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Ecolab
(NYSE:ECL)
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Rating:76Outperform
Price Target:
$323.00
â–²(20.19% Upside)
Action:Reiterated
Date:08/06/26
ECL scores well due to strong profitability and improving cash-flow trends, supported by constructive price momentum and a positive earnings-call outlook with raised EPS guidance. The main constraints on the score are the higher leverage trajectory and a rich valuation (high P/E with a modest yield), which increase downside risk if execution or integration headwinds persist.
Positive Factors
Recurring consumables & services
Ecolab’s core model relies on repeat consumable sales plus on-site services and equipment, creating high customer retention, route density and cross-sell opportunities. That durable annuity-like revenue supports steady cash flows and makes demand less cyclical across food, healthcare and industrial end markets.
Negative Factors
Rising leverage
Leverage has increased materially due to recent financings and acquisitions, reducing financial flexibility. Higher debt amplifies interest‑rate and execution risk, limits capacity for opportunistic investment, and raises sensitivity to slower growth or margin pressure over the next several quarters.
Read all positive and negative factors
Positive Factors
Negative Factors
Recurring consumables & services
Ecolab’s core model relies on repeat consumable sales plus on-site services and equipment, creating high customer retention, route density and cross-sell opportunities. That durable annuity-like revenue supports steady cash flows and makes demand less cyclical across food, healthcare and industrial end markets.
Read all positive factors
Ecolab Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Any
Revenue by Segment
Breaks down sales across various business areas, indicating which segments are performing well and contributing most to overall revenue growth.
Breaks down sales across various business areas, indicating which segments are performing well and contributing most to overall revenue growth.
Data provided by:
The Fly
The FlyEcolab (ECL) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Market Cap
$79.94B
Dividend Yield1%
Average Volume (3M)1.42M
Price to Earnings (P/E)37.9
Beta (1Y)0.53
Revenue Growth7.11%
EPS Growth-0.48%
CountryUS
Employees48,000
SectorBasic Materials
Sector Strength58
IndustryChemicals - Specialty
Share Statistics
EPS (TTM)7.50
Shares Outstanding280,328,600
10 Day Avg. Volume1,094,726
30 Day Avg. Volume1,423,780
Financial Highlights & Ratios
PEG Ratio-26.61
Price to Book (P/B)7.61
Price to Sales (P/S)4.62
P/FCF Ratio39.05
Enterprise Value/Market Cap<0.01
Enterprise Value/Revenue<0.01
Enterprise Value/Gross Profit<0.01
Enterprise Value/Ebitda<0.01
Forecast
1Y Price Target
$326.25Price Target Upside21.40% Upside
Rating ConsensusStrong Buy
Number of Analyst Covering18
EPS Forecast (FY)8.16
Revenue Forecast (FY)$17.88B
Ecolab Business Overview & Revenue Model
Company Description
Ecolab Inc. provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Global Water, Global Institutional & Specialty, Global Pest Elimination, and...
How the Company Makes Money
Ecolab primarily makes money by selling a mix of consumable products, equipment, and ongoing services under long-term customer relationships. A major portion of revenue comes from recurring sales of consumable specialty chemicals and formulations ...
Ecolab Earnings Call Summary
Earnings Call Date:Jul 28, 2026
(Q2-2026)
| % Change Since: |
Next Earnings Date:Nov 03, 2026
Earnings Call Sentiment Positive
The call conveyed a predominantly positive outlook: the company reported strong Q2 operational performance with double‑digit EPS growth, accelerating organic sales, robust growth across multiple high‑margin businesses (Life Sciences, Digital, Pest, Global High‑Tech), increased 2026 EPS guidance, and an upgraded long‑term opportunity for high‑tech following CoolIT and Ovivo. Near‑term challenges include elevated commodity inflation, short‑term acquisition-related amortization and financing costs, margin drag from recent M&A, and regional disruptions (Middle East). Management emphasized the ability to recover costs via value-based pricing and affirmed targets (20% OI margin by 2027), suggesting confidence that highlights materially outweigh the manageable lowlights.Positive Updates
Adjusted EPS and Organic Sales Growth
Adjusted EPS grew 11% in Q2, driven by accelerating organic sales growth of 5% year-over-year.
Negative Updates
Sustained Commodity Cost Pressure
Management reported rising commodity costs that remained elevated and expects high-single-digit commodity inflation for the balance of the year, requiring surcharges to protect margins.
Read all updates
Q2-2026 Updates
Positive
Negative
Adjusted EPS and Organic Sales Growth
Adjusted EPS grew 11% in Q2, driven by accelerating organic sales growth of 5% year-over-year.
Read all positive updates
Company Guidance
Ecolab raised 2026 adjusted EPS guidance to $8.05–$8.25 (up ~7%–10% y/y) and now expects H2 organic sales growth of 6%–7% driven by pricing that strengthened to 4% in Q2 and is expected to be in the targeted 5%–6% range in the back half; volumes were +1% in Q2 (with ~1% headwind from Middle East disruptions) and adjusted operating income margin is expected to be ~19% in H2 while management reaffirmed a 20% OI margin target for 2027. Beyond 2026 they expect adjusted EPS growth to accelerate to ~12%–15%, longer‑term organic growth of 5%–7%, and continued margin expansion as the portfolio shifts toward higher‑growth, higher‑margin businesses (global high‑tech now ~ $1.5B annualized and expected >25% CAGR to ~$4B by 2030 with ~25% OI margin; life sciences +15% with mid‑20s OI in Q2; Ecolab Digital +27% with >20% target; Pest +7%; ~800k connected devices deployed, aiming for 1M by year‑end).Ecolab Financial Statement Overview
Summary
Income Statement
84
Very Positive
Balance Sheet
63
Positive
Cash Flow
70
Positive
| Breakdown | TTM | Dec 2025 | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 | Dec 2022 | Dec 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Income Statement | ||||||
| Total Revenue | 16.84B | 16.08B | 15.74B | 15.32B | 14.19B | 12.73B |
| Gross Profit | 7.43B | 7.16B | 6.84B | 6.18B | 5.42B | 5.22B |
| EBITDA | 3.34B | 3.46B | 3.85B | 3.03B | 2.55B | 2.47B |
| Net Income | 2.12B | 2.08B | 2.11B | 1.37B | 1.09B | 1.13B |
Balance Sheet | ||||||
| Total Assets | 29.93B | 24.70B | 22.39B | 21.85B | 21.46B | 21.21B |
| Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments | 5.14B | 646.20M | 1.26B | 919.50M | 598.60M | 359.90M |
| Total Debt | 13.75B | 9.43B | 8.28B | 8.73B | 9.03B | 9.16B |
| Total Liabilities | 19.84B | 14.89B | 13.60B | 13.77B | 14.21B | 13.95B |
| Stockholders Equity | 10.06B | 9.77B | 8.76B | 8.04B | 7.24B | 7.22B |
Cash Flow | ||||||
| Free Cash Flow | 1.87B | 1.90B | 1.82B | 1.64B | 1.08B | 1.42B |
| Operating Cash Flow | 3.06B | 2.95B | 2.81B | 2.41B | 1.79B | 2.06B |
| Investing Cash Flow | -2.89B | -2.71B | -433.80M | -990.50M | -716.80M | -4.58B |
| Financing Cash Flow | 3.02B | -853.30M | -2.02B | -1.05B | -837.30M | 1.60B |
Ecolab Technical Analysis
Positive
268.75
Price Trends
271.70
Positive
266.48
Positive
269.90
Positive
Market Momentum
3.65
Negative
59.81
Neutral
75.87
Neutral
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For ECL, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 268.75 is below the 20-day moving average (MA) of 275.81, below the 50-day MA of 271.70, and below the 200-day MA of 269.90, indicating a bullish trend. The MACD of 3.65 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 59.81 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 75.87 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for ECL.
Ecolab Risk Analysis
Ecolab disclosed 24 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. Ecolab reported the most risks in the "Legal & Regulatory" category.
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
Latest Risks Added 0 New Risks
Ecolab Peers Comparison
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (61)
Name | Overall Rating | Market Cap | P/E Ratio | ROE | Dividend Yield | Revenue Growth | EPS Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
77 Outperform | $23.14B | 29.14 | 11.27% | 1.18% | 8.37% | 23.94% | |
76 Outperform | $79.94B | 37.92 | 21.41% | 1.06% | 7.11% | -0.48% | |
69 Neutral | $14.99B | 22.34 | 20.93% | 2.02% | 6.66% | -3.58% | |
69 Neutral | $19.24B | 307.74 | 0.34% | 1.68% | -22.51% | 63.46% | |
62 Neutral | $26.61B | 16.45 | 30.22% | 2.45% | 1.47% | 23.56% | |
61 Neutral | $10.43B | 7.12 | -0.05% | 2.87% | 2.86% | -36.73% | |
60 Neutral | $67.57B | -1,481.63 | -0.32% | 2.42% | 4.51% | -103.05% |
* Basic Materials Sector Average
ECL
Ecolab
284.40
10.70
3.91%
APD
Air Products and Chemicals
308.18
26.42
9.38%
PPG
PPG Industries
115.48
9.50
8.97%
RPM
RPM International
115.93
-3.48
-2.92%
STE
Steris
238.91
-2.29
-0.95%
DD
DuPont de Nemours
141.55
52.94
59.74%
Ecolab Corporate Events
M&A TransactionsPrivate Placements and Financing
Ecolab Completes $5 Billion Senior Notes Offering for Acquisition
Positive
May 29, 2026
On May 19, 2026, Ecolab Inc. entered into an underwriting agreement to issue four series of senior notes and completed the $5 billion offering on May 29, 2026, under its existing shelf registration. The tranches, maturing between 2029 and 2036 wit...
Executive/Board ChangesRegulatory Filings and ComplianceShareholder Meetings
Ecolab Appoints New Principal Accounting Officer, Affirms Governance
Positive
May 11, 2026
On May 7, 2026, Ecolab’s board elected longtime executive Bryce L. Mewhorter as Senior Vice President and Corporate Controller, naming him principal accounting officer effective after the filing of the company’s second-quarter 2026 For...
Glossary
BuyA stock rated as a "Buy" is expected to perform better than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock is likely to deliver higher returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
HoldA stock rated as a "Hold" is expected to perform in line with the overall market or a specific benchmark. This rating indicates that the stock is neither particularly compelling nor unfavorable for investment. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
SellA stock rated as a "Sell" is expected to perform worse than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock may deliver lower returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Disclaimer
This AI Analyst Stock Report is automatically generated by our AI systems using advanced algorithms and publicly available financial, technical, and market data. While the information provided aims to be accurate and insightful, it is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Any content created by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system may contain inaccuracies and/or contain errors. Investing in stocks carries inherent risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. This report does not account for your personal financial circumstances, objectives, or risk tolerance. Always conduct your own research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The analysis and recommendations provided are based on historical and current data and may not fully reflect future market conditions or unexpected developments. Neither the creators of this report nor its affiliated entities guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Use this report at your own discretion and risk.