Why Avis Budget Group Stock Just Crashed

Avis's earnings were miserable in 2025. But did you know they were even worse in 2024?Car rental company Avis Budget Group (CAR 22.45%) stock tumbled 21% through 10:40 a.m. ET Thursday after missing badly on its Q4 earnings report last night. Heading into the report, analysts already weren't optimistic, expecting Avis to lose $0.19 per share on sales of $2.7 billion -- but the actual news was much worse. Avis reported a loss per share of $21.25, and on sales of less than $2.7 billion. Image source: Getty Images.

Avis Budget Group Q4 earnings What went wrong with Avis last quarter? In a nutshell, says the company, "we reviewed our ... United States electric vehicle ("EV") rental car vehicles, and ... shortened the useful life associated with such vehicles." So something's wrong with Avis's EVs. Avis didn't say precisely what is wrong -- maybe the batteries are running down prematurely. Maybe the tech is evolving so rapidly that today's EVs will be obsolete a year from now. Or maybe Avis's customers just don't want to rent EVs, and so it must sell them off. Whatever the reason, the company took $518 million in "long-lived asset impairment and other related charges," swelling its losses for both the quarter and the year. That accounted for 60% of the quarter's losses and more than half of the year's losses. (Per share, Avis lost $25.25 in 2025). ExpandNASDAQ: CARAvis Budget GroupToday's Change(-22.45%) $-27.68Current Price$95.62Key Data PointsMarket Cap$3.4BDay's Range$92.77 - $104.7452wk Range$54.03 - $212.81Volume176KAvg Vol592KGross Margin25.07% Is Avis Budget stock a sell? The good news is that -- believe it or not -- these losses were still better than Avis's losses in 2024 ($55.56 for Q4 2024, and $51.23 for the year). The better news is that analysts forecast Avis will return to profitability and earn $9.66 per share this year. At $97 per share, the stock only costs 10x forward earnings today. If you're feeling brave, now might be a good time to buy Avis stock.Read NextAug 20, 2025 •By Eric VolkmanWhy Investors Slammed the Brakes on Avis Stock TodayJul 30, 2025 •By Jeremy BowmanWhy Avis Budget Group Stock Was Falling TodayNov 1, 2024 •By Rich SmithWhy Avis Budget Stock Soared 17% After EarningsMay 3, 2024 •By Jeremy BowmanWhy Avis Budget Stock Surged ThursdayAug 2, 2022 •By Rich SmithWhy Avis Budget Stock Crashed TodayJul 28, 2022 •By Rich DupreyWhy Avis Budget Is Stepping on the Gas TodayAbout the AuthorRich Smith is a contributing Motley Fool defense and stock market analyst covering publicly traded and emerging companies in defense, space, aerospace, and other sectors. Prior to The Motley Fool, Rich practiced international corporate law for Clifford Chance in Russia, and for the Russian-Ukrainian Legal Group in Moscow, Kyiv, and Washington, D.C. He holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations from the College of William & Mary, a law degree from the University of Baltimore, and a language certification from the International Institute of Russian Language & Culture in Tver, Russian Federation. The Globe and Mail once featured him as “one of the best stock pickers since 2009.”TMFDittyX@RichSmithFoolStocks MentionedAvis Budget GroupNASDAQ: CAR$95.62 (22.45%) $27.68*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.