CAR vs HTZ Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Avis Budget and Hertz both operate major global car rental businesses, but Avis Budget has generally maintained steadier fleet management execution, while Hertz's recent electric vehicle fleet strategy created unexpected depreciation costs that weighed on its financial recovery.
Avis Budget offers exposure to a car rental operator with a steadier fleet management track record, while Hertz offers a potential recovery story if the company can put its electric vehicle fleet challenges behind it and stabilize profitability. Consider whether you prefer Avis Budget's steadier execution or Hertz's turnaround potential.
CAR holds the edge across 4 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. CAR leads on both 1-year return (-22.20%) and forward P/E quality (23.21x vs -27.01x for HTZ), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. On fundamentals, HTZ is growing revenue faster (9.70%), while CAR maintains the higher operating margin (14.91%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for HTZ (-3.22%) than for CAR (-7.98%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Want exposure to a car rental operator with a steadier fleet management execution track record
- Value the differentiated dual-brand positioning of Avis and Budget across customer segments
- Are comfortable with rental pricing and utilization sensitivity to broader travel demand cycles
- Prefer a more established competitive position over a turnaround story
- Believe Hertz can successfully move past its electric vehicle fleet depreciation challenges
- See turnaround upside potential as the company works toward sustained profitability
- Are comfortable with the execution risk inherent in a still-developing financial recovery story
- Want exposure to potential margin improvement as fleet composition decisions become more measured
| Metric | CAR | HTZ |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 39.4 | 23.0 |
| AI ranki | #1242 | #3904 |
| Latest closei | $118.53 | $1.93 |
| 1M returni | -14.02% | -13.84% |
| 6M returni | +16.34% | -54.16% |
| 1Y returni | -22.20% | -68.82% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | CAR | HTZ |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $7.64K (-23.6%) started 2025-09-16 | $3.12K (-68.8%) started 2025-09-15 |
| 5Y ago | $12K (+20.0%) started 2021-09-16 | $1.23K (-87.7%) started 2021-09-15 |
| 10Y ago | $31.46K (+214.6%) started 2016-09-16 | $715.08 (-92.8%) started 2021-07-01 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | CAR | HTZ |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $4.96B | $847.14M |
| Trailing P/Ei | N/A | N/A |
| Forward P/Ei | 23.21 | -27.01 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 2.88 | 2.39 |
| Analyst targeti | $129.14 | $2.30 |
| Target upsidei | -7.98% | -3.22% |
| Metric | CAR | HTZ |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | -1.30% | 9.70% |
| Earnings growthi | 880.00% | N/A |
| EPS growthi | +880.00% | N/A |
| FCF margini | +9.33% | +16.57% |
| Operating margini | 14.91% | 7.14% |
| Profit margini | -5.43% | -3.13% |
| ROIC proxyi | N/A | N/A |
| Return on equityi | N/A | N/A |
| Dividend yieldi | N/A | N/A |
| Payout ratioi | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Dividend growth streaki | N/A | N/A |
| Betai | 1.90 | 2.26 |
| Debt/equityi | N/A | N/A |
| Current ratioi | 0.85 | 0.57 |
| Quick ratioi | 0.67 | 0.30 |
Over the past year, CAR and HTZ have moved moderately in the same direction (correlation of 0.41), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | CAR | HTZ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | -23.63% | -68.82% |
| CAGRi | -23.67% | -68.85% | |
| Volatilityi | 99.14% | 98.24% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.25 | -0.73 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.33 | -1.06 | |
| Max drawdowni | 83.40% | 80.67% | |
| Current drawdowni | 83.40% | 75.29% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 42.41% | 35.83% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 52.37% | 42.46% | |
| Max daily dropi | 48.38% | 40.71% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 74.51% | 55.25% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +19.98% | -87.75% |
| CAGRi | +3.71% | -34.29% | |
| Volatilityi | 87.10% | 82.84% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.39 | -0.16 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.66 | -0.26 | |
| Max drawdowni | 84.46% | 95.69% | |
| Current drawdowni | 83.40% | 94.50% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 55.77% | 67.77% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 58.78% | 71.44% | |
| Max daily dropi | 48.38% | 40.71% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 74.51% | 55.25% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +214.57% | -92.85% |
| CAGRi | +12.15% | -39.74% | |
| Volatilityi | 79.71% | 82.39% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.47 | -0.27 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 0.75 | -0.42 | |
| Max drawdowni | 84.55% | 95.69% | |
| Current drawdowni | 83.40% | 94.50% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 41.29% | 66.85% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 47.46% | 70.47% | |
| Max daily dropi | 48.38% | 40.71% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 74.51% | 55.25% |
| Category | CAR | HTZ |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Avis Budget Group, Inc. | Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. |
| Sector | Industrials | Industrials |
| Industry | Rental & Leasing Services | Rental & Leasing Services |
| Core business | A global vehicle rental company operating the Avis and Budget brands, providing car and truck rental services to leisure and business customers through airport and off-airport locations worldwide. | A global vehicle rental company operating the Hertz, Dollar, and Thrifty brands, providing car rental services to leisure and business customers, following a period of financial restructuring and fleet strategy adjustments. |
| Investor focus | Fleet cost management and vehicle depreciation trends, rental pricing and utilization rates, and balance between leisure and business travel demand. | Fleet cost management following prior electric vehicle fleet investment challenges, vehicle depreciation trends, and progress toward sustained profitability. |
- Established dual-brand structure across Avis and Budget provides differentiated positioning for business and leisure customer segments
- Global airport and off-airport location network provides broad market access across travel demand types
- Fleet management discipline around vehicle acquisition and disposal timing can support unit economics through changing market conditions
- Multi-brand structure across Hertz, Dollar, and Thrifty provides differentiated positioning across customer segments and price points
- Global rental location network provides broad market access for both leisure and business travel demand
- Lessons learned from its electric vehicle fleet experience inform more measured fleet composition decisions going forward
- Vehicle depreciation and fleet financing costs represent a substantial expense sensitive to used car market pricing trends
- Rental pricing and utilization are sensitive to broader travel demand cycles and competitive capacity levels
- Balance sheet leverage tied to fleet financing requires ongoing management amid interest rate and residual value fluctuations
- Prior electric vehicle fleet investment led to unexpectedly high depreciation costs, weighing on recent financial results
- Vehicle depreciation and fleet financing costs represent a substantial expense sensitive to used car market pricing trends
- Company has faced a more challenged financial position historically, requiring continued execution to sustain a durable recovery
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