year ago.
The Equipment Rentals business — which accounted for 85.8% of 2025 total revenues — is expected to witness revenues of $3.32 billion, up from $3.15 billion a year ago.
On the downside, residential construction likely remained weak due to elevated financing costs and affordability pressures. Certain commercial categories, such as office and retail, may also have stayed soft, limiting broader equipment demand.
Margins May Face Pressure From Costs: Profitability in the quarter may have been constrained by higher operating costs. Management previously highlighted elevated fleet repositioning expenses tied to serving projects spread across multiple geographies. Those costs may have remained a headwind in the first quarter.
Inflation in areas such as facilities, insurance and labor is also likely to have pressured margins. Additionally, continued growth in ancillary and service-related revenues, while supportive of customer relationships, may weigh modestly on margin mix because these businesses generally carry lower profitability than core equipment rentals.
Depreciation expense may have increased as the company continues to invest heavily in fleet growth. United Rentals expects 2026 gross rental capital expenditures of $4.3-$4.7 billion, signaling that a larger fleet base can create near-term earnings pressure.
Still, management has indicated that cost-control initiatives and operating efficiencies remain a priority, which may have helped offset part of these pressures.
What the Zacks Model Indicates for URI Stock
Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for United Rentals this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. This is not exactly the case here, as you can see below.
URI’s Earnings ESP: URI has an Earnings ESP of +4.45%. You can uncover the best stocks before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.
Zacks Rank of URI: The company currently has a Zacks Rank of 4 (Sell). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Stocks Poised to Beat Earnings
Here are other companies in the Zacks Construction sector, which, according to our model, have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat.
Dycom IndustriesDY has an Earnings ESP of +1.28% and a Zacks Rank of 3 at present.
DYcom’s earnings beat estimates in all the last four quarters, the average surprise being 17.1%. The company’s earnings for the first quarter of 2026 are expected to increase 30.6% year over year.
EMCOR GroupEME has an Earnings ESP of +1.71% and a Zacks Rank of 3.
EMCOR’s earnings beat estimates in three of the last four quarters and missed on one occasion, the average surprise being 10.8%. The company’s earnings for the first quarter of 2026 are expected to grow 8.1% year over year.
Comfort Systems USA FIX currently has an Earnings ESP of +5.42% and a Zacks Rank of 1.
FIX’s earnings beat estimates in all the last four quarters, the average surprise being 35.2%. The company’s earnings for the first quarter of 2026 are expected to increase 51.4% year over year.
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