“Our updated guidance is a result of the growth we achieved across both our general rentals and specialty businesses, CEO Matthew Flannery says. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg)
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United Rentals Inc.’s revenue increased in the second quarter of 2025, but profit dipped as costs rose faster than revenue.
Stamford, Conn.-based United, which ranks No. 11 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest private carriers, posted net income of $622 million in Q2, a 2.2% decrease from $636 million in the year-ago period.
United reported total revenue of $3.94 billion in the most recent three-month period, a 4.5% increase from $3.77 billion a year earlier, it said after markets closed July 24. Rental revenue increased 6.2% to $3.42 billion from $3.22 billion.
Both overall and rental revenue beat consensus analyst expectations of $3.89 billion and $3.37 billion, respectively, according to Truist Securities Managing Director Jamie Cook.
However, the company’s costs increased 6.8% year over year to $2.41 billion from $2.26 billion while the cost of its equipment rentals totaled $1.44 billion, a 9.2% rise from $1.32 billion in the same period 12 months earlier.
In addition, used equipment sales decreased 13.2% year over year to $317 million from $365 million in the 2024 period.
Revenue is expected to continue to increase, United Rentals said, with the company increasing its 2025 full-year revenue guidance to $15.8 billion-$16.1 billion from $15.6 billion-$16.1 billion.
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United said the revenue outlook was largely driven by stronger-than-expected growth in ancillary revenues.
The company earns ancillary revenues from delivery, installation, fuel and maintenance plus specialized services such as fluid management, trench safety, and power and heating, ventilation and air conditioning solutions.
“We are pleased with our solid second-quarter results, which reflect a continuation of the momentum we reported last quarter,” CEO Matthew Flannery said in a statement.
“Our updated guidance is a result of the growth we achieved across both our general rentals and specialty businesses, and supported by our customer optimism, backlogs and the momentum we are carrying into the remainder of the construction season,” he said.
Flannery added during a July 25 quarterly earnings conference call: “By vertical, our construction end market saw impressive growth across both infrastructure and nonresidential construction, while our industrial end market saw particular strength within power, metals and minerals, and chemical process. We continue to see new projects kicking off with a few recent examples, including data centers, hospitals and airports.”
During the earnings call, executives also noted specialty rental growth, particularly related to the Yak Access acquisition in 2023.
United acquired matting company Yak Access from Platinum Equity for about $1.1 billion.
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