U-Haul Fiscal Q1 2027 Earnings: Revenue Grew but Net Income Fell

U-Haul Holding Company (NYSE: UHAL, UHAL.B) reported fiscal Q1 2027 revenue of $1.682 billion, up approximately 3.2% year over year, while diluted EPS declined to $0.58 for UHAL from $0.68 and to $0.63 for UHAL.B from $0.73. For the quarter ended June 30, 2026, higher self-moving and self-storage revenue was offset by rising operating and interest expenses, leaving net earnings below the prior-year period.

Key financial results

Revenue increased by $51.6 million, led primarily by a $29.3 million increase in self-moving equipment rental revenue and a $15.9 million increase in self-storage revenue. Profitability moved in the opposite direction: operating earnings fell approximately 2.6%, and net earnings available to common shareholders declined approximately 13.6%.

The contraction was also evident in Moving and Storage adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, which decreased by $8.5 million. Consolidated operating margin fell by approximately 0.9 percentage points.

UHAL and UHAL.B EPS differ because U-Haul allocates undistributed earnings between its voting and non-voting common shares under the two-class method. UHAL.B EPS also includes the $0.05 per-share dividend declared during the quarter.

Business and segment performance

Moving and Storage remained the principal source of revenue and earnings, but its revenue growth did not produce higher operating profit. Both insurance segments recorded modest revenue and operating earnings increases.

Moving and Storage operating earnings are presented before equity in the earnings of the insurance subsidiaries.

Self-moving equipment rental

Self-moving equipment rental revenue increased 2.8% to $1.088 billion. U-Haul reported higher transactions and revenue in both its In-Town and One-Way markets, supported by additional company-operated locations, independent dealers and box trucks in the rental fleet.

Fleet maintenance and repair costs rose by $4.1 million. The company is also expanding its independent dealer network, which management expects to support moving transactions and fleet utilization.

Self-storage

Self-storage revenue rose 6.8% to $250.2 million, even as average same-store occupancy declined to 88.3% from 92.8%. Trailing-12-month revenue per occupied square foot increased 7.6% to $18.82 from $17.49, helping offset the occupancy decline.

U-Haul added 18 storage locations and 1.1 million net rentable square feet during the quarter. It had approximately 12 million additional square feet in development or pending, making the pace of lease-up an important factor for future returns. Across the broader owned portfolio, average monthly occupancy based on unit count fell to 72.9% from 78.1% as new capacity continued to be added.

U-Box and insurance

Other Moving and Storage revenue increased 1.2%, driven by expansion of the U-Box offering through additional warehouse capacity, containers and delivery equipment. Property and Casualty Insurance and Life Insurance both increased operating earnings, but their scale was not sufficient to offset the decline in Moving and Storage profit.

Revenue growth was absorbed by operating and financing costs

Consolidated operating expenses increased by $60.2 million, or approximately 7.3%, exceeding the 3.2% rate of revenue growth. This reduced operating margin and contributed to the decline in Moving and Storage adjusted EBITDA.

Interest expense increased by $15.6 million to $97.9 million, further widening the gap between revenue growth and bottom-line performance. Pretax earnings consequently fell to $161.7 million from $185.4 million.

Equipment disposals provided a meaningful offset. U-Haul recorded a $1.9 million gain on retired rental equipment disposals, compared with a $22.1 million loss a year earlier. That improvement helped counter higher rental-fleet and real-estate depreciation, but it was not enough to prevent operating and net earnings from declining.

Liquidity, leverage and capital allocation

Moving and Storage cash and available credit declined to $1.349 billion at June 30, 2026, from $1.479 billion at March 31, 2026. Segment debt increased modestly to $8.147 billion from $8.125 billion, while net debt to trailing-12-month adjusted EBITDA rose to 4.4 times from 4.3 times at the end of March and 4.0 times a year earlier. Approximately 91.6% of segment debt was fixed-rate.

During the quarter, U-Haul spent a combined $48.0 million repurchasing 248,368 voting shares and 584,278 non-voting shares. It also paid a $0.05-per-share cash dividend on its non-voting common stock.

Management perspective

Chairman Joe Shoen described the pickup and van resale market as tepid but noted that the company returned to a disposal gain after several quarters of losses. This suggests improvement in fleet resale execution, although market conditions remained subdued.

Management also said storage rental activity was accelerating and rates were holding. However, U-Haul was still completing new storage units faster than it was filling them, consistent with the quarter’s lower occupancy metrics.

Risks investors should monitor

• Storage supply is growing faster than occupancy. Continued development could keep occupancy under pressure and delay the earnings contribution from new facilities, even if rental rates remain stable.
• Operating costs are rising faster than revenue. The increase in operating expenses and fleet maintenance costs reduced the benefit of higher moving and storage revenue.
• Interest expense and leverage have increased. Higher interest expense directly pressured pretax earnings, while the Moving and Storage net-debt-to-adjusted-EBITDA ratio rose both sequentially and year over year.
• Fleet resale results may remain variable. The quarter’s disposal gain improved results substantially compared with the prior-year loss, but management continued to characterize the pickup and van resale market as tepid.

Summary

U-Haul’s fiscal Q1 2027 produced moderate revenue growth across self-moving rentals and self-storage, but higher operating and financing costs caused operating earnings, adjusted EBITDA and net income to decline. The main issues to follow are whether storage occupancy catches up with the company’s expanding capacity, whether cost growth moderates, and whether improved fleet disposal results can continue in a weak resale market.