Hertz Global (HTZ) Q4 2024 earnings summary

Executive summary

• 2024 was a challenging transition year with significant operational and leadership changes, including a new management team and a Back-to-Basics roadmap focused on fleet, revenue, and cost management.

• The company executed a commercial strategy emphasizing capacity discipline and premium RPD business, with early progress and ongoing operational transformation targeted for completion by end of 2025.

• Customer experience initiatives led to strong gains in net promoter scores and service recovery, with a focus on digital and self-service enhancements.

• Completed a 30,000 EV fleet reduction as part of a broader fleet rotation strategy to normalize depreciation per unit by end of 2025.

Financial highlights

• Q4 2024 revenue was $2.0 billion, down 7% year-over-year; full-year 2024 revenue was $9.0 billion, down 3% from 2023.

• Q4 2024 Adjusted Corporate EBITDA loss was $357 million, narrowing 7% year-over-year; full-year Adjusted Corporate EBITDA loss was $1.54 billion.

• Q4 2024 net loss was $479 million (loss margin 23%); full-year net loss was $2.9 billion (loss margin 32%).

• Over 100,000 vehicles were sold in Q4, compared to just over 30,000 in Q4 2023.

• Liquidity at year-end 2024 was $1.8 billion, including $500+ million in cash and $1.2–1.3 billion available on the revolver.

Outlook and guidance

• DPU is expected to remain elevated in Q1 2025 but decline through the year, targeting sub-$300 by year-end.

• DOE plus SG&A unit cost expected to be flat to down year-over-year in 2025, even with a smaller fleet.

• EBITDA guidance: Q1 loss, Q2 break-even, sizable Q3 profit, small Q4 profit, resulting in a low single-digit EBITDA margin for 2025.

• Fleet rotation and operational transformation to be substantially complete by end of 2025, with continued focus on cost reductions, especially insurance costs.

• No specific quarterly financial targets provided due to ongoing 2024 cleanup.