Cleaning products maker Ecolab's Q3 sales beat on higher prices

Overview

• Ecolab Q3 sales rose 4%, beating analyst expectations

• Growth driven by Institutional & Specialty, Life Sciences segments

Outlook

• Ecolab expects 2025 adjusted EPS between $7.48 and $7.58, up 12% to 14%

• Company anticipates Q4 2025 adjusted EPS of $2.02 to $2.12, up 12% to 17%

• Ecolab expects special charges of $0.34 per share in 2025, mainly for restructuring

Result Drivers

• PRICING AND VOLUME GROWTH - Ecolab's Q3 results were driven by accelerating pricing from 2% to 3% and 1% volume growth, leading to strong EPS growth

• SEGMENT PERFORMANCE - Institutional & Specialty, Pest Elimination, and Life Sciences segments led growth, with Global Water's Food & Beverage and Global High-Tech sectors offsetting declines in Basic Industries and Paper

• OPERATING INCOME MARGIN - Ecolab's organic operating income margin expanded to 18.7%, supported by sales growth and productivity improvements, despite growth-oriented investments

Key Details

Analyst Coverage

• The current average analyst rating on the shares is "buy" and the breakdown of recommendations is 13 "strong buy" or "buy", 14 "hold" and no "sell" or "strong sell"

• The average consensus recommendation for the specialty chemicals peer group is "buy"

• Wall Street's median 12-month price target for Ecolab Inc is $294.00, about 4.9% above its October 27 closing price of $279.71

• The stock recently traded at 33 times the next 12-month earnings vs. a P/E of 34 three months ago

Press Release:

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