Executive Summary
U-Haul Holding Company posted QQ1 2025 revenue of $1.549 billion with a gross profit of $306.2 million and EBITDA of $533.3 million, yielding a gross margin of ~19.8% and an EBITDA margin of roughly 34.4%. Net income was reported at $195.4 million, or $0.95 per share, versus a year-ago level of $257.0 million, reflecting ongoing headwinds from higher equipment costs and depreciation. Management highlighted a continued emphasis on customer-centric strategies, pricing discipline in storage, and a strong capex-led expansion program in real estate and storage facilities. The quarter underscored the mix of resilience in the moving and storage platforms (especially self-storage and U-Box) against more challenging conditions in the traditional fleet-based moving business.
Strategically, U-Haul is accelerating its self-storage development and acquisitions, expanding the footprint with roughly 7.7 million net rentable square feet under development and about 158 active projects, plus 9.2 million square feet in development backlog. The company remains focused on converting occupancy growth into durable margin expansion over time, aided by higher average rent per occupied foot in storage (up ~3% year-over-year) and improving revenue per mile in the moving fleet. The downsides include a sizable depreciation burden from a modernizing fleet, ongoing higher personnel and operating costs, and a competitive price environment in storage that requires non-price value propositions to sustain demand. Management signaled capital deployment plans, including a net capex run rate around $90 million for the year, and potential financing activity to support growth, including a private placement of up to $500 million. Investors should monitor housing-market dynamics, the pace of storage-portfolio maturation, fleet rotation efficiency, and the company’s ability to translate capacity expansion into sustainable cash flow and earnings power.
Key Performance Indicators
QoQ: 522.76% | YoY:-76.75%
QoQ: 586.03% | YoY:-24.54%
QoQ: 2 117.31% | YoY:-23.91%
QoQ: 2 023.08% | YoY:-25.20%
Key Insights
Revenue: $1,548.49 million (QQ1 2025) vs. prior-year quarter; Gross margin: 19.8%; Operating margin: 19.5%; EBITDA: $533.29 million (EBITDA Margin ~34.4%); Net income: $195.42 million; EPS: $0.95; Free cash flow: -$509.26 million; Net cash provided by operating activities: $453.90 million; Cash and cash equivalents at period-end: $1.153 billion; Debt (total): $6.259 billion; Net debt: $5.106 billion; Free cash flow: negative reflecting heavy CapEx; Occupancy – overall storage portfolio ~8...
Financial Highlights
Revenue: $1,548.49 million (QQ1 2025) vs. prior-year quarter; Gross margin: 19.8%; Operating margin: 19.5%; EBITDA: $533.29 million (EBITDA Margin ~34.4%); Net income: $195.42 million; EPS: $0.95; Free cash flow: -$509.26 million; Net cash provided by operating activities: $453.90 million; Cash and cash equivalents at period-end: $1.153 billion; Debt (total): $6.259 billion; Net debt: $5.106 billion; Free cash flow: negative reflecting heavy CapEx; Occupancy – overall storage portfolio ~80% (down ~280 bps vs. year-ago period), same-store occupancy 93.9% (down ~120 bps); Storage revenue per occupied foot up, and U-Box contribution up notably; Capex (real estate/storage) contributed to higher depreciation; Cash availability including unused facility availability totaled approximately $1.567 billion at June 30 (M/S).
Income Statement
| Metric |
Value |
YoY Change |
QoQ Change |
| Revenue |
1.55B |
0.53% |
31.32% |
| Gross Profit |
306.22M |
-76.75% |
522.76% |
| Operating Income |
301.58M |
-24.54% |
586.03% |
| Net Income |
195.42M |
-23.91% |
2 117.31% |
| EPS |
0.95 |
-25.20% |
2 023.08% |
Key Financial Ratios
operatingProfitMargin
19.5%
operatingCashFlowPerShare
$2.31
freeCashFlowPerShare
$-2.6
dividendPayoutRatio
4.52%
Management Commentary
Theme: Strategy and Customer Focus
- Quote: "The customer is, of course, who's going to win. We view this very much as a consumer product... if someone can win the support of the consumer that they will do that by pleasing a consumer, and that's our intent." (Edward Joe Shoen)
- Quote: "We view this as a consumer product... there has been a lot of discounting in the industry that's way below cost of doing business. And of course, that usually doesn't work out over a long time." (Edward Joe Shoen)
Theme: Operational Trends and Growth Vectors
- Quote: "Equipment rental revenue results... this is our first year-over-year increase in equipment rental revenue in eight quarters" (Jason Berg)
- Quote: "Self-storage occupancy declined about 280 basis points to 80% across the portfolio, while same-store occupancy fell 120 basis points to 93.9%." (Jason Berg / discussion aligned in call)
- Quote: "During the quarter, we added 17 new storage locations, with 1.7 million net rentable square feet of new space and 9.2 million square feet of development pending behind that." (Jason Berg/Joe Shoen)
Theme: Capital Allocation and Financing
- Quote: "Cash, plus unused availability from existing facilities totaled $1.567 billion" (Jason Berg)
- Quote: "CapEx for real estate acquisitions and storage development was $402 million, up $108 million year over year" (Jason Berg)
- Quote: "We posted supplemental materials; our 2025 full-year net CapEx projection was raised to about $90 million" (Jason Berg)
- Quote: "We expect to execute a private placement of $500 million as part of funding strategy" (Jason Berg)
Theme: Competitive Landscape and Differentiation
- Quote: "Competitors mimic our customer service improvements (windows with visible doors, door alarms) while we continue to push differentiated service to justify pricing" (Edward Joe Shoen)
- Quote: "The focus remains on customer service and value, not discounting; there is reservoir of customers willing to pay a fair price" (Edward Joe Shoen)
"The customer is, of course, who's going to win. I know that the -- we view this very much as a consumer product... if someone can win the support of the consumer that they will do that by pleasing a consumer, and that's our intent, and we believe that will give us some modest amount of greater ability to whether -- some hard times."
— Edward Joe Shoen
"There has been a lot of discounting in the industry that's way below cost of doing business. And of course, that usually doesn't work out over a long time."
— Edward Joe Shoen
Forward Guidance
Outlook and Observations:
- Growth drivers: Storage and U-Box remain meaningful growth vectors. The company continues to add storage capacity (net 7.7 million sq ft in development across 158 active projects; 64k additional units since last year) even as same-store occupancy softens in the near term. Management expects new units to ramp occupancy gradually, a pattern that historically lagged ~12 months after project inception; current commentary suggests a continued ramp through calendar 2025 with a constructive long-run margin profile once mature.
- Capital allocation and funding: QQ1 2025 highlighted a robust CapEx program in real estate/storage and a plan to fund growth with debt and potential equity financing. The company signaled a private placement of up to $500 million, which should provide flexibility to sustain a multi-year development plan. Management also highlighted a target CapEx run rate around $90 million for the year, implying continued investment in new units, acquisitions, and U-Box/warehouse development.
- Fleet and depreciation: Elevated depreciation driven by new fleet purchases and the mix shift to newer vans/pickups has been a near-term earnings headwind, though the company indicated it could be offset over time by higher utilization and pricing discipline in storage. The trajectory for fleet size remains uncertain, with management noting the fleet could be flat to modestly up or down around mid-year depending on OEM allocations and resale proceeds.
- Key risks to monitor: (1) Housing-market resilience impacting moving demand and unit economics; (2) pricing power dynamics in storage vs. discount competition; (3) fleet supply chain constraints and used-truck pricing; (4) execution risk on large organic/inorganic storage expansion; (5) leverage and interest-rate environment given the high debt load and ongoing capex needs. Investors should monitor occupancy and rent trends in storage, fleet rotation efficiency, and the pace of real estate development maturity leading to meaningful cash flows.
- Likely path to profitability and cash flows: Near-term negative free cash flow is driven by capex and working capital needs; however, the operating cash flow of $454 million in the quarter demonstrates underlying earnings power that, with sustained capital discipline and improved occupancy/margins in storage, could translate into stronger cash generation over the next 12–24 months. The outcome will depend on execution in fleet rotation, storage occupancy recovery, and the ability to realize the planned CapEx program without impeding liquidity.