Avis slides after Q2 results disappoint as booking trends shift

Avis Budget

29/07/2026 16:00

** Car-rental firm Avis Budget's CAR.O shares down 11.3% at $147.52 on Weds after results fell short of Wall Street's expectations
** Parsippany, New Jersey-based co late Tues reported Q2 profit of 98 cents/sh, well below analysts' avg non-GAAP estimate of $2.08/sh, per LSEG data
** Rev in qtr dipped to $3 bln from $3.04 bln a yr-ago; analysts had modeled for $3.1 bln in rev
** CEO Brian Choi said co moved quickly to resize its fleet to protect utilization and returns as booking trends shifted during qtr
** “We remain focused on disciplined execution, stronger customer experiences, and building a business that can perform across different demand environments,” Choi said
** With the decline, CAR shares up 15% YTD,  outperforming 6% advance in the Nasdaq .IXIC
** Shares hit record intraday high of $847.70 on Apr 22, caught up in another "meme-stock" frenzy attributed to a short squeeze
** 8 analysts rate the stock "hold", 1 other rates "sell"; median PT $148
     

(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)
((lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))