Topic: How To Invest

Pat: Could I get your views on Avis Budget Group? Thank you.

Article Excerpt

A: Avis Budget Group Inc., $33.58, symbol CAR on Nasdaq (Shares outstanding: 100.3 million; Market cap: $3.3 billion; www.avisbudgetgroup.com), rents cars and trucks under the Avis and Budget banners at more than 10,000 locations in 175 countries. It also owns Zipcar, a leading vehicle-sharing service with 950,000 members. In all, the company has roughly 540,000 vehicles in its fleet. The Avis brand supplies 65% of total revenue, followed by Budget (30%) and Zipcar (5%). About 70% of Avis Budget’s revenue comes from rentals at airports. In the three months ended September 30, 2015, the company ’s revenue rose 1.4%, to $2.58 billion from $2.54 billion a year earlier. Without the negative impact of the high U.S. dollar, which hurts the contribution from its foreign operations, revenue gained 8%. The company’s total number of rental days (or the days a vehicle was rented) rose 9.6%. However, unfavourable exchange rates cut…