Is WSC a good stock to buy? We came across a bearish thesis on WillScot Holdings Corporation on DF Research’s Substack by Keith Dalrymple. In this article, we will summarize the bears’ thesis on WSC. WillScot Holdings Corporation's share was trading at $17.11 as of March 27th. WSC’s trailing and forward P/E were 17.87 and 16.78 respectively according to Yahoo Finance.

Photo by JOSHUA COLEMAN on Unsplash

WillScot Holdings Corporation provides turnkey temporary space solutions in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. WSC is facing a severe and accelerating financial deterioration that challenges any prior narrative of growth and stability. The company reported a 13% year-over-year decline in EBITDA, coupled with a 13% drop in units on rent, and wrote off approximately 15% of its rental fleet, signaling a fundamental weakening of its core operations.

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Management’s earlier 2025 investor day guidance, which projected revenue growth and 7-13% adjusted EBITDA expansion over three to five years, has proven unrealistic, with the underlying cash flows that funded stock buybacks instead masking underinvestment in fleet maintenance and renewal.

Units on rent continue to decline, adjusted for acquisitions, falling over 28,000 on WSC’s original book, and management’s expectation of an inflection in 2H26 faces headwinds from lease roll-offs and weak smaller construction demand. EBITDA erosion is expected to persist, with TTM EBITDA declining to approximately $942 million and leverage rising to 3.8x, well above the target range of 2.5x–3.25x.

Fleet impairments, including a $300 million charge, are insufficient, as the aging modular and storage units still require significant CapEx to meet demand for new deployments. WSC also faces intensifying competition from United Rentals, which is aggressively expanding in the high-end modular and storage markets, opening 60 new locations in 2025 and another 40 in 2026. This pressure is likely to restrict WSC to smaller, less profitable segments and depress pricing.

While the company avoided near-term default by extending its ABL lenders’ due date to 2030, this relief masks the fact that the NPV of WSC’s fleet is below its debt, leaving equity value under severe stress. Overall, WSC’s outlook remains highly negative, with declining revenue, rising leverage, continued asset write-offs, and intensifying competitive pressures, making it a bearish investment thesis.

Previously, we covered a bullish thesis on WillScot Holdings Corporation (WSC) by BlackOpal Research Limited in March 2025, which highlighted the company’s asset-light modular space model, strong recurring revenue, strategic acquisitions, and resilient cash flow supporting a Ten Cap entry price of $32 per share. WSC’s stock price has depreciated by 42.87% since our coverage. Keith Dalrymple shares a contrarian view emphasizing WSC’s declining units on rent, rising leverage, fleet impairments, and intensifying competition, presenting a highly bearish outlook.

WillScot Holdings Corporation is not on our list of the 40 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 45 hedge fund portfolios held WSC at the end of the fourth quarter which was 45 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of WSC as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you're looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

Disclosure: None.