United Rentals, Inc. (URI)

Rental economics rest on fleet utilisation: a machine idling between a contractor's jobs works almost continuously for a rental company. Scale confers a further advantage — moving equipment between regions to follow demand.

Demand comes from large projects: factories, data centres, infrastructure programmes and power. This is not housebuilding sensitive to mortgage rates but industrial construction driven by corporate and government investment decisions.

The fleet is both an asset and an obligation: it demands continuous investment, while selling used machines provides a meaningful share of revenue and depends on the secondary market. The company pays a dividend and buys back stock very actively.