Ecolab Inc. ECL
Mixed Materials sector · Ecolab — water, hygiene and infection-prevention systems sold as sticky service contracts.
Ecolab Inc. (ECL) is an established Materials company, graded Mixed on FrontierLab's evidence-based quality rubric (data as of 2026-08-21). Revenue grew 7.1% year-over-year at a 44.1% gross margin. Gross-profits-to-assets is 0.25; Rule of 40 is 24.5. Net share issuance -0.9% YoY (flat share count). No risk flags are currently noted. Analyst mix: 24 buy / 8 hold / 0 sell. 2 distinct insider cluster-buyers in the last 90 days.
These sentences are generated from the day's data by deterministic templates.
Key quality signals
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 7.1% |
|---|---|
| Gross margin | 44.1% |
| Gross profits / assets | 0.25 |
| Rule of 40 | 24.5 |
| Net margin | 17.4% |
| Cash runway (months) | — |
| PEG | — |
| Price / sales | 4.7 |
Quality checklist
Each line is one quality test behind the grade — ✓ passed · ~ borderline · ✗ failed. Hover a metric in the tables below for what it means.
- ✗ Revenue growth — 7.1% (pass ≥ 20%)
- ~ Gross profits / assets — 0.25 (pass ≥ 0.33)
- · Rule of 40 — 24.5 (context — graded for software only)
- ✓ Gross margin — 44.1% (pass ≥ 25% · Materials)
- ✓ Cash generation
- ✓ Share dilution — -0.9%
- ✓ Competitive moat — Wide
- ✓ Market size (TAM) — Large
Grade history
Graded Mixed since 2026-06-17 — no grade changes recorded yet.
How have Mixed-graded names performed?
The forward returns of all Mixed-graded names since each grade was recorded — the bucket this name currently sits in, not a forecast of this individual stock.
| Window | Forward record vs the S&P | Median |
|---|---|---|
| ~1 month | 53% of Mixed-graded names beat the S&P over 21 sessions (95% CI 31–74%, N=17). | Median excess vs the S&P was 0%. |
| ~3 months | building — 13 more sessions needed | |
| ~6 months | building — 76 more sessions needed | |
Scope: these are forward returns vs the S&P among names still covered at each horizon's end, within the curated universe — not a survivorship-clean whole-market backtest. Names later dropped from coverage are counted as attrition (not hidden), and single-session moves beyond ±300% are treated as split/data artifacts and excluded. How this is measured → · Full track record →
How it compares
Coarse same-sector, same-stage context — not a percentile or rank. GP/A is graded on its absolute level, not position.
Fundamentals
| Market cap | $79.22B |
|---|---|
| Stage | Established |
| Share issuance (YoY) | -0.9% · flat share count |
| Moat | Wide |
| TAM | LARGE |
| P/E (trailing) | 37.8 |
| EPS (trailing) | $7.45 |
| Burn multiple | — |
| Gross-margin trend (pts) | 0.1 |
| Cash / assets | 0.17 |
| Accruals (%) | -3.5% |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.6 |
| Statements as of | Q2 FY2026 · filed 2026-08-06 |
Momentum context — describes the past, not a signal
Low reached May 19, 2026 · high reached Feb 27, 2026 — by daily close.
| Price | $281.48 (as of 2026-08-20) |
|---|---|
| Last session move | — |
| % off 52-wk high | -9% |
| RSI (14) | 54 |
| Relative volume | 1.3× |
Positive signals
Insider activity (90 days)
| Cluster buyers | 2 |
|---|---|
| Sellers | 4 |
Insider selling is routine diversification, not a bearish signal.
Analyst mix
| Strong buy | 9 |
|---|---|
| Buy | 15 |
| Hold | 8 |
| Sell | 0 |
| Strong sell | 0 |
▲ Analyst view improving — net +1 buy rating over ~4 weeks (per aggregated analyst ratings)
Ratings are context, not a price target. "Momentum" = how the mix changed over recent weeks, not a forecast.
AI take — daily, AI-generated
AI leans mixed
Balanced fundamentals with 7.1% growth, reasonable margins, and no valuation red flags, but lacks a near-term catalyst and trades on sentiment alone.
Generated by an AI model from the day's news — an opinion for context only. Not financial advice, not a recommendation, and not a price target.
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Data as of 2026-08-21 08:12 (end-of-day). How grades are computed →