What Happened?
Shares of equipment rental company United Rentals (NYSE:URI) jumped 1.9% in the morning session after the company announced it acquired the Australian rental company Alfasi Hire.
The deal brought Alfasi Equipment Hire under the umbrella of United Rentals, which is the world's largest equipment rental company. This move signaled expansion for the firm. In contrast, a key competitor, the British construction equipment rental firm Ashtead, reported struggles. Ashtead missed analyst expectations for its half-year adjusted pretax profit. The company pointed to high costs from internal repairs and lower hurricane activity as reasons for the shortfall. The contrast between United Rentals' strategic growth and a major competitor's difficulties likely appeared favorable to investors.
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $807.52, up 2.9% from previous close.
Is now the time to buy United Rentals? Access our full analysis report here.
What Is The Market Telling Us
United Rentals’s shares are somewhat volatile and have had 11 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The biggest move we wrote about over the last year was 8 months ago when the stock gained 10.3% on the news that the company reported strong first-quarter 2025 results which beat analysts' expectations across revenue, EPS, and EBITDA, pointing to resilient equipment demand and disciplined execution despite margin pressures. Sales rose close to 7%, but higher costs and a shift in business mix led to a dip in profit margins. Still, they managed to grow EBITDA and cash flow thanks to tight cost control and a tax gain from a scrapped deal. Overall, this quarter had some key positives.
United Rentals is up 17.1% since the beginning of the year, but at $807.52 per share, it is still trading 20.8% below its 52-week high of $1,020 from October 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of United Rentals’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $3,273.
While Wall Street chases Nvidia at all-time highs, an under-the-radar semiconductor supplier is dominating a critical AI component these giants can’t build without. Click here to access our full research report.