United Rentals grew Q2 2026 revenue 11.8% to $4.41B and EPS 25% to $12.03 (incl. a $0.58 scaffolding-sale gain) and raised guidance again, but growth leaned on a bigger fleet and lower-margin Specialty re-rent and ancillary revenue.
Revenue
$4.4B
+11.8% YoY
Net income
$753M
+21.1% YoY
Diluted EPS
$12.03
+25.4% YoY
Operating margin
25.8%
How URI compares with Industrials peers
Figure
URI
Peer median
Rank
Revenue growth (YoY)
+11.8%
+8.5%
24th of 79
Operating margin
25.8%
17.9%
13th of 78
EPS growth (YoY)
+25.4%
+13.4%
24th of 77
Rank 1 = fastest revenue growth, highest operating margin, fastest EPS growth. Peers are the other Industrials companies with a 2026 report on this site, each at its latest period we've analyzed; fiscal calendars differ, so periods are not always the same months.
United Rentals, the world's largest equipment rental company, grew second-quarter 2026 revenue 11.8% to $4.41 billion. Rental revenue rose 12.7% to $3.85 billion. Most of that came from renting out a bigger fleet: average fleet size, measured at original cost, was up 7.1%. Better pricing and more time on rent added another 3.4%. Net income rose 21.1% to $753 million and diluted EPS rose 25.4% to $12.03. About $0.58 of that EPS came from a one-time gain on selling part of the scaffolding business. Management raised its full-year revenue and profit outlook for the second quarter running. Almost all of the growth came from the Specialty segment, and that growth is carrying lower margins.
At a glance
Specialty rental revenue +24.8% vs General Rentals +6.6%. The higher-margin niche segment (trench safety, power and HVAC, fluid solutions, mobile storage, ground mats) supplied $284 million of the $434 million rental revenue increase, about two-thirds, while being only 37% of rental revenue.
$37 million after-tax one-off gain. The partial scaffolding sale adds $0.58 to EPS. Without it, net income would have grown about 15% rather than 21%.
Free cash flow of $95 million in the quarter, down from $116 million. Profit rose, but URI spent $1.95 billion buying rental fleet (vs $1.46 billion a year ago) ahead of the busy summer and autumn season. It is investing into demand it expects, not banking cash.
Results table
Metric
Q2 2026
Q2 2025
YoY Change
Total revenue
$4,410M
$3,943M
+11.8%
Equipment rental revenue
$3,849M
$3,415M
+12.7%
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Fleet productivity (rates, time utilization and mix)
+3.4%
n/a
n/a
Average fleet size (original equipment cost, OEC)
n/a
n/a
+7.1%
Used equipment sales (proceeds)
$330M
$317M
+4.1%
Operating margin is operating income divided by total revenue: the share of each sales dollar left after running the business, before interest and tax. Adjusted EBITDA is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, with restructuring, stock compensation and a few acquisition accounting items added back. It is the company's preferred measure, but it is not GAAP. URI no longer reports rental rates and time utilization separately. It combines them into "fleet productivity", the change in revenue per dollar of owned fleet from rates, time on rent and mix, after an assumed 1.5% inflation drag.
Where the growth came from
The company breaks the 12.7% rental revenue increase into three parts:
Driver
Q2 2026
H1 2026
Growth in average fleet (OEC)
+7.1%
+6.4%
Assumed inflation drag on fleet
(1.5)%
(1.5)%
Fleet productivity (rates, time utilization, mix)
+3.4%
+2.9%
Ancillary and re-rent revenue
+3.7%
+3.0%
Total rental revenue change
+12.7%
+10.8%
Growth sped up from the first quarter. First-half fleet productivity was 2.9% and the second quarter alone was 3.4, so Q1 was weaker than Q2. The rental revenue line itself splits three ways:
Owned equipment rentals (renting URI's own machines): $2,991M vs $2,745M, +9.0%.
Re-rent (equipment URI rents from other firms and passes on to customers): $88M vs $60M, +47%.
Ancillary and other (mainly delivery and pick-up, plus services attached to rentals): $770M vs $610M, +26%. Delivery and pick-up alone was $341M vs $294M.
The last two lines are why the headline growth is flattering. They added 3.7 points of the 12.7%, and they earn much less than renting out a machine URI already owns. For both segments, the 10-Q says rental revenue growth was "primarily reflecting increased average OEC", meaning a bigger fleet.
Two segments moving in opposite directions
Segment
Rental revenue
YoY
Rental gross margin
Change
General Rentals
$2,418M
+6.6%
35.8%
+70 bps
Specialty
$1,431M
+24.8%
44.4%
-140 bps
Total
$3,849M
+12.7%
39.0%
+30 bps
(A basis point, or bp, is one hundredth of a percentage point, so 140 bps is 1.4 points.)
General Rentals is the core business: aerial lifts, earthmoving and industrial equipment across the US and Canada. It grew at a steady mid-single-digit rate and widened its margin. The filing attributes this "primarily due to a reduction in depreciation as a percentage of revenue". In other words, revenue grew faster than the cost of wearing out the fleet.
Specialty is where the growth is, and where the margin is slipping. Its rental revenue jumped 24.8%, but gross margin fell 1.4 points, which the 10-Q attributes to "changes in revenue mix driven by growth in lower-margin ancillary and re-rent revenues, partially offset by a reduction in labor and benefits expenses as a percentage of revenue". Specialty still earns more per dollar than General Rentals (44.4% vs 35.8%). Its gross profit grew 21.1%, to $636M. The concern is not that Specialty is unprofitable. It is that more of its growth comes from pass-through and logistics revenue, not from URI's own equipment on rent.
Takeaway: URI's quarter was driven by a bigger fleet and fast Specialty growth, not by stronger pricing. Fleet productivity of +3.4% is healthy but modest. The fastest-growing revenue (re-rent up 47%, ancillary up 26%) carries the thinnest margins. Excluding the scaffolding gain, the company's own adjusted EBITDA margin fell 40 bps even as revenue grew almost 12%. The raised guidance is credible on volume. Profit per dollar of revenue is roughly flat, not expanding.
What the headline numbers hide
The one-off gain. URI sold part of its scaffolding business for $82M in cash, booking a $49M pre-tax gain, mostly in "other income". After tax that is $37M, or $0.58 per share. Excluding it, net income was about $716M (+15% YoY) and EPS about $11.45 (+19%). The gain is also inside the company's adjusted figures: adjusted EPS of $12.76 and adjusted EBITDA of $2,056M both include it. Excluding the gain, adjusted EBITDA margin was about 45.5%, down 40 bps from 45.9%. The company says so itself.
How much EPS growth is buybacks. Diluted shares fell 3.5%, from 64.9M to 62.6M, after $750M of repurchases in the first half. That explains roughly 3.5–4 points of the 25.4% EPS growth. The tax rate helped slightly too: 25.2% vs 25.9%. Interest expense was essentially flat ($178M vs $171M), so it did not help. The rest, about 15 points, comes from operations plus the gain.
Cash conversion is strong, but capex took it this quarter. First-half operating cash flow was $3,305M against net income of $1,284M. Operating cash flow always far exceeds profit at a rental company, because depreciation of the fleet ($1.39B in H1) is a non-cash cost. Operating cash flow rose 20% partly because cash taxes fell from $540M to $158M. The filing credits "federal tax legislation that was enacted in July 2025" and notes it did not materially change the effective tax rate. So this is a timing benefit, not a lower tax bill. Deferred tax liabilities rose $220M in the half, which is the other side of it. Q2 free cash flow was only $95M, because fleet purchase payments jumped 34% to $1.95B. H1 free cash flow of $1,149M was down 4% from $1,198M. The prior year included a $52M H&E merger break-up benefit.
Used equipment is not propping up profit. URI sold old fleet for $330M (+4.1%) at a 46.7% GAAP gross margin (47.3% adjusted, vs 48.3% a year ago). It recovered 52.9% of the original cost. The pre-tax gain on these sales was $154M vs $146M, about 8% of adjusted EBITDA and barely changed. So the growth in earnings came from the rental business, not from selling off equipment into a strong used market. The slightly lower adjusted margin is worth watching as a sign of used-equipment prices.
Working capital. Receivables rose 11.4% since December, in line with revenue (+11.8% YoY). Accounts payable doubled ($776M to $1,610M), which the company attributes to seasonal capex. That is typical for Q2, and it flatters operating cash flow until the equipment bills are paid.
Restructuring. A $51M restructuring charge in H1 ($6M in Q2), from a program started in Q4 2025 to consolidate common functions, is added back in adjusted EPS (+$0.61 in H1) and adjusted EBITDA. It is small but not zero.
Guidance vs the previous guidance. See below. Revenue and EBITDA ranges moved up, but the free-cash-flow range did not move at all, because the extra operating cash is going straight into more fleet.
Guidance and outlook
Management raised its full-year 2026 outlook again:
2026 outlook
Current (July)
Prior
Total revenue
$17.5B–$17.8B
$16.9B–$17.4B
Adjusted EBITDA
$7.975B–$8.125B
$7.625B–$7.875B
Gross rental capex
$4.85B–$5.25B
$4.4B–$4.8B
Net rental capex
$3.4B–$3.8B
$2.95B–$3.35B
Operating cash flow
$5.85B–$6.65B
$5.4B–$6.2B
Free cash flow (ex-restructuring payments)
$2.15B–$2.45B
$2.15B–$2.45B (unchanged)
The revenue midpoint rose $500M (about 3%) and the EBITDA midpoint $300M. The new EBITDA midpoint ($8.05B) implies about a 45.6% margin on the $17.65B revenue midpoint. That is roughly where the first half ran (45.4% adjusted, including the gain), consistent with the margin reading above. CEO Matthew Flannery pointed to "tailwinds we see across large projects, customer backlogs". URI also plans $1.5B of buybacks in 2026 ($750M done by June), under a new $5.0B program authorized in January. Net leverage (net debt divided by trailing adjusted EBITDA) was 1.8x, and liquidity was $3.0B.
Our read: the demand picture looks solid. Management is buying about $450M more fleet than it planned in April, and companies rarely do that without rental demand they can see, especially from large non-residential projects. What to watch in Q3:
Whether fleet productivity stays at or above 3%. That shows whether URI is gaining pricing and utilization or just adding fleet.
Whether Specialty's gross margin stabilises as re-rent and ancillary growth laps easier comparisons.
Used-equipment margins, as a signal of equipment values across the industry.
The heavy capex also means the second-half free cash flow the guidance implies (roughly $1.0–1.3B) depends on used-equipment sale proceeds and on paying down the seasonal build-up in payables.
Source: United Rentals Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 (filed July 22, 2026) and the accompanying Q2 2026 earnings release (Form 8-K, Exhibit 99.1). All figures in US dollars; adjusted EPS, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow are company-defined non-GAAP measures.