Stock Alert: Avis Budget Climbs 20% On Earnings, Outlook

(RTTNews) - Shares of Car and truck rentals company Avis Budget Group, Inc. (CAR) are climbing more than 19% Thursday morning after reporting upbeat fourth-quarter results and a full-year revenue outlook, better than the consensus view. The stock touched a new high of $52.98 and is currently trading at $51.50

Net income in the fourth quarter was $142 million or $1.90 per share compared with $13 million or $0.16 per share in the year-ago quarter. In the quarter, the company had a tax benefit of $128 million.

Excluding items, adjusted EPS was at $0.73 per share, that beat average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters of $0.50.

Revenue in the quarter increased 6% year-on-year to $2.2 billion, led mainly by overperformance in the Americas.

For the full year, revenue is expected in the range of $9.4 billion- $9.6 billion and adjusted EPS is expected in the range of $3.75 - $4.75. Analysts anticipate earnings of $3.99 on revenue of $9.32 billion.