Hertz Doesn't Make Its Money Renting Cars

Last year the average car in the Hertz fleet earned about $1,385 a month. In the same month it lost $300 of its own value. The year before, it lost $534. Nothing at the rental counter changed by anything like that much — revenue per rental day went from $58.28 to $56.13 — and yet the company's result improved by more than $2 billion. A rental company looks like a service business. Underneath, it is holding half a million cars it will have to sell again, financed with debt secured against the cars themselves. What those cars are worth on the day they are sold is the largest single swing in the accounts, and it is set by the used-car market rather than by anything the company charges at the desk. Using Hertz's own fourth quarter and full year 2025 results, this video follows $100 of revenue through the accounts: why $64.55 of it runs the fleet before a single car is depreciated, why interest on the cars accrues whether they are moving or parked, why a company with record utilisation still lost $747 million, and why a rental firm ends up running its own used car forecourt. What Hertz spent for every $100 of revenue, 2025: Running the fleet: $64.55 The cars losing value: $22.66 Overheads: $11.25 Interest on the cars: $7.15 Interest on the company: $5.51 Other depreciation: $1.38 Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:18 Half a million cars 0:39 Days, rates, utilisation 2:30 The line that moved 5:33 Who carries the risk 8:34 Holding is trading 9:59 Stock coming back Sources: Hertz Global Holdings, Q4 and full year 2025 earnings release (SEC): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... Hertz Global Holdings, Form 10-K for 2025 (SEC): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... 0:00 Intro 0:18 Half a million cars 0:39 Days, rates, utilisation 2:30 The line that moved 5:33 Who carries the risk 8:34 Holding is trading 9:59 Stock coming back Music: "Soft Ambient" by alex_makemusic, via Pixabay (Pixabay Content License, no attribution required).