Herc (HRI) Citi's Global Industrial Tech & Mobility Conference 2026 summary

Business overview and growth strategy

• Achieved nearly 10% CAGR revenue growth and close to 12% CAGR EBITDA growth over the past decade, with significant margin expansion and a diversified customer base.

• Focused on North America, operating over 600 locations in 46 states and 5 Canadian provinces, following a strategy to build scale in top 100 MSAs.

• Emphasizes disciplined capital allocation, technology investment, and a multifaceted diversification strategy to ensure resiliency and growth.

• Specialty business now comprises about 18% of fleet, with plans to increase to 22-23% in three years and 25-30% over time.

• Industry has matured with professional management, advanced IT, and pricing systems, driving discipline and margin growth.

H&E acquisition and integration

• H&E acquisition added 162 locations and 45,000 new customers, accelerating growth by four to five years and expanding network scale.

• Integration completed rapidly, including IT stack and sales territory realignment; branch network optimization to finish by end of current quarter.

• Dyssynergies were front-loaded at 15% customer loss upon closing, but synergy realization is ahead of expectations.

• $100M+ invested in synergy fleet in late 2025, with $40M revenue synergy realized and $100M-$120M expected in 2026.

• $125M in cost synergies to be fully realized in 2026, with a balanced split between G&A and operational savings.

Employee and technology integration

• Rapid onboarding of acquired employees onto payroll, benefits, and safety systems, with extensive training on technology and sales tools.

• Sales teams trained on proprietary pricing tools and specialty offerings, fostering collaboration with subject matter experts.

• Annual ProExpo event to further integrate 1,750 sales and operations staff and strengthen relationships.

• CEO aims to visit all 162 acquired branches by end of 2026.