U-Haul Holding Co (UHAL) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Highlights: Navigating Losses and Strategic Growth

Yahoo

30-05-2025

Fourth Quarter Loss: $82.3 million compared to a loss of $863,000 in the same quarter last year.
Full Year Earnings: $367.1 million, down from $628.7 million in fiscal 2024.
Earnings Per Share (EPS): Fourth quarter loss of $0.41 per share compared to less than $0.01 loss in the previous year.
EBITDA (Moving and Storage Segment): Increased by $5.6 million to $217.3 million for the quarter.
Full Year EBITDA: Increased by just under $52 million to $1.619 billion.
Equipment Rental Revenue: Fourth quarter increase of $29 million, or just over 4%.
Full Year Equipment Rental Revenue: Increased by just over $100 million, about 2.8%.
Capital Expenditures for New Rental Equipment: $1.863 billion, a $244 million increase compared to fiscal 2024.
Proceeds from Sales of Retired Rental Equipment: Declined by $76 million to $652 million.
Self-Storage Revenue: Up $18 million, 8% for the quarter; full year up 8% or just under $67 million.
Average Revenue Per Occupied Foot: Improved by approximately 1.6%; same-store up 3%.
Occupied Unit Count: Increased by over 39,000 units compared to the same time last year.
New Storage Locations Added: 82 new locations, 6.5 million new net rentable square feet across 71,000 new rooms.
Average Occupancy Ratio: Declined about 2.5% to just over 77%; same-store decreased by 50 basis points to 91.9%.
Real Estate Investments: $1.507 billion in fiscal 2025, a $249 million increase over the previous year.
U-Box Revenue: Increased by just under $14 million, with U-Box as a primary contributor.
Operating Expenses (Moving and Storage): Increased by $53.6 million.
Cash and Availability (Moving and Storage Segment): Totaling $1.348 billion as of the end of March.
Warning! GuruFocus has detected 4 Warning Signs with UHAL.
Release Date: May 29, 2025
For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.
U-Haul Holding Co (NYSE:UHAL) reported a 4% increase in equipment rental revenue for the fourth quarter, with a $29 million rise.
The Moving and Storage segment's EBITDA increased by $5.6 million for the quarter, reaching $217.3 million.
Self-storage revenues grew by 8% for the quarter, with a 12-month increase of just under $67 million.
U-Box revenue saw significant growth, with moving transactions and related storage transactions both increasing by over 20%.
The company added 82 new storage locations, totaling 6.5 million new net rentable square feet across 71,000 new rooms during fiscal year 2025.
U-Haul Holding Co (NYSE:UHAL) reported a fourth-quarter loss of $82.3 million, a significant increase from the $863,000 loss in the same quarter last year.
Full-year fiscal 2025 earnings were $367.1 million, down from $628.7 million in fiscal 2024.
The company experienced a decline in interest income at the Moving and Storage segment due to reduced short-term cash balances.
Proceeds from the sales of retired rental equipment declined by $76 million, attributed to fewer pickups and cargo vans sold.
Average occupancy ratio across all owned locations declined by about 2.5% to just over 77% during the fourth quarter.
Q: Can you provide an outlook for U-Haul's top-line growth given the current market conditions? A: Edward Shoen, Chairman of the Board, President, noted that the business is seeing signs of consumer optimism, which is translating into increased business activity. He expects modest growth, with customers showing a willingness to accept rate increases when the company executes with precision.
Q: What factors contributed to the significant increase in U-Box growth, and is this growth sustainable? A: Jason Berg, CFO, explained that U-Box moving transactions are growing faster than storage transactions, both in the plus-20% range. Edward Shoen added that the U-Box market is vast and less explored, suggesting a higher growth rate than the truck share operation for many years to come.
Q: How is U-Haul addressing the depreciation and fleet acquisition challenges? A: Edward Shoen acknowledged that equipment depreciation is a real cost but should align with revenue over a three to five-year cycle. He noted that the cost of acquiring equipment exceeded projections due to automakers' pricing strategies, but he expects normalization as automakers refocus on their core competencies.
Q: What is the company's strategy regarding real estate investments and storage capacity expansion? A: Edward Shoen mentioned that U-Haul has added significant U-Box capacity across North America and is now focused on leveraging these assets. Jason Berg noted that construction costs have been gradually decreasing, allowing for more strategic investments in storage and U-Box warehouse development.
Q: Is there a disconnect in the valuation of U-Haul's self-storage portfolio compared to market norms, and how is the company addressing it? A: Jason Berg acknowledged a potential disconnect and stated that U-Haul is providing more detailed information to help investors better value the company. The goal is to communicate the company's worth more effectively to close the valuation gap.
For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.