United Rentals (NYSE: URI) reported third quarter 2019 earnings results that exceeded analysts’ views. The equipment rental company reported an adjusted EPS of $5.96 on revenue of $2.49 billion. Wall Street had project United Rentals to earn $5.66 per share on revenue of $2.45 billion.
United Rentals stock was down about 4% immediately after the earnings announcement in the extended hours of trading as the company trimmed down the upper end of 2019 revenue outlook.
Revenue for the recently ended quarter surged 17.6% and rental revenue rose 15.4% to $2.15 billion. The revenue growth was driven by the strength across the core construction markets. GAAP earnings increased to $5.08 per share from $4.01 in the prior year quarter.
Looking ahead, United Rentals expects that the lingering economic uncertainty could impact the construction and industrial activity. The Stamford, Connecticut-based company cut down its upper end of the revenue outlook for the fiscal year 2019. The slower industrial growth and higher-than-expected operating costs during the third quarter were reflected in the updated fiscal year 2019 guidance.
United Rentals absorbed higher operating costs in the recently ended quarter primarily related to repairs and maintenance and delivery, including the costs of transferring equipment between the company’s facilities.
United Rentals now expect FY19 revenue to be between $9.25 billion and $9.35 billion versus the prior outlook of $9.15 billion to $9.45 billion. Adjusted EBITDA is now projected to be in the range of $4.35 billion to $4.4 billion compared to the prior guided range of $4.35 billion to $4.5 billion.
URI stock, which went up by 0.82% to $121.67 when the market closed today, had advanced 19% since the beginning of this year. However, the stock price had dropped 14% from this time last year.