Sunbelt Rentals (SUNB)
Rents general and specialty equipment through a North America-centered branch network.
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Sunbelt Rentals owns machines other companies need for a few weeks, not for years — diggers, lifts, generators, chillers, scaffolding — and rents them out from stores across North America and Britain. Until this year it was Ashtead, a London-listed company; now it trades in New York too. The general construction fleet is most of it and barely growing; momentum has moved to specialty gear, the crews who set it up, and large building sites.
Item facts: FY2026 · year ended April 30, 2026, from filings, earnings calls and company pages.
Judgment weights, not filed revenue
The band summarizes business focus and direction. ~ marks estimates.
8 in detail · 16 more below
North America — General Tool
Diggers, lifts, rollers and general tools from 814 North American stores — $6.5B of revenue standing on $12.95B of machinery, the largest and least efficient block. Revenue rose 1.7% last year; rent picked up to 7.4% in the quarter to July.
Competes with General rentals segment (United Rentals) · Classic rental fleet (Herc Holdings)
In plain English
Picture the tool-hire counter at a hardware store, then swap the tools for excavators and lifts tall enough to reach a rooftop. Builders, factories and city crews borrow them by the day, week or month instead of buying machines they would use twice a year.
The catch is how much steel it takes. Rent alone — before the used machines it sells on — comes to roughly forty-seven cents a year for every dollar of equipment, counted at what that equipment cost new. And no single customer matters much: around 800,000 American customers, with the ten biggest together under a tenth of sales.
Mega Project Program
Sunbelt's own running list of construction jobs above roughly half a billion dollars that it could supply — about a thousand of them, some $1.4 trillion of building across 2026 to 2028. It is why growth holds while ordinary local construction sits flat.
Competes with National accounts and specialty bundle (United Rentals) · Expanded branch network after the H&E deal (Herc Holdings)
In plain English
Most of what Sunbelt rents goes to ordinary jobs: a road, a warehouse, a shop fit-out. A mega project is the other kind — a half-billion-dollar-and-up data centre, chip plant, venue or transport scheme that swallows equipment for years at a stretch.
The company keeps a list of the ones it could supply and watches them move from planned to under construction; roughly four in five are coming up, ramping or already active, and data centres are about an eighth of the pile. Nothing gets billed to this list — the machines and crews come out of the same branches — but it is where the extra work has been coming from.
North America — Specialty
Power, climate control, scaffold, pumps, trench safety, matting, fencing and film gear from 614 stores — $3.7B, and the part that is actually growing: rent up 25.3% in the quarter to July. Watch whether the crews it needs keep thinning margins.
Competes with Specialty segment (United Rentals) · ProSolutions specialty lines (Herc Holdings)
In plain English
Everything that is not a digger. A factory shutting down for maintenance needs temporary power and cooling; a trench needs steel walls so its sides cannot collapse; a film shoot needs power, fencing and flooring on bare ground. Sunbelt brings the equipment and, usually, the people to install it.
Because customers are buying a working set-up rather than a machine on a trailer, the kit earns harder: about seventy-five cents of rent a year per dollar of equipment, against forty-seven in the general fleet. All that labour makes the profit margin look thinner, yet the money invested here earns the best return in the company.
Power & HVAC / Climate Control
Generators, chillers, heaters and testing rigs, plus the engineers who design and wire it all — the biggest specialty line, up nearly 30% in the last full year and now sold as one energy package. Data-centre and live-event work drives it.
Competes with Temporary power and climate control (Aggreko) · Power & HVAC line (United Rentals)
In plain English
Electricity where the grid has not arrived, and cooling where the air conditioning has failed or was never fitted. Sunbelt tows in generators, chillers and heaters, plus load banks — cabinets of resistors that imitate a building's full electrical demand so a new power system can be tested hard before anyone depends on it.
Customers pay for the equipment and for the engineers who design and connect it: data centres being built and switched on, plants under maintenance, live events. In September 2026 management packaged the lot under one name, energy management as a service — stopgap power, testing, events, and power generated on a customer's own site.
Ancillary services (delivery, fuel, labour)
Everything billed beside the machine: delivery, the diesel in it, the crew that erects and dismantles scaffolding, and gear hired in from others. Roughly a sixth of rental billing in the quarter to July, growing twice as fast as rent.
Competes with Bundled delivery, fuel and installation (United Rentals) · Bundled ancillary charges (Herc Holdings) · Scaffold erection and dismantling (Specialist installing contractors)
In plain English
Read a Sunbelt invoice from the bottom up and the machine is only part of it. Getting it to site and away again, the fuel burned in it, the crew who bolt scaffolding together and take it down weeks later, and equipment Sunbelt rents from other firms to pass on to the customer.
None of this needs much machinery, so the cash put in comes back well. But it is thin work: ten to fifteen cents of profit per dollar billed, against roughly fifty on renting a machine out. It grows at about twice the pace of rent, and that mix is quietly pulling the company's margin down.
Sunbelt Modular Solutions (Aries)
Portable buildings — site offices and other relocatable units — bought in May 2026, adding 17 locations. About 1% of revenue, present in 14 of the top 50 markets; the test is whether branches can sell it alongside the machines.
Competes with Modular space and portable storage (WillScot Holdings) · Mobile Modular (McGrath RentCorp)
In plain English
The building that arrives on a truck: the site office where the drawings and the kettle live, the room-sized box craned onto blocks for a year and taken away when the job finishes.
Sunbelt bought this business in May 2026 and is pushing it through branches that already rent those same customers diggers and generators — one more line on an order they were placing anyway. It starts sub-scale, in 14 of the 50 biggest markets, against WillScot, a firm that does nothing but portable buildings and runs over 300,000 units. For its first year it drags on margins.
LA28 Games and live events
Named official rental equipment partner for the Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games and Team USA, across 40-plus venues. The billing arrives mainly in the two years to April 2029; 2026 World Cup work, about $70M, was the rehearsal.
Competes with Event and specialty solutions (United Rentals) · Venue-by-venue event services (Regional temporary-structure specialists)
In plain English
A Games is a building job that vanishes. Dozens of venues need power, cooling, fencing, scaffolding and matting laid over bare ground for a few weeks, and then all of it comes out again — and Sunbelt has been named the equipment partner for the Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games and for Team USA.
Nothing has been billed yet; the work and the money land mainly in the two financial years ending April 2029. The nearest proof is the 2026 World Cup: roughly $70 million of equipment for a single event, mostly specialty gear. This year's growth has to be found without it.
United Kingdom
183 depots renting general and specialty equipment to British customers, with a few across Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands — $932M of revenue. The machines earn their keep; very little of it survives as profit.
Competes with UK tool and plant hire (Speedy Hire) · General and specialist hire fleets (GAP Group) · Plant and specialist hire (Vp plc)
In plain English
The smallest of the three regions, and the hardest. Under the old A-Plant name, this arm rents much the same mix — general machines and specialty gear — to British customers, from 183 depots with a handful over in Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands.
The odd thing is that the fleet works: each dollar of machinery brings in more rent here than in the North American general fleet. What goes wrong is everything after that. About a quarter of sales are left once the running costs are paid, against roughly forty-three cents in North America, so last year the company took a $37M charge and shut depots too small to pay their way.
North America — General ToolDiggers, lifts, rollers and general tools from 814 North American stores — $6.5B of revenue standing on $12.95B of machinery, the largest and least efficient block. Revenue rose 1.7% last year; rent picked up to 7.4% in the quarter to July.Diggers, lifts, rollers and general tools from 814 North American stores — $6.5B of revenue standing on $12.95B of machinery, the largest and least efficient block. Revenue rose 1.7% last year; rent picked up to 7.4% in the quarter to July.
In plain English
Picture the tool-hire counter at a hardware store, then swap the tools for excavators and lifts tall enough to reach a rooftop. Builders, factories and city crews borrow them by the day, week or month instead of buying machines they would use twice a year.
The catch is how much steel it takes. Rent alone — before the used machines it sells on — comes to roughly forty-seven cents a year for every dollar of equipment, counted at what that equipment cost new. And no single customer matters much: around 800,000 American customers, with the ten biggest together under a tenth of sales.
Competes with General rentals segment (United Rentals) · Classic rental fleet (Herc Holdings)
Mega Project ProgramSunbelt's own running list of construction jobs above roughly half a billion dollars that it could supply — about a thousand of them, some $1.4 trillion of building across 2026 to 2028. It is why growth holds while ordinary local construction sits flat.Sunbelt's own running list of construction jobs above roughly half a billion dollars that it could supply — about a thousand of them, some $1.4 trillion of building across 2026 to 2028. It is why growth holds while ordinary local construction sits flat.
In plain English
Most of what Sunbelt rents goes to ordinary jobs: a road, a warehouse, a shop fit-out. A mega project is the other kind — a half-billion-dollar-and-up data centre, chip plant, venue or transport scheme that swallows equipment for years at a stretch.
The company keeps a list of the ones it could supply and watches them move from planned to under construction; roughly four in five are coming up, ramping or already active, and data centres are about an eighth of the pile. Nothing gets billed to this list — the machines and crews come out of the same branches — but it is where the extra work has been coming from.
Competes with National accounts and specialty bundle (United Rentals) · Expanded branch network after the H&E deal (Herc Holdings)
North America — SpecialtyPower, climate control, scaffold, pumps, trench safety, matting, fencing and film gear from 614 stores — $3.7B, and the part that is actually growing: rent up 25.3% in the quarter to July. Watch whether the crews it needs keep thinning margins.Power, climate control, scaffold, pumps, trench safety, matting, fencing and film gear from 614 stores — $3.7B, and the part that is actually growing: rent up 25.3% in the quarter to July. Watch whether the crews it needs keep thinning margins.
In plain English
Everything that is not a digger. A factory shutting down for maintenance needs temporary power and cooling; a trench needs steel walls so its sides cannot collapse; a film shoot needs power, fencing and flooring on bare ground. Sunbelt brings the equipment and, usually, the people to install it.
Because customers are buying a working set-up rather than a machine on a trailer, the kit earns harder: about seventy-five cents of rent a year per dollar of equipment, against forty-seven in the general fleet. All that labour makes the profit margin look thinner, yet the money invested here earns the best return in the company.
Competes with Specialty segment (United Rentals) · ProSolutions specialty lines (Herc Holdings)
Power & HVAC / Climate ControlGenerators, chillers, heaters and testing rigs, plus the engineers who design and wire it all — the biggest specialty line, up nearly 30% in the last full year and now sold as one energy package. Data-centre and live-event work drives it.Generators, chillers, heaters and testing rigs, plus the engineers who design and wire it all — the biggest specialty line, up nearly 30% in the last full year and now sold as one energy package. Data-centre and live-event work drives it.
In plain English
Electricity where the grid has not arrived, and cooling where the air conditioning has failed or was never fitted. Sunbelt tows in generators, chillers and heaters, plus load banks — cabinets of resistors that imitate a building's full electrical demand so a new power system can be tested hard before anyone depends on it.
Customers pay for the equipment and for the engineers who design and connect it: data centres being built and switched on, plants under maintenance, live events. In September 2026 management packaged the lot under one name, energy management as a service — stopgap power, testing, events, and power generated on a customer's own site.
Competes with Temporary power and climate control (Aggreko) · Power & HVAC line (United Rentals)
Ancillary services (delivery, fuel, labour)Everything billed beside the machine: delivery, the diesel in it, the crew that erects and dismantles scaffolding, and gear hired in from others. Roughly a sixth of rental billing in the quarter to July, growing twice as fast as rent.Everything billed beside the machine: delivery, the diesel in it, the crew that erects and dismantles scaffolding, and gear hired in from others. Roughly a sixth of rental billing in the quarter to July, growing twice as fast as rent.
In plain English
Read a Sunbelt invoice from the bottom up and the machine is only part of it. Getting it to site and away again, the fuel burned in it, the crew who bolt scaffolding together and take it down weeks later, and equipment Sunbelt rents from other firms to pass on to the customer.
None of this needs much machinery, so the cash put in comes back well. But it is thin work: ten to fifteen cents of profit per dollar billed, against roughly fifty on renting a machine out. It grows at about twice the pace of rent, and that mix is quietly pulling the company's margin down.
Competes with Bundled delivery, fuel and installation (United Rentals) · Bundled ancillary charges (Herc Holdings) · Scaffold erection and dismantling (Specialist installing contractors)
Sunbelt Modular Solutions (Aries)Portable buildings — site offices and other relocatable units — bought in May 2026, adding 17 locations. About 1% of revenue, present in 14 of the top 50 markets; the test is whether branches can sell it alongside the machines.Portable buildings — site offices and other relocatable units — bought in May 2026, adding 17 locations. About 1% of revenue, present in 14 of the top 50 markets; the test is whether branches can sell it alongside the machines.
In plain English
The building that arrives on a truck: the site office where the drawings and the kettle live, the room-sized box craned onto blocks for a year and taken away when the job finishes.
Sunbelt bought this business in May 2026 and is pushing it through branches that already rent those same customers diggers and generators — one more line on an order they were placing anyway. It starts sub-scale, in 14 of the 50 biggest markets, against WillScot, a firm that does nothing but portable buildings and runs over 300,000 units. For its first year it drags on margins.
Competes with Modular space and portable storage (WillScot Holdings) · Mobile Modular (McGrath RentCorp)
LA28 Games and live eventsNamed official rental equipment partner for the Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games and Team USA, across 40-plus venues. The billing arrives mainly in the two years to April 2029; 2026 World Cup work, about $70M, was the rehearsal.Named official rental equipment partner for the Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games and Team USA, across 40-plus venues. The billing arrives mainly in the two years to April 2029; 2026 World Cup work, about $70M, was the rehearsal.
In plain English
A Games is a building job that vanishes. Dozens of venues need power, cooling, fencing, scaffolding and matting laid over bare ground for a few weeks, and then all of it comes out again — and Sunbelt has been named the equipment partner for the Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games and for Team USA.
Nothing has been billed yet; the work and the money land mainly in the two financial years ending April 2029. The nearest proof is the 2026 World Cup: roughly $70 million of equipment for a single event, mostly specialty gear. This year's growth has to be found without it.
Competes with Event and specialty solutions (United Rentals) · Venue-by-venue event services (Regional temporary-structure specialists)
United Kingdom183 depots renting general and specialty equipment to British customers, with a few across Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands — $932M of revenue. The machines earn their keep; very little of it survives as profit.183 depots renting general and specialty equipment to British customers, with a few across Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands — $932M of revenue. The machines earn their keep; very little of it survives as profit.
In plain English
The smallest of the three regions, and the hardest. Under the old A-Plant name, this arm rents much the same mix — general machines and specialty gear — to British customers, from 183 depots with a handful over in Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands.
The odd thing is that the fleet works: each dollar of machinery brings in more rent here than in the North American general fleet. What goes wrong is everything after that. About a quarter of sales are left once the running costs are paid, against roughly forty-three cents in North America, so last year the company took a $37M charge and shut depots too small to pay their way.
Competes with UK tool and plant hire (Speedy Hire) · General and specialist hire fleets (GAP Group) · Plant and specialist hire (Vp plc)
Named in filings, launches and programs
- Used and new equipment salesServiceAbout 7% of last year's revenue: retired machines resell at roughly a third of what they cost new, which helps pay for the next fleet.
- Scaffold ServicesProduct lineScaffolding rented with the crews who erect and dismantle it — that labour is one of the biggest sources of the charges billed beside the gear.
- Pump SolutionsProduct linePumps for draining flooded ground, moving groundwater and carrying sewage around a broken pipe while it is repaired.
- Trench SafetyProduct lineSteel boxes and shoring that hold the walls of a dug trench apart so the people working in it are not buried.
- Ground ProtectionProduct lineInterlocking mats that turn mud and grass into a temporary road heavy machines can drive on; part of the Los Angeles Games scope.
- Temporary Fencing, Walls and StructuresProduct linePanels, barriers and temporary structures that close a working site off from everything around it.
- Flooring SolutionsProduct lineTemporary flooring, one of the specialty lines named in the annual filing and in the product catalogue.
- Industrial ToolProduct lineTooling for plant maintenance work — the repair-and-upkeep demand that management keeps naming as a driver.
- Film and TelevisionProduct lineEquipment for film and television production, moved into the specialty business when the segments were reshuffled for FY2026.
- Climate Control ServicesProduct lineThe heating and cooling catalogue division, reported together with the power and HVAC line.
- Greenfield expansion programEcosystem300–400 brand-new North American stores planned over the five-year plan; 99 opened by the end of FY2026, 51 of them in that year alone.
- Bolt-on acquisitionsEcosystemThirteen small purchases for $238M added 24 locations in FY2026 — the other half of how the store count grows.
- Dynamic customer pricingPlatform · Pre-revenueA pricing pilot running in 15 markets; as of September 2026 management says none of its rate gains come from it yet.
- Sunbelt 4.0 — Runway for SuccessEcosystemThe five-year plan launched in 2024, covering growth, performance and halving its own emissions intensity by 2034. Mentions on calls have faded away.
- Connect 360 technology platformPlatform · AnnouncedFlagged once in December 2024 and promised within months; it has not been mentioned on a call since.
- Sunbelt Rentals UK (formerly A-Plant)BrandThe British arm's former trading name, which still shows up in trade coverage today.
Used and new equipment salesService
About 7% of last year's revenue: retired machines resell at roughly a third of what they cost new, which helps pay for the next fleet.
Scaffold ServicesProduct line
Scaffolding rented with the crews who erect and dismantle it — that labour is one of the biggest sources of the charges billed beside the gear.
Pump SolutionsProduct line
Pumps for draining flooded ground, moving groundwater and carrying sewage around a broken pipe while it is repaired.
Trench SafetyProduct line
Steel boxes and shoring that hold the walls of a dug trench apart so the people working in it are not buried.
Ground ProtectionProduct line
Interlocking mats that turn mud and grass into a temporary road heavy machines can drive on; part of the Los Angeles Games scope.
Temporary Fencing, Walls and StructuresProduct line
Panels, barriers and temporary structures that close a working site off from everything around it.
Flooring SolutionsProduct line
Temporary flooring, one of the specialty lines named in the annual filing and in the product catalogue.
Industrial ToolProduct line
Tooling for plant maintenance work — the repair-and-upkeep demand that management keeps naming as a driver.
Film and TelevisionProduct line
Equipment for film and television production, moved into the specialty business when the segments were reshuffled for FY2026.
Climate Control ServicesProduct line
The heating and cooling catalogue division, reported together with the power and HVAC line.
Greenfield expansion programEcosystem
300–400 brand-new North American stores planned over the five-year plan; 99 opened by the end of FY2026, 51 of them in that year alone.
Bolt-on acquisitionsEcosystem
Thirteen small purchases for $238M added 24 locations in FY2026 — the other half of how the store count grows.
Dynamic customer pricingPlatform · Pre-revenue
A pricing pilot running in 15 markets; as of September 2026 management says none of its rate gains come from it yet.
Sunbelt 4.0 — Runway for SuccessEcosystem
The five-year plan launched in 2024, covering growth, performance and halving its own emissions intensity by 2034. Mentions on calls have faded away.
Connect 360 technology platformPlatform · Announced
Flagged once in December 2024 and promised within months; it has not been mentioned on a call since.
Sunbelt Rentals UK (formerly A-Plant)Brand
The British arm's former trading name, which still shows up in trade coverage today.