Hertz Global stock price: HTZ shares surge for second day after Bill Ackman’s hedge fund takes stake

Yesterday, Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: HTZ) became one of the best-performing automotive-related stocks of the year after the car rental company’s stock surged more than 56% in a single trading session. Today, the stock is up again by a double-digit percentage in premarket trading at the time of this writing. But why? Here’s what you need to know.

HTZ shares surged 56.44% yesterday

Yesterday, Hertz had one of its best single-gain days in a long time. The company’s stock price surged 56.44% in a single session after it was revealed that billionaire investor Bill Ackman’s hedge fund, Pershing Square Capital Management, took a sizable stake in the rental car company.

As the Wall Street Journal reported, Pershing Square Capital Management announced in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing on Wednesday that it had acquired 12.7 million HTZ shares, representing about 4.1% of the company’s total stock.

Once the news went public, HTZ shares surged, rising by a total of $2.06 for the day to end at $5.71—a rise of 56.44%. 

Pershing Square Capital Management often takes activist positions in companies whose stock they purchase. The hedge fund’s foray into HTZ shares seems to be signaling to some investors that Ackman’s firm may attempt to influence the direction of Hertz—which some obviously see as a good sign considering the that challenges the car rental company has faced in recent years.

Fast Company reached out to Pershing Square and Hertz for comment and will update this post if we hear back.

Hertz woes

As noted by the Wall Street Journal, Hertz was one of the original meme stocks to emerge around the time of the pandemic. The company filed for bankruptcy after the pandemic hit—understandable considering that travel was screeching to a halt, which meant that both consumers and business people had less need to rent a car.

In 2021, amidst its recovery push, Hertz staged an “uplist” initial public offering—moving from an over-the-counter (OTC) market to the Nasdaq Global Select Market. Around the same time, Hertz decided to go all-in on the electric vehicle boom sweeping the nation, and it placed an order for 100,000 Teslas in an attempt to remake its image from that of a gas-guzzling car rental company to a modern, environmentally friendly tech-adjacent one.

Unfortunately for Hertz, renters didn’t take as well to the idea of EVs as the company had anticipated. One of the big drawbacks in renters’ minds was the uncertainty of whether they could find a charging station along their route. This led to fears that they may run out of power while heading to their destination.

By 2024, Hetz was actively selling its fleet of electric vehicles, taking a depreciation hit on each car sold. Hertz’s failed EV gamble led to the company’s stock being downgraded shortly after.

However, earlier this year, Hertz got an unexpected boost from what many would consider an unlikely source—President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

In late March, the company’s stock price surged 20% in a single day. The reasoning behind this surge was that if car prices were about to jump due to Trump’s tariffs, the rental cars Hertz sells after use would likely become more appealing to buyers, who may now be seeking out used cars to purchase instead of new ones.

But 2025 hasn’t been all smooth sailing for Hertz either. Just a day before Pershing Square Capital Management announced its stake in Hertz, the car rental company announced that hackers may have stolen some of its customers’ social security numbers and credit card details.

Still, investors have now seemed to have happily shrugged off that latest bit of bad news after learning Bill Ackman’s hedge fund has taken a large stake in the company.

HTZ shares up again in premarket today

As of the time of this writing, HTZ shares are up another 10% in premarket trading this morning—a healthy gain in addition to the company’s massive surge yesterday. Currently, shares are sitting around $6.31 each.

Year-to-date, HTZ shares have climbed 56% since yesterday’s close. However, despite their recent surge, Hertz stock has been hammered pretty badly over the past several years. 

As of yesterday’s close, Hertz stock was still down 13% over the past 12 months. And over the past five years, the company’s stock price has fallen by over 74%, based on yesterday’s close.