Hertz Global Holdings, Inc (HTZ) Q2 2026 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. I want to begin by saying thanks to the Hertz team. Quarter after quarter, their discipline and execution are what turn strategy into results. We are halfway through 2026, and it's been more than two years since I stepped into this role. In that time, I had the chance to get into the detail of every part of this business, the fleet, the operations, and the economics that drive them. What's become clear is that this transformation is about both fixing what wasn't working and building for what's next. We've done that under real pressure. Over these two years, we've navigated tariffs, vehicle recalls, inflation, partial government shutdown, elevated TSA wait lines, and storm disruptions on top of the normal volatility of the rental car industry. None of it has changed our approach. We're staying focused on what we can control. Our fleet, our cost, our revenue performance, and the customer experience we deliver. Through disciplined execution, we're building a financial footing strong enough to withstand whatever pressures today and tomorrow bring. We're both running our core rental business better and building a platform spanning rent-a-car, fleet, service, and mobility that diversifies and strengthens Hertz for the future. This quarter is more proof of that progress, where our disciplined execution is showing up in our results. Led by our continued commercial momentum, revenue was up year over year with a 1% smaller fleet and came in ahead of both consensus and our latest guidance. By continuing to sweat the assets and increasing total fleet utilization by 80 basis points to 79%, we achieved this despite elevated recalls compared to the year before. This performance was driven by our strongest second quarter RPD on r...