Avis Budget Group, Inc.

What they do

Avis Budget operates vehicle rental, car sharing and commercial truck rental through its Avis, Budget, Zipcar, Payless and Apex brands, plus regional brands such as Maggiore in Italy and Turiscar in Portugal. It runs two reportable segments: Americas and International. The company and its licensees operate in approximately 180 countries from roughly 10,000 rental locations, about 3,800 of which are licensee-operated.

Revenue drivers

• Americas segment — Vehicle rental in North America, South America, Central America and the Caribbean, plus car sharing and licensees; it is the larger of the two reportable segments and includes the leading U.S. commercial truck rental business.
• International segment — Vehicle rental in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australasia, plus car sharing and licensees; Avis Budget says it generally holds a leading share of airport car rental revenue in North America, Europe and Australasia.
• Avis brand — The premium rental brand generated approximately $6.6 billion of revenue in 2025, with royalty fees from licensees equal to roughly 1% of Avis revenues.
• Licensing and other brands — The company licenses Avis, Budget, Zipcar and other trademarks to independent operators in markets it does not serve directly, and operates value brands Payless and Apex plus regional European brands.

Recent performance

For the second quarter of 2026, Avis Budget reported revenues of $3.0 billion, net income of $63 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $286 million. Total company vehicle utilization was 72.6%, up 1.9 points year over year, with Americas utilization up 2.5 points to 73.2%, a second-quarter record for both measures. Per-unit fleet costs were $290 per month excluding exchange rate effects, down 4% versus the prior-year quarter. Full-year 2025 results included revenues of approximately $11.7 billion, a net loss of $995 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $748 million, with the net loss reflecting $518 million in long-lived asset impairment and related charges on certain U.S. EV rental vehicles.

Strategy

Management's stated strategy centers on operational efficiency, expanded use of analytics, customer experience and technology-enabled innovation. The company is scaling digital capabilities and broadening availability of Avis First, its premium service launched in select markets in 2025. It announced a multi-year partnership with Waymo to support autonomous ride-hailing in Dallas, which went live June 1, 2026. In 2024 and 2025, the company changed its fleet strategy for U.S. and Canadian vehicles to accelerate fleet rotations, and it shortened the useful life of certain U.S. EV rental vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Risks

• Fleet cost and vehicle supply — Avis Budget's results depend on the cost of new vehicles, manufacturer recalls, semiconductor and parts shortages, tariffs and used-vehicle disposal prices under repurchase or guaranteed depreciation programs.
• Competition and pricing — The mobility industry is highly competitive with price a primary factor, and new entrants including automakers, ride-hailing and car-sharing companies with substantial capital or lower-cost models could pressure rental volume and pricing.
• Travel demand and macro conditions — Revenue is sensitive to airline passenger traffic, discretionary consumer travel spending, recessions, pandemics, severe weather, military conflicts in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, and government shutdowns.
• Elevated claims and insurance costs — The company cites increases in the number of personal injury claims and cost per incident, along with the cost and availability of insurance, as factors that can materially affect results.

Outlook

Management said second-quarter Adjusted EBITDA was in line with its initial expectations and described the company as focused on disciplined execution, stronger customer experiences and performing across different demand environments. The company reported approximately $1.0 billion of liquidity at quarter-end plus $1.9 billion of fleet funding capacity after refinancing its $2 billion revolver and issuing $300 million of add-on senior notes due 2031. Avis Budget did not provide specific full-year 2026 guidance figures in the materials reviewed.