As the Q4 earnings season wraps, let’s dig into this quarter’s best and worst performers in the specialty equipment distributors industry, including Custom Truck One Source (NYSE: CTOS) and its peers.

Historically, specialty equipment distributors have boasted deep selection and expertise in sometimes narrow areas like single-use packaging or unique lighting equipment. Additionally, the industry has evolved to include more automated industrial equipment and machinery over the last decade, driving efficiencies and enabling valuable data collection. Specialty equipment distributors whose offerings keep up with these trends can take share in a still-fragmented market, but like the broader industrials sector, this space is at the whim of economic cycles that impact the capital spending and manufacturing propelling industry volumes.

The 8 specialty equipment distributors stocks we track reported a mixed Q4. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 1.4% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was in line.

Amidst this news, share prices of the companies have had a rough stretch. On average, they are down 10.8% since the latest earnings results.

Custom Truck One Source (NYSE: CTOS)

Inspired by a family gas station, Custom Truck One Source (NYSE: CTOS) is a distributor of trucks and heavy equipment.

Custom Truck One Source reported revenues of $528.2 million, up 1.4% year on year. This print fell short of analysts’ expectations by 9.1%, but it was still a satisfactory quarter for the company with a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates but a significant miss of analysts’ revenue estimates.

“In the fourth quarter, we achieved record quarterly revenue, as well as sequential and year-over-year improvement in both revenue and Adjusted EBITDA, delivering 18% Adjusted EBITDA growth in the quarter and 13% for the full year. The significant improvements in our core T&D markets that we experienced in the third quarter continued into the fourth quarter, positioning our ERS segment to finish the year with 20% revenue growth in the fourth quarter and 17% for the full year. For the quarter, our rental fleet achieved average utilization of almost 84%, the highest levels in nearly three years. We ended the year with total OEC of $1.64 billion, the highest in our history, which should support our expected growth within ERS in 2026,” said Ryan McMonagle, Chief Executive Officer of CTOS.

Custom Truck One Source pulled off the highest full-year guidance raise but had the weakest performance against analyst estimates and weakest performance against analyst estimates of the whole group. Even though it had a relatively good quarter, the market seems discontent with the results. The stock is down 5.1% since reporting and currently trades at $6.26.

Is now the time to buy Custom Truck One Source? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Best Q4: Richardson Electronics (NASDAQ: RELL)

Founded in 1947, Richardson Electronics (NASDAQ: RELL) is a distributor of power grid and microwave tubes as well as consumables related to those products.

Richardson Electronics reported revenues of $52.29 million, up 5.7% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 4.8%. The business had an exceptional quarter with EPS in line with analysts’ estimates and an impressive beat of analysts’ revenue estimates.

Although it had a fine quarter compared its peers, the market seems unhappy with the results as the stock is down 5.1% since reporting. It currently trades at $11.09.

Is now the time to buy Richardson Electronics? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Weakest Q4: Herc (NYSE: HRI)

Formerly a subsidiary of Hertz Corporation and with a logo that still bears some similarities to its former parent, Herc Holdings (NYSE: HRI) provides equipment rental and related services to a wide range of industries.

Herc reported revenues of $1.21 billion, up 27.1% year on year, falling short of analysts’ expectations by 3.8%. It was a disappointing quarter as it posted full-year revenue guidance missing analysts’ expectations significantly and full-year EBITDA guidance missing analysts’ expectations significantly.

Herc delivered the weakest full-year guidance update in the group. As expected, the stock is down 40.3% since the results and currently trades at $103.36.

Read our full analysis of Herc’s results here.

Karat Packaging (NASDAQ: KRT)

Founded as Lollicup, Karat Packaging (NASDAQ: KRT) distributes and manufactures environmentally-friendly disposable foodservice packaging solutions.

Karat Packaging reported revenues of $115.6 million, up 13.7% year on year. This print beat analysts’ expectations by 1.5%. It was a very strong quarter as it also produced a solid beat of analysts’ EBITDA estimates and a beat of analysts’ EPS estimates.

The stock is up 24.9% since reporting and currently trades at $27.87.

Read our full, actionable report on Karat Packaging here, it’s free.

Alta (NYSE: ALTG)

Founded in 1984, Alta Equipment Group (NYSE: ALTG) is a provider of industrial and construction equipment and services across the Midwest and Northeast United States.

Alta reported revenues of $509.1 million, up 2.2% year on year. This number topped analysts’ expectations by 3.1%. However, it was a slower quarter as it produced a significant miss of analysts’ adjusted operating income estimates and a significant miss of analysts’ EBITDA estimates.

The stock is down 14.8% since reporting and currently trades at $5.54.

Read our full, actionable report on Alta here, it’s free.

Market Update

Late in 2025 into early 2026, there was hand wringing around artificial intelligence. For software companies, the fear was that AI would erode pricing power and compress margins as new tools made it easier to replicate what once required expensive enterprise platforms. Crypto investors had their own version of the same anxiety: if AI agents could trade, allocate capital, and manage wallets autonomously, what exactly was the long-term value of today’s crypto infrastructure?

These concerns triggered a noticeable rotation away from these sectors and into safer havens. But markets rarely dwell on one narrative for long. Spring 2026 came, and the focus shifted abruptly from technological disruption to geopolitical risk. The US’ conflict with Iran became the dominant driver of market psychology, and when geopolitics takes center stage, the script changes quickly. Investors stop debating growth rates and start worrying about oil supply, inflation, and global stability.

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