Ecolab forecasts 2026 profit above estimates on strong demand; shares up

By Dharna Bafna

Feb 10 (Reuters) - Ecolab ECL.N on Tuesday forecast current-year profit above Wall Street estimates, as it expects growth in its business segments to drive demand for its technologies and services that include cleaning, sanitization and cooling.

Shares of Ecolab were up about 5% in afternoon trading.

The booming growth of data centers has significantly boosted water consumption as power-intensive graphics processing units used for AI and other high-performance computing have greater cooling requirements than conventional servers.

Ecolab provides services and products that help data centers reduce their water usage as well as water and energy costs.

"We expect the distributor inventory impact to largely normalize in the first quarter of 2026, with pressures in basic industries and Paper progressively easing over the next few quarters," said CEO Christophe Beck.

"Combined with strong new business wins and continued momentum across our growth engines, we expect volume growth to get back to 1% as we exit the first quarter," Beck added.

Ecolab said on a post-earnings call that the first quarter is expected to be similar to the previous one, adding that its operating income margin is expected to continue to grow beyond 20% in 2026.

The company expects to benefit from its $1.8 billion acquisition of Ovivo's electronics unit last year, in a move to expand its ultra-pure water technology for semiconductor manufacturing, amid growing demand for advanced microchips and AI.

Ecolab said it expects double-digit growth in its Ovivo business in the first quarter of 2026.

The water solutions company said it expects reported sales to increase between 7% and 9%, while organic sales are expected to grow 3% to 4% in 2026.

The Saint Paul, Minnesota-based company forecast annual adjusted profit between $8.43 per share and $8.63 per share, the midpoint of which is above analysts' average estimate of $8.46.

For the current quarter, Ecolab forecast adjusted earnings in the range of $1.67 per share to $1.73 per share, compared with analysts' expectations of $1.69 per share.