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what it is
WillScot rents out temporary buildings and storage boxes to construction sites, schools, businesses, and government customers across North America.
how it gets paid
Last year Willscot made $2.3B in revenue. Modular space leasing was the main engine at $1.04B, or 45% of sales.
why growth slowed
Revenue fell 4.8% last year. The key number is the 4.8% annual revenue decline to $2.3B.
what just happened
Revenue jumped to $1.7B, but the bigger story is that the full year still shrank.
At a glance
B+ balance sheet — decent shape, but not bulletproof
30/100 earnings predictability — expect surprises
18.2x trailing p/e — priced about right
1.8% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
9.0% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 63/100 — average
What they do
WillScot rents out temporary buildings and storage boxes to construction sites, schools, businesses, and government customers across North America.
This is a scale business. If your jobsite needs a classroom or storage container fast, the biggest fleet usually wins. Web research points to roughly 50% U.S. market share, while average rental terms run 12 months for modular units and 28-day cycles for storage, which keeps equipment earning and customers sticky (sticky → hard to switch → revenue holds up better).
How they make money
$2.3B
annual revenue · their business grew -4.8% last year
Modular space leasing
$1.04B
6.0%
Portable storage leasing
$0.74B
3.0%
Delivery, installation, and removal
$0.25B
+2.0%
Unit sales
$0.16B
8.0%
Ancillary products and services
$0.11B
+4.0%
The products that matter
modular space and storage rentals
Modular Space & Workforce Solutions
$2.3B revenue
it is effectively the full $2.3B business, and the story is simple: revenue fell 4.8% while net margin held at 9.2%. the demand line matters more than product mix.
entire revenue base
Key numbers
$34
18-month target
$34 versus a $20 stock is a 70% gap. Plain English: the case says the market is pricing in too much pain.
$3.6B
long-term debt
Debt equals about 90% of the company's roughly $4B market cap. Plain English: lenders matter almost as much as shareholders here.
18.2x
trailing p/e
P/E → price versus profit → so what: you are paying $18.20 for each $1 of trailing earnings while revenue is shrinking.
9.0%
return on capital
Return on capital → profit earned on the money tied up in the business → so what: this is decent, not elite, for a leveraged rental company.
Financial health
B+
strength
- balance sheet grade B+ — solid but not elite
- risk rank 3 — safer than 50% of stocks
- price stability 40 / 100
- long-term debt $3.6B (50% of capital)
- net profit margin 14.3% — keeps 14 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 20% — $0.20 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B+ — functional but not a standout on the balance sheet.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in WSC 3 years ago → it's now worth $4,270.
The index would have given you $13,880.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
beat estimates
Revenue jumped to $1.7B, but the bigger story is that the full year still shrank.
EDGAR shows quarterly revenue of $1.7B, up 203% vs. prior year, with EPS of $0.73 and gross margin of 51.2%. But annual revenue was $2.3B, down 4.8%, which tells you the bounce did not fix the whole business.
$1.7B
revenue
$0.73
eps
51.2%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The key number is the 4.8% annual revenue decline to $2.3B, because one hot quarter matters less than whether demand is actually recovering.
-
willscot holdings likely registered a profit decline versus the prior year during the fourth quarter of 2025. (the company was scheduled to report results shortly after we went to press with this publication.) there were a few primary factors that likely constrained profits during the interim.
-
first, soft non-residential construction activity was likely a primary factor behind sluggish volume growth, leading to lower units on the rent roll.an economic slowdown in canada was also likely factor, as that country accounts for a sizable chunk of overall sales. finally, competitive pressures and the slow ramp-up of new business endeavors have been a drag on profits.
-
we believe that earnings will gradually trend higher over the next two years.
-
our cautious optimism is based on a decent economy over that time frame.the lion’s share of the company’s business is in the united states and canada, if those economies hold up, that would provide support for the company’s bottom line. furthermore, the non-residential construction market has shown some signs of life and that may continue given the prospects for reduced interest rates in the 12 to 18 months ahead. we forecast long-term earnings of $2.80 a share based on our newly introduced 2029-2031 estimates. (we have rolled out our projections by a year from the time of our last review in november.) our optimism is based on a sustained, though gradual improvement in the broader non-residential construction market over the long run.
-
these timely shares have healthy price-recovery potential over the 3 to 5-year pull.
source: company earnings report, 2026
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What could go wrong
the #1 risk is a prolonged non-residential construction slowdown.
med
construction demand stays weak
WillScot is tied to commercial and jobsite activity. If customers delay projects, the pressure lands on the whole rental base.
impact: this risk touches essentially all $2.3B of annual revenue.
med
$3.6B debt leaves less room for bad quarters
Long-term debt equals 50% of capital while net margin was 9.2% last year and 7.6% in the latest quarter. That is workable, not forgiving.
impact: if earnings recovery slips, leverage becomes the story faster than equity holders want.
med
canada weakness spills into group results
Management flagged canada as a sizable chunk of sales. A local slowdown matters because recent volume has already been sluggish.
impact: this would pressure revenue growth and make the two-year earnings recovery case harder to hit.
a weak project market plus a leveraged balance sheet is the real bear case — not one bad headline, but a longer stretch of pressure on the full $2.3B revenue base.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
risk
debt staying louder than demand
$3.6B of long-term debt against a roughly $4B market cap means leverage will keep dominating the story until growth returns.
trend
whether the 4.8% revenue decline bottoms
this page gets much cleaner if sales stop shrinking. until then, every recovery argument is still a forecast.
calendar
u.s. and canada project activity
the company itself tied the next two years to a decent economic backdrop in those two markets. that is the macro check.
metric
margin follow-through after 7.6%
q3 net margin was 7.6% versus 9.2% for the last full year. if that gap widens, the recovery thesis gets thinner.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
top 20%
momentum score 2 — in human-speak, analysts think the stock can outperform most names over the next year.
risk profile
average
stability score 3 — this is middle-of-the-road risk, not especially safe and not outright chaotic.
chart momentum
below average
technical score 4 — the tape still wants proof before it gives the recovery story full credit.
earnings predictability
30 / 100
earnings are harder to model here than in steadier businesses. expect bumps.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
175 buyers vs. 200 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 0.2B shares.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$17
$51
$20
current price
$34
target midpoint · +70% from current · 3-5yr high: $40 (+100% · 20% ann'l return)
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