Despite 2 percent of its U.S. fleet under manufacturers' recall, Hertz increased its third-quarter utilization rate by 2 percentage points to 84 percent, the highest it's been since 2018, Hertz CEO Gil West said during a Tuesday morning earnings call.
"Being able to drive record utilization in that environment shows that even when headwinds get in the way, we're able to deliver strong results," West said, adding that the average fleet age is "now under 12 months."
Still, looking ahead to the rest of the fourth quarter, "there is some softness in the remaining months, driven by seasonal leisure troughs combined with the impact of the government shutdown," Hertz chief commercial officer Sandeep Dube said.
The government side of the business was "down substantially" in Q2, but improved "a bit" in Q3, Dube said. However, since the start of November, "we've seen that part of the business come down significantly."
In addition, airport demand in 2025 was "slightly negative" from February through June, Dube said. "Then, July onwards, it's been positive. So, there's been an uptick both on the leisure side of the business in Q3 as well as on the corporate side of the business."
That corporate side, however, was "still in negative territory" during the third quarter, despite sequential improvements in August and September, Dube said. "That's turned positive in October as we moved into Q4," he added.
Hertz Q3 Metrics
Hertz third-quarter revenue declined 4 percent year over year to nearly $2.5 billion. Net income was $184 million, compared with a loss in Q3 2024 of more than $1.3 billion. It was the first time in two years that the company reported positive quarterly net income and positive earnings per share, according to Hertz.
Global revenue per day for the third quarter was $59.26, down about 4 percent year over year. Americas RPD was $59.67, down from $62.88 a year prior, while international RPD was $57.81, representing a 2 percent increase from Q3 2024.
In addition to its global utilization rate increasing, Hertz's third-quarter utilization rate in the Americas was 85 percent, up from 82 percent. International utilization also increased, to 82 percent from 80 percent a year prior.
Hertz reported Q3 average number of rentable vehicles at nearly 528,000, down 7 percent year over year. In the Americas, that figure declined 5 percent during the quarter to about 409,200. The international segment reported that the average number of rentable vehicles increased 1 percent to 118,770.
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