United Rentals, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as an equipment rental company in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. It operates through two segments, General Rentals and Specialty. The General Rentals segment rents general construction and industrial equipment, such as backhoes, skid-steer loaders, forklifts, earthmoving equipment, and material handling equipment; aerial work platforms, including boom and scissor …
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Competitive advantage assessment
Key strengths
Margins Stable Across CyclesOperating margin volatility is low (stability score 0.96), demonstrating pricing resilience across cycles.
ROIC Sustainably Above PeersROIC at 76.0th percentile exceeds peers and WACC, demonstrating superior capital allocation.
The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks
against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.
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United Rentals, Inc. ranks #2 of 28
scored companies in Rental & Leasing Services by moat score — the top 7%.
The widest moat in the group is Global Ship Lease Inc New (GSL)
at 79/100.
Moat scores for companies ranked near URI in Rental & Leasing Services
Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.
Cost Advantage
Score 69
· 15% of the moat score
A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.
Customer Stickiness
Score 80
· 15% of the moat score
Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.
Capital Efficiency
Score 82
· 18% of the moat score
Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.
Resilience
Score 69
· 17% of the moat score
Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.
Scale & Market Position
Score 63
· 15% of the moat score
Scale matters only when it converts into economics.
United Rentals, Inc. (URI) scores 74 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #2 of 28 scored companies in Rental & Leasing Services, the top 7%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 27 companies in Rental & Leasing Services. Its strongest defense is Capital Efficiency (82/100) and its weakest is Scale & Market Position (63/100).
How does United Rentals, Inc. compare with other Rental & Leasing Services companies?
United Rentals, Inc. ranks #2 of 28 scored companies in Rental & Leasing Services by moat score. The widest moat in Rental & Leasing Services is Global Ship Lease Inc New (GSL) at 79/100. The companies ranked closest are Global Ship Lease Inc New (GSL) at 79 just above it and GATX Corporation (GATX) at 68 just below it.
How is the moat score calculated?
Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 27 companies in Rental & Leasing Services. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.
Why is United Rentals, Inc. scored with the Corporate Default template?
Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.
Which competitive defenses are measured for United Rentals, Inc.?
The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and URI scores: Pricing Power (77), Cost Advantage (69), Customer Stickiness (80), Capital Efficiency (82), Resilience (69), Scale & Market Position (63). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.
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