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The car rental company smashed earnings expectations, reporting earnings per share of $9.71 on revenue of $2.4 billion. Analysts polled by Investing.com expected earnings of $3.38 per share on revenue of $2.16 billion.
Revenue was 77% above the first quarter of 2021. Meanwhile, adjusted earnings per share were $9.99.
Avis said revenues were driven by rental days as demand improved throughout the quarter and increased revenue per day.
“Despite the impact of Omicron on the first half of the quarter, our team was able to quickly pivot to manage the significantly increasing demand during the back half of the quarter,” said Joe Ferraro, Avis Budget Group Chief Executive Officer.
“We focused on diligent fleet management and continued cost optimization to generate a new record first-quarter Adjusted EBITDA,” he added.
Avis also revealed it has approved a $1 billion and $2 billion increase to its existing share repurchase authorization in March and May, respectively. It brings the available authorization under the stock repurchase program to $2.3 billion.
