Ecolab delivered a strong third-quarter performance, with reported sales rising 13% and organic sales growth accelerating to 7%, as improved volumes, stronger pricing and broad-based gains across core businesses powered double-digit adjusted operating income growth.
Volume growth accelerated to 2% despite ongoing disruptions in the Middle East, while pricing strengthened to 5% as the company leveraged the value delivered to customers to offset rising commodity costs.
Growth strengthened across Ecolab’s core businesses, led by accelerating performance in Food & Beverage and Light Water. Heavy Water and Paper also returned to solid growth, signalling a broader recovery across the company’s business portfolio.
The company’s high-growth businesses delivered an even stronger showing. Global High-Tech recorded 63% organic sales growth, while Life Sciences posted 17%. Ovivo Electronics and CoolIT also performed exceptionally well and are expected to contribute approximately 2 percentage points to Ecolab’s annual organic sales growth, one year after their acquisition close.
Ecolab’s reported operating income rose 7%, while adjusted operating income growth accelerated to 14%. Organic operating income growth climbed to 11%, supported by stronger sales momentum and disciplined execution.
Organic operating income margin expanded by 70 basis points to 19.6%. Reported operating income margin stood at 17.3%, while reported gross margin came in at 44.1%.
As expected, adjusted gross margin declined by 70 basis points due to the impact of mergers and acquisitions. Excluding this impact, organic gross margin remained stable, with stronger pricing offsetting higher commodity costs.
Reported diluted earnings per share stood at $1.95, while adjusted diluted EPS reached $2.18, up 5%. The adjusted figure included an approximately 10% headwind from amortization and financing costs related to the CoolIT acquisition.
Christophe Beck, Ecolab’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, said, “Third quarter results marked an inflection point in Ecolab's performance. Exceptional execution drove accelerating sales growth, margin expansion and double-digit adjusted operating income growth. Volume growth accelerated to 2% despite ongoing disruptions in the Middle East.
"As expected, pricing strengthened to 5% as we leveraged total value delivered to mitigate higher commodity costs while improving customer performance. This disciplined execution allowed us to stabilize our organic gross margin.
“The breadth of our performance makes these results even more encouraging. Growth across our core businesses strengthened, led by accelerating growth in Food & Beverage and Light Water, alongside consistent growth in Institutional & Specialty despite softer market trends. Performance in Paper and Heavy Water also improved, with both businesses returning to solid growth. Across these core businesses, our One Ecolab growth initiative is helping deliver greater customer value and share gains for Ecolab."
Ecolab expects adjusted diluted earnings per share for full-year 2026 to reach between $8.10 and $8.20, representing growth of 8% to 9%.
For the fourth quarter of 2026, the company forecasts adjusted diluted EPS of $2.13 to $2.23, indicating growth of 2% to 7%.
The outlook reflects continued underlying business strength, alongside short-term costs associated with the CoolIT acquisition.
Ecolab’s third-quarter results point to strengthening growth momentum across its core operations and high-growth businesses, with stronger pricing, improving volumes and operating leverage supporting its performance despite geopolitical disruption and cost pressures.
