Stocks · Basic Materials · Chemicals - Specialty
Ecolab Inc. ECL
$273.70 +0.90% Close, Oct 2, 2026 · NYSE · Market cap $77.03B
Low risk
Next earnings report: Oct 27, 2026
Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to move. Daily prices adjusted for splits. Markers: E = earnings (green beat, red miss), S = split, D = dividend.
Three things to know
- Revenue over the last four quarters was $16.84B, up 7.1% from a year earlier, accelerating from 4.9% a quarter earlier.
- Diluted EPS over the last four quarters was $7.45, down 0.5% year over year.
- Over the past year the stock returned +1.5%, behind the S&P 500 by 13.6 percentage points.
PromtFinance scores
Each score is a percentile within the Basic Materials sector (0–100). Under each score: how the stock ranks in its sector on every component. As of Oct 5, 2026.
Growth74Positive
How fast revenue, earnings and cash flow are growing.
- Revenue growth (TTM, YoY)Top 44%
- EPS growth (TTM, YoY)Bottom 48%
- FCF growth (TTM, YoY)Top 32%
- Revenue growth, 3-year CAGRTop 28%
- Revenue growth accelerationTop 44%
Quality67Positive
Returns on capital, margins, earnings quality and balance-sheet strength.
- Return on invested capitalTop 31%
- Gross marginTop 16%
- Operating marginTop 25%
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Bottom 46%
- Accruals (lower is better)Bottom 29%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 35%
- Interest coverTop 30%
Value35Weak
How cheap the shares are relative to earnings, cash flow and their own history.
- Earnings yieldTop 49%
- Free-cash-flow yieldBottom 40%
- EBITDA / enterprise valueBottom 33%
- Sales / enterprise valueBottom 20%
- P/E vs own 5-year history (lower is better)Top 32%
Momentum67Positive
Strength and persistence of the price trend, including versus the S&P 500.
- 12-month return excluding last monthBottom 42%
- 6-month returnTop 32%
- 1-year return vs S&P 500Bottom 49%
- Distance from 52-week highTop 11%
- Trend checklist (0–4)Top 42%
Revisions46Neutral
Earnings surprises and analyst sentiment (estimate-revision history is being collected).
- Average EPS surprise, last 4 quartersBottom 40%
- Consecutive EPS beatsTop 50%
- Share of analysts rating BuyTop 17%
- Upside to consensus price targetBottom 25%
Stability92Exceptional
Low volatility, shallow drawdowns, low market sensitivity and modest leverage.
- Volatility, 60 days (lower is better)Top 4%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 yearsTop 1%
- Beta vs S&P 500 (lower is better)Top 11%
- Net debt / EBITDA (lower is better)Bottom 35%
What changed
Latest four quarters versus the same period a year earlier (growth: versus one quarter earlier).
| Measure | Before | Now | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 4.9% | 7.1% | ↑ |
| EPS growth (YoY) | 0.4% | -0.5% | ↓ |
| Gross margin | 44.0% | 44.1% | ↑ |
| Operating margin | 17.1% | 17.4% | ↑ |
| FCF margin | 10.0% | 11.1% | ↑ |
Fundamental momentum
| Measure | Now (TTM) | Year / quarter before | Sector rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth (TTM, YoY) | 7.1% | 4.9% | ↑ | Top 44% |
| EPS growth (TTM, YoY) | -0.5% | 0.4% | ↓ | Bottom 48% |
| Gross margin | 44.1% | 44.0% | ↑ | Top 16% |
| Operating margin | 17.4% | 17.1% | ↑ | Top 25% |
| Net margin | 12.6% | 13.6% | ↓ | — |
| Free-cash-flow margin | 11.1% | 10.0% | ↑ | — |
| Return on invested capital | 9.4% | — | Top 31% | |
| Revenue growth, 3-year CAGR | 4.3% | — | Top 28% |
Quality of earnings and balance sheet
- Cash conversion (OCF / net income)Above 1× means profits are backed by cash.
- 1.44×
- Accruals (net income − OCF) / assetsLower is better; high accruals can signal weaker earnings quality.
- -3.1%
- Stock-based compensation / revenueA cost to shareholders through dilution.
- 0.8%
- Receivables growth vs revenue growthReceivables growing much faster than sales can be a warning.
- -0.5 pp
- Net debt / EBITDABelow 1× is conservative; above 3× is high leverage.
- 2.58×
- Interest cover (operating income / interest)How many times operating profit covers interest.
- 9.7×
Shareholder returns
- Dividend yield (dividends paid, TTM)
- 1.04%
- Net buyback yield (TTM)
- 0.49%
- Shareholder yield
- 1.52%
- Share count change, 1 year
- -0.9%
- Share count change, 3-year CAGR
- -0.4%
Shareholder yield = dividends + net buybacks over the last four quarters, divided by market cap.
Based on the four quarters through Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 6, 2026).
Earnings and expectations
Earnings momentum
- Consecutive EPS beats
- 1
- Beats in the last 8 reports
- 3 of 8
- Average EPS surprise, last 4
- +0.2%
- Average 2-day reaction, last 8
- +1.0%
- Positive 20 days after report
- 4 of 8
Analysts
- Consensus price target
- $326.13
- Target vs current price
- +19.2%
- Analysts with a rating
- 37
- Share rating Buy or Strong Buy
- 78%
- Consensus rating
- Buy
How the stock reacted to recent reports
| Report date | EPS surprise | 2 days | 5 days | 20 days | 60 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 28, 2026 | +0.5% | +4.2% | +3.0% | +5.7% | — |
| Apr 28, 2026 | +0.0% | -0.3% | -4.6% | -5.1% | -1.8% |
| Feb 10, 2026 | +0.5% | +4.0% | +5.4% | -2.3% | -8.6% |
| Oct 28, 2025 | +0.0% | -4.1% | -8.0% | -3.9% | +0.8% |
| Jul 29, 2025 | -0.5% | -3.9% | -2.1% | +3.1% | +3.0% |
| Apr 29, 2025 | +0.0% | +3.3% | +6.7% | +11.1% | +12.9% |
| Feb 11, 2025 | +0.0% | +6.2% | +8.2% | +5.3% | +3.4% |
| Oct 29, 2024 | +0.5% | -1.0% | -4.7% | -3.7% | -4.0% |
Returns from the close before each report. Past reactions do not determine future ones.
Earnings history
| Report date | EPS | Estimate | Surprise | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 28, 2026 | $2.09 | $2.08 | +0.5% | $4.42B |
| Apr 28, 2026 | $1.70 | $1.70 | +0.0% | $4.07B |
| Feb 10, 2026 | $2.08 | $2.07 | +0.5% | $4.19B |
| Oct 28, 2025 | $2.07 | $2.07 | +0.0% | $4.17B |
| Jul 29, 2025 | $1.89 | $1.90 | -0.5% | $4.03B |
| Apr 29, 2025 | $1.50 | $1.50 | +0.0% | $3.69B |
| Feb 11, 2025 | $1.81 | $1.81 | +0.0% | $4.01B |
| Oct 29, 2024 | $1.83 | $1.82 | +0.5% | $4.00B |
Valuation in context
| Multiple | Now | 5-year median | 5-year percentile | Sector rank (cheapness) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P/E (trailing) | 36.7× | 41.5× | 29th | Top 49% |
| P/E (forward) | 33.6× | — | — | — |
| EV / EBITDA | 25.7× | — | — | Bottom 33% |
| EV / Sales | 5.09× | — | — | Bottom 20% |
| Free-cash-flow yield | 2.43% | — | — | Bottom 40% |
| Earnings yield | 2.72% | — | — | Top 49% |
P/E over the past five years
Range 34.3× – 59.9× since Jun 30, 2021. Each point: price on the filing date divided by trailing-twelve-month EPS known then.
What moved the stock over the past year
- Price return, 1 year
- +1.5%
- Earnings per share growth (TTM)
- -0.5%
- Change in P/E multiple
- +5.6%
Most of the move came from a change in the valuation multiple.
Technical state
Trend checklist
- ✗ Price above 20-day average
- ✗ Price above 50-day average
- ✗ Price above 200-day average
- ✓ 50-day average above 200-day
- ✗ MACD histogram positive
Trend quality
- Days above the 50-day average
- 0
- Days above the 200-day average
- 0
- 50-day average slope (20 days)
- +0.0%
- 200-day average slope (20 days)
- +0.4%
- Distance from 50-day average
- -1.9%
- Distance from 200-day average
- -0.0%
- RSI (14)
- 45.7
- Relative volume
- 1.02×
Risk and drawdowns
- Volatility, 60 days (annualized)
- 19.6%
- Volatility vs own 5-year history
- 34th percentile · Normal for this stock
- Beta vs S&P 500 (2 years, weekly)
- 0.53
- Correlation with S&P 500
- 0.38
- Current drawdown from 1-year high
- -11.2%
- Maximum drawdown, 3 years
- -20.3%
Largest declines in the past six years
| From peak | To low | Decline | Length | Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 12, 2021 | Nov 3, 2022 | -44.3% | 245 days | 397 days (Jun 5, 2024) |
| Feb 27, 2026 | May 19, 2026 | -20.3% | 56 days | Not yet recovered |
| Mar 3, 2025 | Apr 8, 2025 | -16.4% | 26 days | 45 days (Jun 12, 2025) |
| Oct 18, 2024 | Jan 10, 2025 | -12.1% | 56 days | 22 days (Feb 12, 2025) |
| Aug 20, 2025 | Nov 6, 2025 | -11.3% | 55 days | 60 days (Feb 4, 2026) |
Declines of 10% or more from a closing high, measured on daily closes.
Financial statements
- Market cap
- $77.03B
- P/E (TTM)
- 36.7
- EPS, diluted (TTM)
- $7.45
- Revenue (TTM)
- $16.84B
- Dividend yield
- 1.07%
- 52-week range
- $243.15 – $309.27
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $12.73B | $14.19B | $15.32B | $15.74B | $16.08B |
| Gross profit | $5.22B | $5.42B | $6.18B | $6.84B | $7.16B |
| Operating income | $1.68B | $1.61B | $2.16B | $2.61B | $2.91B |
| Net income | $1.13B | $1.09B | $1.37B | $2.11B | $2.08B |
| EPS (diluted) | $3.91 | $3.81 | $4.79 | $7.37 | $7.28 |
| Q3 2024 | Q4 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q2 2025 | Q3 2025 | Q4 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $4.00B | $4.01B | $3.69B | $4.03B | $4.17B | $4.20B | $4.07B | $4.42B |
| Net income | $736.5M | $472.9M | $402.5M | $524.2M | $585.0M | $563.9M | $432.6M | $534.9M |
| EPS (diluted) | $2.58 | $1.66 | $1.41 | $1.84 | $2.05 | $1.98 | $1.52 | $1.90 |
| FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating cash flow | $2.06B | $1.79B | $2.41B | $2.81B | $2.95B |
| Capital expenditure | -$643.0M | -$712.8M | -$774.8M | -$994.5M | -$1.05B |
| Free cash flow | $1.42B | $1.08B | $1.64B | $1.82B | $1.90B |
| Dividends paid | -$566.4M | -$602.8M | -$617.3M | -$664.3M | -$753.6M |
| Net share buybacks | -$106.6M | -$518.2M | -$13.7M | -$986.5M | -$555.6M |
Cash outflows are shown as negative numbers.
- Cash and short-term investments
- $5.14B
- Total assets
- $29.93B
- Total liabilities
- $19.84B
- Total debt
- $13.75B
- Net debt
- $8.62B
- Shareholders’ equity
- $10.06B
As of Jun 30, 2026 (filed Aug 6, 2026).
Dividends
| Ex-date | Amount | Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 15, 2026 | $0.73 | Oct 15, 2026 |
| Jun 16, 2026 | $0.73 | Jul 15, 2026 |
| Mar 17, 2026 | $0.73 | Apr 15, 2026 |
| Dec 16, 2025 | $0.73 | Jan 15, 2026 |
| Sep 16, 2025 | $0.65 | Oct 15, 2025 |
| Jun 17, 2025 | $0.65 | Jul 15, 2025 |
| Mar 18, 2025 | $0.65 | Apr 15, 2025 |
| Dec 17, 2024 | $0.65 | Jan 15, 2025 |
Short interest
- Shares sold short
- 5,259,375
- Days to cover
- 4.49
- Change vs previous report
- +11.1%
FINRA short interest, settlement date Sep 15, 2026.
Stock splits
- Jun 9, 2003
- 2-for-1
- Jan 16, 1998
- 2-for-1
- Jan 19, 1994
- 2-for-1
- Jul 16, 1986
- 2-for-1