ECL
Ecolab Inc.
ECL's fundamentals are mixed: revenue grew 9.3%, while its operating margin held steady at 17%. At 41x earnings, it's trading in line with its usual 40x. Analysts expect earnings growth.
ECL Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Healthy | |
| Under pressure |
ECL's revenue, profitability and cash flow are currently healthy, but its balance sheet is under pressure.
ECL PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forward | 34x | $304 | — |
| Cheap | 36x | $264 | -13% |
| Fair | 40x | $293 | -3.9% |
| Current | 41x | $304 | — |
| Expensive | 46x | $335 | +10% |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
ECL's PE is in its fair range at 41x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 34x next year's earnings, in its cheap range.
ECL Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Improving | |
| Growth | |
| Growth | |
| Stable | |
| Limited | |
| High |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for ECL, with profitability holding steady.
ECL Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $8.95 | +22% |
| Q3 2026 | $7.35 | +5.6% |
| Q2 2026 | $7.45 | -0.5% |
| Q1 2026 | $7.39 | +0.4% |
| Q4 2025 | $7.28 | -1.4% |
| Q3 2025 | $6.96 | -2.4% |
| Q2 2025 | $7.49 | +26% |
| Q1 2025 | $7.36 | +36% |
| Q4 2024 | $7.38 | +54% |
ECL earned $7.35 per share over the past year, up 5.6% from the year before.
ECL Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $4.7B | +13% |
| Q2 2026 | $4.4B | +9.7% |
| Q1 2026 | $4.1B | +10% |
| Q4 2025 | $4.2B | +4.8% |
| Q3 2025 | $4.2B | +4.2% |
| Q2 2025 | $4B | +1% |
| Q1 2025 | $3.7B | -1.5% |
| Q4 2024 | $4B | +1.7% |
ECL's revenue has grown year over year for six quarters in a row: $4.7B last quarter, up 13% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 17% | -1 points |
| Q2 2026 | 17% | -0.5 points |
| Q1 2026 | 15% | +0.3 points |
| Q4 2025 | 17% | +2.4 points |
| Q3 2025 | 18% | -7.9 points |
| Q2 2025 | 18% | +1.2 points |
| Q1 2025 | 15% | +1.2 points |
| Q4 2024 | 15% | -0.4 points |
ECL's operating margin was 17% last quarter, down 1 points from the same quarter a year ago.
ECL Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $450.3M | -15% |
| Q2 2026 | $489.4M | +0.9% |
| Q1 2026 | $97.4M | -26% |
| Q4 2025 | $758M | +86% |
| Q3 2025 | $529.7M | -3.7% |
| Q2 2025 | $485.1M | +17% |
| Q1 2025 | $131.5M | -71% |
| Q4 2024 | $407M | -31% |
ECL's free cash flow has been positive every quarter for seven years: $1.8B over the past year, up 16% from the year before.
ECL Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | 0% | -100K shares |
| 1 year | -1.2% | -3.3M shares |
| 3 years | -1.7% | -4.8M shares |
| 5 years | -2.5% | -7.1M shares |
| Available history | -3.6% | -10.5M shares |
ECL has 282M diluted shares, down 1.2% from a year ago, with $1.1B in buybacks over the past year.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $2.8M |
| Q2 2026 | $324.9M |
| Q1 2026 | $344.4M |
| Q4 2025 | $409.2M |
| Q3 2025 | $175.4M |
| Q2 2025 | $45.5M |
| Q1 2025 | $153.7M |
| Q4 2024 | $2.8M |
ECL spent $1.1B buying back its own shares over the past year, up 187% from the year before.
ECL Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 3.1x | Elevated |
| Q2 2026 | 2.1x | Moderate |
| Q1 2026 | 2.1x | Moderate |
| Q4 2025 | 2.0x | Moderate |
| Q3 2025 | 1.7x | Healthy |
| Q2 2025 | 1.6x | Healthy |
| Q1 2025 | 1.7x | Healthy |
| Q4 2024 | 1.7x | Healthy |
ECL's net debt is about 3.1 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), up from 1.7 years a year ago.
ECL Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 64.0 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 76.4 | Neutral |
ECL's weekly RSI is 64 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 76 (neutral).
ECL PE vs Basic Materials Sector
| Metric | ECL | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 41x | 19x | 123% above |
| PE % | 58 | 40 | 18 pts above |
ECL is trading at 41x earnings, a 123% premium to the Basic Materials sector's median of 19x.
ECL Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $290.1 | 4.9% above |
| 20 week MA | $282.6 | 7.7% above |
| 50 week MA | $275.7 | 10% above |
| 100 week MA | $267.8 | 14% above |
| 200 week MA | $236.0 | 29% above |
ECL is in an uptrend: it's above all five of its weekly moving averages, and 29% above its 200-week average.
ECL Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $191.7 | $216.1 | +13% |
| 2021 | $216.1 | $228.2 | +5.6% |
| 2022 | $228.2 | $144.5 | -37% |
| 2023 | $144.5 | $198.4 | +37% |
| 2024 | $198.4 | $237.8 | +20% |
| 2025 | $237.8 | $265.8 | +12% |
| 2026 YTD | $265.8 | $304.4 | +15% |
ECL has finished higher in five of the last six years. It's up 15% so far in 2026.