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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

For the quarterly period ended September 30, 2021

For the transition period from to

Commission File Number 1-14387

Commission File Number 1-13663

United Rentals, Inc.

United Rentals (North America), Inc.

(Exact Names of Registrants as Specified in Their Charters)

Registrants’ Telephone Number, Including Area Code: (203) 622-3131

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. x Yes o No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes x No o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

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If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). ☐Yes x No

As of October 25, 2021, there were 72,394,435 shares of United Rentals, Inc. common stock, $0.01 par value, outstanding. There is no market for the common stock of United Rentals (North America), Inc., all outstanding shares of which are owned by United Rentals, Inc.

This combined Form 10-Q is separately filed by (i) United Rentals, Inc. and (ii) United Rentals (North America), Inc. (which is a wholly owned subsidiary of United Rentals, Inc.). United Rentals (North America), Inc. meets the conditions set forth in General Instruction (H)(1)(a) and (b) of Form 10-Q and is therefore filing this report with the reduced disclosure format permitted by such instruction.

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UNITED RENTALS, INC.

UNITED RENTALS (NORTH AMERICA), INC.

FORM 10-Q FOR THE QUARTERLY PERIOD ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2021

INDEX

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CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This quarterly report on Form 10-Q contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “believe,” “expect,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seek,” “on-track,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “intend” or “anticipate,” or the negative thereof or comparable terminology, or by discussions of strategy or outlook. You are cautioned that our business and operations are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, and, consequently, our actual results may differ materially from those projected.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected include, but are not limited to, the following:

• the cyclical nature of our business, which is highly sensitive to North American construction and industrial activities; if construction or industrial activity decline, our revenues and, because many of our costs are fixed, our profitability may be adversely affected;

• uncertainty regarding emerging variant strains of the coronavirus (COVID-19), and regarding the length of time it will take for the COVID-19 pandemic to subside, including the time it will take for vaccines to be broadly distributed and accepted in the United States and the rest of the world, and the effectiveness of such vaccines in slowing or stopping the spread of COVID-19 and mitigating the economic effects of the pandemic;

• the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global economic conditions, including the impact of the various measures that have been implemented to protect public health, many of which reduced, and could in the future again reduce, demand for equipment rentals;

• the impact of global economic conditions (including potential trade wars) and public health crises and epidemics, such as COVID-19, on us, our customers and our suppliers, in the United States and the rest of the world;

• rates we charge and time utilization we achieve being less than anticipated (including as a result of COVID-19);

• excess fleet in the equipment rental industry, including as a result of reduced demand for fleet due to the impacts of COVID-19 on our customers;

• inability to benefit from government spending, including spending associated with infrastructure projects;

• trends in oil and natural gas could adversely affect the demand for our services and products;

• competition from existing and new competitors;

• our significant indebtedness (which totaled $10.1 billion at September 30, 2021) requires us to use a substantial portion of our cash flow for debt service and can constrain our flexibility in responding to unanticipated or adverse business conditions;

• inability to refinance our indebtedness on terms that are favorable to us (including as a result of volatility and uncertainty in capital markets due to COVID-19), or at all;

• incurrence of additional debt, which could exacerbate the risks associated with our current level of indebtedness;

• noncompliance with financial or other covenants in our debt agreements, which could result in our lenders terminating the agreements and requiring us to repay outstanding borrowings;

• restrictive covenants and amount of borrowings permitted in our debt instruments, which can limit our financial and operational flexibility;

• inability to access the capital that our businesses or growth plans may require (including as a result of uncertainty in capital or other financial markets due to COVID-19);

• the possibility that companies that we have acquired or may acquire could have undiscovered liabilities or involve other unexpected costs, may strain our management capabilities or may be difficult to integrate;

• incurrence of impairment charges;

• fluctuations in the price of our common stock and inability to complete stock repurchases in the time frame and/or on the terms anticipated (for example, due to COVID-19);

• our charter provisions as well as provisions of certain debt agreements and our significant indebtedness may have the effect of making more difficult or otherwise discouraging, delaying or deterring a takeover or other change of control of us;

• inability to manage credit risk adequately or to collect on contracts with a large number of customers;

• turnover in our management team and inability to attract and retain key personnel, as well as loss, absenteeism or the inability of employees to work or perform key functions in light of public health crises or epidemics (including COVID-19);

• costs we incur being more than anticipated, and the inability to realize expected savings in the amounts or time frames planned;

• inability to obtain equipment and other supplies for our business from our key suppliers on acceptable terms or at all, as a result of supply chain disruptions, insolvency, financial difficulties or other factors;

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• increases in our maintenance and replacement costs and/or decreases in the residual value of our equipment;

• inability to sell our new or used fleet in the amounts, or at the prices, we expect;

• risks related to security breaches, cybersecurity attacks, failure to protect personal information, compliance with data protection laws and other significant disruptions in our information technology systems;

• risks related to climate change and climate change regulation;

• the fact that our holding company structure requires us to depend in part on distributions from subsidiaries and such distributions could be limited by contractual or legal restrictions;

• shortfalls in our insurance coverage;

• increases in our loss reserves to address business operations or other claims and any claims that exceed our established levels of reserves;

• incurrence of additional expenses (including indemnification obligations) and other costs in connection with litigation, regulatory and investigatory matters;

• the costs of complying with environmental, safety and foreign laws and regulations, as well as other risks associated with non-U.S. operations, including currency exchange risk, and tariffs;

• the outcome or other potential consequences of regulatory matters and commercial litigation;

• labor disputes, work stoppages or other labor difficulties, which may impact our productivity, and potential enactment of new legislation or other changes in law affecting our labor relations or operations generally; and

• the effect of changes in tax law.

For a more complete description of these and other possible risks and uncertainties, please refer to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, as well as to our subsequent filings with the SEC. Our forward-looking statements contained herein speak only as of the date hereof, and we make no commitment to update or publicly release any revisions to forward-looking statements in order to reflect new information or subsequent events, circumstances or changes in expectations.

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PART I. FINANCIAL INFORMATION