Hertz Global Holdings Inc. reported a wider-than-expected loss for the fourth quarter of 2025. The rental car company announced a loss of $0.63 per share, which, despite being an improvement from the previous year, missed the average analyst estimate of a $0.52 loss.
The company attributed these weaker results to two primary factors: the government shutdown, which impacted travel, and a decline in used-car prices. These combined challenges significantly affected Hertz's performance late in the year.
The news, reported by Bloomberg on February 26, 2026, highlighted a continuing struggle for the company to meet analyst expectations. This follows a trend, as Hertz also reported a Q1 2026 adjusted loss of $0.72 per share, narrowly missing analysts' average estimate of a $0.71 loss, according to a May 7, 2026 Bloomberg report. The first-quarter results were impacted by geopolitical events affecting the travel industry, though revenue growth was at its strongest in three years.
For Q1 2026, Hertz reported revenue of $2.0 billion, surpassing analyst expectations of $1.88 billion, an 11% increase from the prior year's $1.8 billion. However, operational challenges persisted, including a 300% year-over-year increase in recall activity, which reduced utilization by about 200 basis points and impacted revenue by approximately $50 million, leading to an Adjusted Corporate EBITDA impact of over $25 million. Adjusted corporate EBITDA improved 47% to a loss of $161 million from a $302 million loss in Q1 2025.
Despite these improvements and a strategic expansion into autonomous vehicle fleet management, the company's stock fell 4.32% in premarket trading. Hertz maintains its full-year 2026 EBITDA margin guidance of 3%-6%, with a forecasted EPS of -$0.78 for fiscal 2026.
