United Rentals, the world’s largest equipment rental company, reported record financial performance for 2025, with rental revenue climbing 6% to $13.086 billion compared to $13.029 billion in the previous year.

The Stamford, Connecticut-based company surpassed $16 billion in total revenue for the first time, reaching $16.099 billion, representing a 4.9% year-over-year increase.​

The company’s momentum continued through the final quarter of 2025, with equipment rental revenue reaching $3.581 billion in Q4, a 4.6% increase from $3.422 billion in the same quarter of 2024.

Total revenue for the fourth quarter reached $4.208 billion, up 2.8% year-over-year from $4.095 billion. Adjusted EBITDA for Q4 was $1.901 billion, achieving a 45.2% margin.​

Specialty Rentals Drive Growth

United Rentals’ specialty equipment segment emerged as a key growth driver in 2025, with full-year specialty rental revenue increasing 13.6% to $4.641 billion from $4.084 billion in 2024.

The fourth quarter alone saw specialty rentals climb 9.2% year-over-year to a record $1.183 billion, though rental gross margin decreased by 520 basis points to 40.3%.

The margin decline was primarily attributed to higher depreciation expense, increased delivery costs, and changes in revenue mix driven by growth in lower-margin ancillary revenues.​

Equipment Sales and Operational Metrics

The company’s equipment sales performance showed mixed results in 2025. New equipment sales surged 23.4%, climbing from $282 million in 2024 to $348 million in 2025. However, sales of used rental equipment declined 7.1% from $1.521 billion to $1.413 billion. Contractor supply sales increased modestly by 5.2%, rising from $155 million to $163 million.​

Fleet productivity improved 2.2% for the full year and 0.5% in the fourth quarter. The company generated $5.190 billion in net cash from operating activities and achieved free cash flow of $2.181 billion. Full-year gross rental capital expenditures totaled $4.189 billion.​

Leadership Perspective and Expansion

CEO Matthew Flannery attributed the record performance to the company’s customer-centric approach.

“I am very pleased that the team’s commitment to again double down on being the partner of choice for our customers in 2025 resulted in a year of record revenue and EBITDA,” Flannery stated.

He emphasized that the company’s comprehensive rental products, services, and industry-leading technology helped improve customer efficiency and productivity while generating strong shareholder returns.​

United Rentals expanded its footprint significantly during 2025, opening 60 new locations throughout the year, including 13 in the fourth quarter, to broaden its specialty presence.​

2026 Outlook

Looking ahead, United Rentals provided guidance for 2026, projecting total revenue in the range of $16.8 billion to $17.3 billion. The company also announced plans for net rental capital expenditures of $2.85 billion to $3.25 billion, after gross purchases of $4.3 billion to $4.7 billion.

The company returned nearly $2.4 billion to shareholders in 2025 through share buybacks and dividends. United Rentals also announced a new $5 billion buyback program and a 10% dividend increase.

SOURCES:

• United Rentals Tops $16 Billion in 2025 Revenue (RER)​

• United Rentals Announces Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2025 Results (Investor Relations)​

• United Rentals Inc (URI) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Highlights (Yahoo Finance)​

• Assessing United Rentals (URI) Valuation After Q4 Miss, Buyback Launch And Dividend Increase (Simply Wall St)

Moe Bedard

I am the CEO of Big Equipment Pros. We provide equipment industry news, data, and insights to help professionals make smart decisions and grow their businesses. We also work with equipment vendors and finance professionals to help them attract customers and expand through strategic marketing partnerships.