United Rentals surges to record high on beat-and-raise report
URI•Analyst reaction and valuation
** BofA Global Research maintains 'buy' and hikes PT from $1,195 to $1,300
** URI is managing costs, reinvesting in growth and keeping leverage low (1.8x) at a time when peers are struggling with inflation, soft local market and have higher leverage, BofA wrote in a note to clients
** Average rating of 23 brokerages is "buy"; median PT $1,165 - LSEG
** URI shares last up about 12%, putting them up about 44% YTD, far outpacing the S&P 500's .SPX about 8.5% rise
Shares jump to record after strong quarterly results
** United Rentals URI.N shares surge 13.8% to an intraday record high of $1,177.67 and among top S&P 500 .SPX performers on Thurs after the company surpassed Wall Street's expectations and raised its annual sales forecast on strong equipment rental demand
** URI late Weds posted Q2 revenue growth of 12% yr/yr to $4.41 bln and adjusted EPS of $12.76, beating analysts' estimates of $4.22 bln and $11.53, respectively, per LSEG data
** The company said it now sees full-year revenue of $17.5-$17.8 bln, vs prior view of $16.9-$17.4 bln; analysts on avg had modeled $17.27 bln in revenue
