Hertz fell 14.10% after used-car warning, then gave back the rebound

Hertz said second-quarter adjusted corporate EBITDA would be $50 million to $80 million after unexpected used-car softness pushed expected net depreciation per unit per month toward $300, and HTZ dropped 14.097% in the first minute after the update crossed at 7:19:12 a.m. ET on June 24, 2026. The first selloff did not hold cleanly: the stock recovered above its $4.09 headline-time close within 15 minutes, then fell back below that level at the two-hour mark.

Used-car disposal losses drove the guidance update

In a Form 8-K filed June 24, 2026, Hertz said preliminary second-quarter fleet size, revenue, revenue per day and rental days were tracking in line with or slightly above its previous expectations. Healthy demand and better-than-anticipated capacity utilization were supporting the rental business.

The change came from vehicle disposal economics. Hertz said unexpected softness in the used-car market produced losses on May vehicle sales after gains in April. The company consequently expected net depreciation per unit per month, or net DPU, of approximately $300 and adjusted corporate EBITDA of $50 million to $80 million, toward the lower end of its prior second-quarter range. The figures were preliminary and unaudited.

The first-minute drop used the earlier $4.54 price

HTZ was at $4.54 shortly before the update and at $3.90 one minute afterward, producing the recorded 14.097% decline. The stock's headline-time close was $4.09, so the subsequent readings tell a different part of the path.

At 7:29 a.m. ET, HTZ was at $4.19. That was still 7.709% below the earlier $4.54 reference, but 2.445% above the $4.09 headline-time close. By 7:33 a.m. ET, the stock reached $4.30, a 5.134% gain from $4.09. The tape had therefore recovered the initial post-update break without returning to the pre-update price.

The rebound failed over the next two hours

The recovery did not persist. At 9:19 a.m. ET, HTZ was at $4.00, down 2.2% from the $4.09 headline-time close. By 9:58 a.m. ET, the stock was at $3.78, extending that decline to 7.579% from the same reference.

The sequence matters because a single percentage would miss the change in market read. HTZ first sold off sharply against the pre-update price, then rebounded above the headline-time close and later moved below that close again. The filing itself paired healthy rental demand with weaker disposal economics. The observed path was a failed rebound, not a straight-line reaction.

The warning interrupted an improving fleet-cost narrative

Hertz had entered the quarter emphasizing progress in fleet economics. In first-quarter results published May 7, 2026, the company reported net DPU of $312, down 13% from a year earlier, and said the used-car market had improved considerably after its seasonal trough. Hertz described a net DPU below $300 as one of its operating targets.

The June update did not reverse every part of that operating story: rental demand and utilization were still meeting or exceeding earlier assumptions, and approximately $300 of second-quarter net DPU would remain below the first-quarter figure. What changed was the expected contribution from selling vehicles. May losses replaced April gains, moving adjusted corporate EBITDA toward the lower end of the prior range and exposing how sensitive the recovery remained to used-car prices.

The market repriced the expectation gap, then tested it again

The clearest read was not simply that HTZ fell 14.097%. The stock recovered from $3.90 to $4.30 within the early sequence, then traded back to $4.00 at two hours and $3.78 by 9:58 a.m. ET. The company update combined resilient rental demand with weaker vehicle-sale economics, and the tape moved through an initial shock, a counter-move and a renewed decline.