Avis Budget Group Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year Results
PARSIPPANY, N.J., Feb. 18, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avis Budget Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CAR) announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2025 today. We ended the quarter with revenues of $2.7 billion, net loss of $856 million, and Adjusted EBITDA 1 of $5 million. Full year revenues were $11.7 billion, driven by sustained year-over-year demand. Net loss was $995 million, and Adjusted EBITDA 1 was $748 million.
During the fourth quarter of 2025, we reviewed our fleet strategy, specific to certain United States electric vehicle (“EV”) rental car vehicles, and as a result, shortened the useful life associated with such vehicles. Our net loss for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2025, reflects $518 million in long-lived asset impairment and other related charges, which was recorded to reduce the carrying value of certain United States EV rental car vehicles to its fair value in connection with this change.
“As we enter 2026, we’ve repositioned the business and turned a challenging fourth quarter into a catalyst for meaningful change,” said Brian Choi, Avis Budget Group CEO. “We are tightening fleet discipline, strengthening our balance sheet, and raising the bar on customer experience to drive sustainable earnings growth.”
Q4 OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
1 Adjusted EBITDA and certain other measures in this release are non-GAAP financial measures. See "Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Key Metrics" and the tables that accompany this release for the definitions and reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP measures.
SUPPLEMENTAL FINANCIALS
Investors may access our fourth quarter and full year 2025 supplemental financials on our investor relations website at ir.avisbudgetgroup.com.
INVESTOR CONFERENCE CALL
We will host a conference call to discuss our fourth quarter results on February 19, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. (ET). Investors may access the call on our investor relations website at ir.avisbudgetgroup.com or by dialing (877) 407-2991. A replay of the call will be available on our website and at (877) 660-6853 using conference code 13758221.
ABOUT AVIS BUDGET GROUP
We are a leading global provider of mobility solutions through our three most recognized brands, Avis, Budget and Zipcar, as well as several other brands, well recognized in their respective markets. We license the use of the Avis, Budget, Zipcar and other brands’ trademarks to licensees in areas in which we do not operate directly. We and our licensees operate our brands in approximately 180 countries throughout the world. Our brands and mobility solutions have an extended global reach with approximately 10,000 rental locations throughout the world. We operate most of our car rental locations in North America, Europe and Australasia. We are headquartered in Parsippany, N.J. More information is available at avisbudgetgroup.com.
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES AND KEY METRICS
This release includes financial measures such as Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Free Cash Flow, as well as other financial measures, that are not considered generally accepted accounting principle (“GAAP”) measures as defined under SEC rules. Important information regarding such non-GAAP measures is contained in the tables within this release and in Appendix I, including the definitions of these measures and reconciliations to the most comparable U.S. GAAP measures.
We measure performance principally using the following key metrics: (i) rental days, (ii) revenue per day, (iii) vehicle utilization, and (iv) per-unit fleet costs. Our rental days, revenue per day and vehicle utilization metrics are all calculated based on the actual rental of the vehicle during a 24-hour period. We believe that this methodology provides management with the most relevant metrics in order to effectively manage the performance of our business. Our calculations may not be comparable to the calculations of similarly-titled metrics by other companies. We present currency exchange rate effects on our key metrics to provide a method of assessing how our business performed excluding the effects of foreign currency rate fluctuations. Currency exchange rate effects are calculated by translating the current-period's results at the prior-period average exchange rates plus any related gains and losses on currency hedges.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements in this press release constitute “forward-looking statements” as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements contained herein are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by any such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include information concerning our future financial performance, business strategy, projected plans and objectives. These statements may be identified by the fact that they do not relate to historical or current facts and may use words such as “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “may,” “would,” “intends,” “projects,” “estimates,” “plans,” “forecasts,” “guidance,” and similar words, expressions or phrases. The following important factors and assumptions could affect our future results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to:
We operate in a continuously changing business environment and new risk factors emerge from time to time. New risk factors, factors beyond our control, or changes in the impact of identified risk factors may cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in any forward-looking statements. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as a prediction of actual results. Moreover, we do not assume responsibility if future results are materially different from those forecasted or anticipated. Other factors and assumptions not identified above, including those discussed in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” set forth in Part II, Item 7, in "Risk Factors," set forth in Part I, Item 1A, and in other portions of our 2024 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on February 14, 2025 (the “2024 Form 10-K”), as well as in similarly titled sections set forth in Part I, Item 2 and Part II, Item 1A of our subsequently filed quarterly reports, may contain forward-looking statements and involve uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements.
Although we believe that our assumptions are reasonable, any or all of our forward-looking statements may prove to be inaccurate and we can make no guarantees about our future performance. Should unknown risks or uncertainties materialize or underlying assumptions prove inaccurate, actual results could differ materially from past results and/or those anticipated, estimated or projected. We undertake no obligation to release any revisions to any forward-looking statements, to report events or to report the occurrence of unanticipated events. For any forward-looking statements contained in any document, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For additional information concerning forward-looking statements and other important factors, refer to our 2024 Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other filings with the SEC.
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Appendix I
Avis Budget Group, Inc.
DEFINITIONS OF NON-GAAP MEASURES AND KEY METRICS
Adjusted EBITDA
The accompanying press release presents Adjusted EBITDA, which is a non-GAAP measure most directly comparable to net income (loss). Adjusted EBITDA is defined as income (loss) from continuing operations before non-vehicle related depreciation and amortization; long-lived asset impairment and other related charges; other fleet charges; restructuring and other related charges; early extinguishment of debt costs; non-vehicle related interest; transaction-related costs, net; legal matters, net, which primarily includes amounts recorded in excess of $5 million, related to unprecedented self-insurance reserves for allocated loss adjustment expense, class action lawsuits and personal injury matters; non-operational charges related to shareholder activist activity, which includes third-party advisory, legal and other professional fees; COVID-19 charges, net; cloud computing costs; other (income) expense, net; severe weather-related damages in excess of $5 million, net of insurance proceeds; and income taxes. In the first quarter of 2025, we revised our definition of Adjusted EBITDA to exclude other fleet charges. We did not revise prior years' Adjusted EBITDA amounts because there were no other charges similar in nature to these.
We believe Adjusted EBITDA is useful as a supplemental measure in evaluating the performance of our operating businesses and in comparing our results from period to period. We also believe that Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors because it allows them to assess our results of operations and financial condition on the same basis that management uses internally. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP measure and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for net income or other income statement data prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Our presentation of Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly-titled measures used by other companies. A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA from net income (loss) recognized under U.S. GAAP is provided on Table 5.
Adjusted Free Cash Flow
Represents net cash provided by operating activities adjusted to reflect the cash inflows and outflows relating to capital expenditures, the investing and financing activities of our vehicle programs, asset sales, if any, and to exclude restructuring and other related charges; early extinguishment of debt costs; transaction-related costs; legal matters; non-operational charges related to shareholder activist activity; COVID-19 charges; other (income) expense; and severe weather-related damages.
We believe that Adjusted Free Cash Flow is useful in measuring the cash generated that is available to be used to repay debt obligations, repurchase stock, pay dividends and invest in future growth through new business development activities or acquisitions. Adjusted Free Cash Flow should not be construed as a substitute in measuring operating results or liquidity, and our presentation of Adjusted Free Cash Flow may not be comparable to similarly-titled measures used by other companies. A reconciliation of Adjusted Free Cash Flow from net cash provided by operating activities recognized under U.S. GAAP is provided on Table 5.
Adjusted EBITDA Margin
Represents Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of revenues.
Available Rental Days
Defined as Average Rental Fleet times the numbers of days in a given period.
Average Rental Fleet
Represents the average number of vehicles in our fleet during a given period of time.
Currency Exchange Rate Effects
Represents the difference between current-period results as reported and current-period results translated at the prior-period average exchange rates plus any related currency hedges.
Gross Adjusted EBITDA
Represents Adjusted EBITDA with the add-back of vehicle depreciation excluding other fleet charges and vehicle interest.
Net Corporate Debt
Represents corporate debt minus cash and cash equivalents.
Net Corporate Leverage
Represents Net Corporate Debt divided by Adjusted EBITDA for the twelve months prior to the date of calculation.
Total Net Debt Ratio
Represents total debt less cash and cash equivalents divided by Gross Adjusted EBITDA for the twelve months prior to the date of calculation.
Per-Unit Fleet Costs
Represents vehicle depreciation, lease charges and gain or loss on vehicles sales, divided by Average Rental Fleet.
Rental Days
Represents the total number of days (or portion thereof) a vehicle was rented during a 24-hour period.
Revenue per Day
Represents revenues divided by Rental Days.
Vehicle Utilization
Represents Rental Days divided by Available Rental Days.