Hertz reported strong second-quarter demand in the United States, Canada and Europe “as each of leisure, corporate and rideshare continued to demonstrate momentum, with international travel benefiting both our U.S. and European businesses,” Hertz CEO Stephen Scherr said on a Thursday earnings call.
“Volume across our business in the quarter was up 18 percent sequentially and 12 percent versus Q2 of last year,” Scherr said. “As we open the third quarter, there is no current evidence of softening demand.”
The company reported its share of airport volume remained constant during the quarter, but experienced increasing volume across other customer channels, including rideshare, “suggesting broader growth in the business,” Scherr said.
Scherr added that second-quarter international inbound travel was at about 60 percent of pre-pandemic levels, with the return of travel from Asia still not fully realized. He also noted, without citing specifics, the company has seen third-party analyses indicating that business travel had returned to about 60 percent of pre-pandemic levels and would return to about 95 percent in the next two years.
Going forward, “we will look to benefit from a continuing tailwind in U.S. inbound travel and further recovery in business travel,” Scherr said.
Hertz Q2 Metrics
Hertz reported $2.4 billion in second-quarter revenue, up 4 percent year over year. Americas revenue increased 2 percent to $2 billion, while international revenue increased 14 percent to $422 million. Quarterly net income was $227 million versus $520 million one year prior.
The company reported nearly 534,000 rentable vehicles at the end of the second quarter, up 9 percent year over year. Vehicle utilization was 82 percent, up from 79 percent in Q2 2022, while total revenue per transaction day declined 7 percent to $61.14.
Scherr also said that electric vehicles now represent 11 percent to 12 percent of Hertz’s overall fleet, and while it “still skews to a dominant presence of Tesla in the fleet,” the company now is taking delivery on the first EVs out of General Motors as part of the 175,000 Hertz agreed to purchase over the next five years, and they are coming at “more attractive price points than thought originally.”
