Pest Control Unlocked

Rollins says AI search drives at least half of its lead decline, and an analyst test found AI tools recommend independent operators 79% of the time. Also covered: Rentokil's $230 million SOLitude sale, a softer Pest Index, fuel near records, a White House mosquito order and El Niño at +2.2°C. Four takes on the record.

La Fed subió las tasas de interés por primera vez en 3 años, y Rollins y Rentokil tocaron mínimos de 12 meses en la misma semana, mientras los operadores independientes seguían creciendo. En este episodio vemos qué conecta esas 3 cosas, adelantamos la primera aparición pública de Rollins desde que se quedó corta en el segundo trimestre, y desglosamos un acuerdo de 3,15 millones de dólares en Calif...

The Fed hiked rates for the first time in 3 years, and Rollins and Rentokil both hit 12-month lows in the same week, while independent operators kept growing. This episode covers what connects those three things, previews Rollins' first public appearance since its Q2 miss, and breaks down a $3.15 million California settlement that puts waste and data disposal on the compliance radar.

In April 2025, French researchers found West Nile virus in southern France. The first human case came 19 weeks later. That work wasn't done by a pest control company. Plus record diesel, Europe's West Nile cases up fifteen-fold in six weeks, and an Australian notice that voided certificates retroactively.

Diesel just hit $5.94, an all-time record, and the index in your fuel surcharge clause jumped 37 cents in a week. Plus the earliest West Nile season since 2004, dengue in Tampa, a valuation puzzle involving KKR and garage doors, and NPMA's first food standards revision in ten years.

Bill Gates thinks some jobs should be protected from AI by law. Pest control did that decades ago and called it a licence. But we drew the line around the application, not the judgement. Plus khapra beetle, EPA port enforcement, and why European monitoring may hit a spectrum wall.

Germany just made permanent baiting illegal and named sensors as the replacement. 129 days to the EU cliff-edge, and Britain went the other way. What it means for your contracts.

Rentokil splits into two divisions. Diesel hits $5.40 with no relief in sight. NOAA calls a historic El Niño. Plus a Midwest Derecho, and a Norwegian buyer landing in Canada.

Part 2 of The Power Ranking - Retention and connected portfolio: the final two measures, and the two where the comparison breaks down. Plus a fourth company that belongs on the board and isn't.

Five measures every operator tracks, applied to the three biggest pest control companies in the world. Part 1 covers revenue, growth and profitability. H1 2026.

Rentokil walked away from a target it was about to hit, because hitting it wouldn't have fixed the actual problem. The problem is that four years after the biggest deal this industry has ever done, the recurring book in the biggest market on earth isn't growing in stops. Everything else in this release is a consequence of that or an attempt to fix it.

Ecolab's pest business grew 7% with margins through 20%. The filings show what its monitoring transition costs — and the one number nobody will disclose.

Chris Harkins says IPM needs a new version number. I agree — then ask the harder question: who would actually adopt it? Plus tariffs on monitoring hardware and what the Dutch already proved.

Rollins diagnosed itself, and the diagnosis is wrong in a specific way. They think demand went away. The evidence says demand was there and didn't reach them.

Introducing the second series in a new format. Increasing infestation levels, elevated operational expenses and more frugal customer base are trajectories impacting pest control. Weather patterns suggest the traditional calendar is obsolete. Energy shocks make the traditional route model prohibitively expensive. They are both forcing the industry’s hand toward monitoring and precision. Different c...

A conversation with Dr Matt Freitag exploring the subject matter of PFAS, its potential impact on the pest control industry, but also understanding the broader aspects.

Revenue tells you how big a business is. Organic growth tells you how well it is actually performing. In this second and final episode of the series, we go under the hood — examining growth quality, cash generation, and the execution layer behind the numbers. We also ask the question that no financial metric can answer: does the culture exist to deliver the strategy? Four companies. One framework....

The global pest control market is worth $27 billion and growing fast. Four companies now control nearly half of global revenue — and 70% of the North American market. In this first episode, we introduce the four operators shaping the industry's future and tell their revenue stories.

In this episode, we break down Anticimex's 2025 Annual Report. How does a pest control giant with $1.75 billion in revenue, 21% margins, and 32 acquisitions in a single year still post a net loss? We unpack their aggressive North American expansion into Texas, the retention economics of their SMART digital platform, and the underlying tension between a highly efficient operating model and a heavy...

Wall Street asked one question about pest on Ecolab's Q1 call. We unpacked everything they missed — 700,000 live sensors, north-of-20% underlying margins, and a public declaration that pest elimination is becoming pest intelligence. The future just got a number attached to it.

In this episode, we unpack the Rollins Q1 2026 results. We explore how taking a short-term margin hit to retain technicians fueled a massive March revenue spike. Plus, we break down their strategic tax moves and why the Romex acquisition was about buying talent, not just route density.

In this episode, we unpack Rentokil's Q1 2026 trading update. We reveal the reality behind their 3.4% organic growth: shrinking customer volumes masked by aggressive pricing. Tune in to explore their North American performance, key retention metrics, and what this means for route-based operators.

Most pest control companies chase customers. The best build density. This episode introduces the “Density Premium”. Why geography, not volume, drives margins, valuations, and competitive advantage. From route efficiency to M&A and data networks, discover why clusters and not customers define the future of the industry.

Commercial pest control isn’t about pests—it’s about risk. This episode explores how compliance, automation, and emerging infrastructure could transform SLAs, cash flow, and accountability. From fragile paperwork to system-enforced performance, discover how the industry may shift toward real-time validation, faster payment, and true risk transfer.

Stop losing customer value to relocation churn and credit card fees. This episode explores how Web3 infrastructure, tokenization, and property-tied digital contracts can permanently secure your residential revenue. Forget the crypto hype—this is about protecting your margins and taking total control of your contracts.