MeritValue

UNITED RENTALS, INC.

URIdata completeness 88%17 fiscal years on file

Data notes: no data for concept 'interestExpense'

The thesis, from the filings

UNITED RENTALS, INC. earns about 11% on invested capital, and has bought back 11% of its shares over 5 years. The applicable estimate puts fair value near $388.82 a share.Whether it’s worth owning at today’s price is the last question — and yours to answer, below.

i. The business — what you’d actually own
FigureFY 2021FY 2022FY 2023FY 2024FY 2025
Revenue$2.26B1$2.5B2$3.4B3$3.59B3$3.7B3
Net income$1.39B4$2.11B5$2.42B6$2.58B6$2.49B6
Operating cash flow$3.69B7$4.43B8$4.7B9$4.55B9$5.19B9
Capital expenditure$3.2B10$3.69B11$3.86B11$4.13B11—
Free cash flow (derived)$491M7$743M8$840M9$416M9—
Total debt$10.7B12$11.6B13$13B14$14.7B15$15.9B16
Cash & equivalents$144M17$106M18$363M19$457M20$459M20
Diluted shares72.8M71.0M68.7M66.6M64.6M

Superscripts are receipts. Each links to the SEC filing the number came from (full list at the bottom).

ii. Your slice — ownership made literal
If you owned
shares
Net assets behind them
$1,388.15
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
$386.04
Free cash flow it threw off
—
Debt you’d be carrying
$2,457.9

10 shares is a claim on $1,388.15 of net worth that earned you $386.04 last year, against $2,457.9 of debt.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on invested capital
11% avg · 5y
FY21 8%FY22 11%FY23 12%FY24 11%FY25 10%

It earned an average 11% on invested capital over 5 years. Compare that to what it costs to fund the business.

seeing a moat in the numbers →
Management signal · capital allocation
−11% shares · 5y

Share count is down 11% over 5 years — management has been buying back stock, quietly handing owners a bigger slice. Total debt has risen 49% over the same window.

reading capital allocation →

Signals, not verdicts — read from the filings above. Numbers don’t prove a moat; they show its footprint. You decide.

iv. What it’s worth — engine v0.1.0
DCF · Growth Exit 10Y
not applicable
negative equity value — refusing to publish per-share figure
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears10
  • fcfGrowth0.0%
  • fcfBase$743M
DCF · Growth Exit 5Y
not applicable
negative equity value — refusing to publish per-share figure
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears5
  • fcfGrowth0.0%
  • fcfBase$743M
Earnings Power Value
$388.82
assumptions (8)
  • riskFreeRate4.7%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • normalizedEarnings$2.42B
  • growthAssumed0.0%
Graham Number
$347.26
assumptions (1)
  • grahamMultiplier2250.0%

Different models answer different questions — which to trust when →

Sources — the receipts
  1. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001067701-24-000007 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001067701-25-000008 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001067701-26-000007 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerExcludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001067701-24-000007 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001067701-25-000008 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001067701-26-000007 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001067701-24-000007 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001067701-25-000008 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001067701-26-000007 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001067701-24-000007 (PaymentsToAcquireProductiveAssets)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001067701-25-000008 (PaymentsToAcquireProductiveAssets)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001067701-22-000008 (LongTermDebt)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001067701-23-000010 (LongTermDebt)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001067701-24-000007 (LongTermDebt)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001067701-25-000008 (LongTermDebt)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2025-12-31 · accession 0001067701-26-000007 (LongTermDebt)
  17. 10-K · period ending 2021-12-31 · accession 0001067701-23-000010 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  18. 10-K · period ending 2022-12-31 · accession 0001067701-24-000007 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  19. 10-K · period ending 2023-12-31 · accession 0001067701-25-000008 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  20. 10-K · period ending 2024-12-31 · accession 0001067701-26-000007 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)