Net earnings fell to $83.1 million from $367.1 million as rental truck depreciation rose by $186.6 million and disposal losses hit $117.6 million for the year
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Fleet depreciation and equipment disposal losses hammered U-Haul Holding Company's bottom line in fiscal 2026, with annual net earnings collapsing to $83.1 million for the twelve months through March 31, 2026, compared with $367.1 million the year before.
On the top line, self-moving equipment rental revenues climbed $86.4 million, or 2.3%, and self-storage revenues added $74.5 million, or 8.3%, lifting total consolidated revenue to $6.04 billion for the year from $5.83 billion. Despite that top-line growth, earnings from operations across the Moving and Storage segment fell $295.5 million compared with fiscal 2025.
The two biggest drags on Moving and Storage profitability were a $186.6 million increase in fleet depreciation expense and $117.6 million in losses on the disposal of retired rental equipment — a reversal from the prior year, when disposal activity generated $15 million in net gains. Liability costs also rose $76.4 million for the full year. Total depreciation expense, net of disposal gains and losses, reached $1.29 billion, up from $958.2 million in fiscal 2025.
In the January-through-March quarter, a net loss of $127.8 million outpaced the $82.3 million deficit recorded in the same period a year prior, with interest expense rising to $96.6 million from $80.4 million.
"This is the second time in recent years we have had a real loss in this quarter," U-Haul Holding Chairman Joe Shoen said in a statement. "The issues with loss on disposal of rental equipment are working themselves through. CapEx on rental trucks will likely be down this time next year helping moderate fleet depreciation."
Shoen also flagged pressure from newly built but not yet occupied storage facilities. "We are pushing a bow wave of costs associated with built but not rented storage units," he said. "Until we rent more than we add, these costs will remain an increasing drain." Same-store occupancy in the self-storage portfolio fell 5.4 percentage points to 86.1% for the quarter ended March 31.
Borrowings swelled to $8.12 billion at March 31, 2026, versus $7.23 billion a year earlier, a level that put the net debt-to-trailing-twelve-month adjusted EBITDA ratio at 4.3 times. Adjusted EBITDA for the trailing twelve months rose to $1.65 billion from $1.62 billion.
Directors approved a $350 million buyback program applicable to both share classes, the company said. A cash dividend of $0.05 per share on the Non-Voting Common Stock was paid in March 2026.
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