Avis Budget beats profit estimates in Q4

Avis Budget Group Inc (NASDAQ: CAR) is trading down in extended hours even though it reported better-than-expected financial results for its fiscal fourth quarter.

Why is Avis Budget stock down in after-hours?

The stock is in the red perhaps because the company's liquidity position inched down sequentially in Q4.

Avis Budget ended the quarter with over $800 million in liquidity - down from some $1.0 billion three months ago. Still, Joe Ferraro – chief executive of the car rental firm said in a press release today:

Other possible reason why Avis Budget stock is weighed in after-hours is because its quarterly revenue came in shy of Wall Street estimates. $CAR is now down about 35% versus its 52-week high.

Notable figures in Avis Budget Q4 earnings report

• Net income printed at $260 million versus year-ago $424 million
• Per-share earnings also declined from $10.10 to $7.10
• Revenue remained about flat year-over-year to $2.76 billion
• Consensus was $4.32 a share on $2.81 billion in revenue

Avis Budget repurchased $257 million worth of its stock in the recently concluded quarter, as per the earnings report. CEO Ferraro also said on Monday:

$CAR report was in contrast with its peer Hertz Global Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: HTZ) that recently reported a $348 million loss for its Q4 and has been rolling back on planned electrification of its fleet as Invezz reported here.