EarningsQ3 2026 Earnings Report
MX:ECL Q3 2026 EPS Results
Actual EPS$40.96
Consensus EPS$40.88
Beat/MissBeat by +$0.08
One Year Ago EPS$38.89
MX:ECL Q3 2026 Revenue Results
Actual Revenue$88.20B
Expected Revenue$88.30B
Beat/MissMissed by -$99.01M
YoY Revenue Growth+12.72%
Earnings Announcement Details
QuarterQ3 2026
Date10/27/2026
TimeBefore Open
Conference CallTuesday, October 27, 2026
MX:ECL Upcoming Earnings
Ecolab's next earnings date is estimated for February 16, 2027, based on past reporting schedules.
Q3 2026 Earnings Call Audio
MX:ECL Q3 2026 Earnings Call
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Q3 2026 Earnings Slide Deck
Q3 2026 Earnings Call Summary
Earnings Call Sentiment|Positive
The call was strongly positive. Ecolab reported accelerating organic sales and operating income growth, broad-based business outperformance, strong momentum in Life Sciences, Digital, Pest and Global High-Tech, and confidence in achieving its 2027 growth and margin commitments. The principal challenges were persistent commodity inflation, a declining Institutional market, Middle East-related headwinds, M&A-related amortization and interest costs, and variability in near-term margins and High-Tech quarterly growth.Company Guidance
Q3 Organic Sales and Operating Income Growth
Ecolab reported 7% organic sales growth in the third quarter. Organic operating income margin expanded to 19.6%, while organic operating income growth accelerated to 11%.
Gross Margin Maintained Despite Commodity Inflation
Despite significant commodity cost inflation, Ecolab maintained organic gross margin through continued pricing execution and disciplined supply chain management.
Broad-Based Business Outperformance
Ecolab stated that every business outperformed its end market, with core businesses strengthening and growth engines accelerating.
One Ecolab Customer Growth
Since launching One Ecolab, the company has generated over $400 million of sales growth with its largest 35 customers and captured more than 10% of its targeted $3.5 billion growth opportunity with those customers.
Food and Beverage Growth
Food & Beverage organic growth accelerated to 8%, with broad-based growth across dairy, protein and beverage against stable end-market demand.
Water Businesses Returned to Growth
Light Water organic growth accelerated to 5%. Paper and Heavy Water also returned to solid growth, supported by strong new wins and improved pricing while outperforming stabilizing end markets.
Life Sciences Expansion
Life Sciences organic sales grew 17%, led by Bioprocessing. Ecolab started up its latest Life Sciences plant in China, positioning the company to meet growing customer demand across Asia.
Life Sciences Long-Term Margin and Growth Targets
Life Sciences is approaching $1 billion in sales and is delivering the committed double-digit sales growth trajectory, with operating income margins expected to expand to 30% over the next few years. Management said the expected NPV from the Purolite acquisition is greater than initially forecast.
Ecolab Digital Growth
Ecolab Digital sales increased 34%. The business is currently more software-oriented than hardware-oriented, with growth accelerating in Institutional & Services and Pest Intelligence.
Digital Deployment Opportunity
Ecolab currently connects fewer than 100,000 locations through its digital services out of close to 3 million locations worldwide. Management expects the future offering to combine hardware, recurring rent or lease revenue, software and data consumption.
Pest Elimination Momentum
Pest Elimination sales growth accelerated from 7% in the second quarter to 8% in the third quarter. Pest Intelligence connects more than 800,000 devices and supports nearly 99% pest-free environments for customers versus a 94% industry standard.
Global High-Tech Acceleration
Global High-Tech organic sales grew 63%, driven by data center cooling and circular water solutions for microelectronics as AI infrastructure expands.
CoolIT and Ovivo Performance
CoolIT more than doubled its sales with very strong profitability, while Ovivo delivered strong double-digit growth versus pre-acquisition sales. Ecolab has integrated its 3D TRASAR liquid monitoring technology with CoolIT's CDU platform.
Global High-Tech Long-Term Opportunity
Ecolab expects Global High-Tech to grow more than 25% annually, reach $4 billion in sales by 2030 and deliver a 25% operating income margin. Management said the platform adds more than 2 percentage points to Ecolab's sales growth algorithm one year after closing.
High-Tech Recurring Business Model
Management said faster chip-generation changes and the need to replace cooling systems are making the data center business more recurring. In microelectronics, equipment and services transition into a recurring model after a fab is built.
Planned High-Tech Capacity Expansion
Ecolab plans to expand capacity for CDUs, cold plates, 3D TRASAR technology and coolant, with its base remaining in Calgary and additional capacity planned closer to key customers around the world.
2027 Growth and Margin Outlook
Ecolab expects 2027 organic sales growth at the upper end of its 5% to 7% target range, adjusted operating income margin to reach 20%, and adjusted EPS growth to meet or exceed the long-term 12% to 15% target. Management described underlying earnings growth as mid-teens, with a roughly 5-percentage-point headwind in the first half and a 5-percentage-point tailwind in the second half from transaction costs and Nalco amortization.
2027 Pricing and Volume Framework
Management expects first-half 2027 volume growth of 1% to 2% with pricing growth of 5% to 6%, followed by second-half volume growth of 2% to 3% with lower pricing growth as 2026 pricing is lapped.
Pricing and Productivity Execution
Third-quarter pricing was 5% to 6% and is expected to be similar in the fourth quarter. Ecolab said it recovered its margins in one quarter during an inflationary environment that was higher than in the second quarter.
Institutional Growth Initiatives
Ecolab plans to double its North American sales firepower, integrate sales and service across restaurants, hotels, quick-service restaurants and retail, and combine hygiene, water, Pest Intelligence and audits into a more integrated customer proposition.
Portfolio Resilience
Management said no business is in a troubled situation, with upside potential across High-Tech, Institutional, Life Sciences, Pest Intelligence, Food & Beverage and the core water businesses. The company also cited its ability to manage inflation and supply disruptions.
M&A Integration and Deleveraging Priorities
Management's priorities are to integrate Ovivo and CoolIT, continue growing the data center and microelectronics businesses, and lead deleveraging toward approximately 2x leverage. No imminent additional acquisition was planned.
MX:ECL Earnings History
The table shows recent earnings report dates and whether the forecast was beat or missed. See the change in forecast and EPS from the previous year.
Beat
Missed