Ecolab Inc ECL shares are trading higher after the company reported fourth-quarter sales growth of 2% year-on-year to $4.005 billion, beating the consensus estimate of $3.99 billion.

Organic sales grew 4%, led by strong growth in the Industrial and Healthcare & Life Sciences segments and the Pest Elimination and Institutional & Specialty segments.

In fixed currency, Global Industrial sales grew 4% to $2.067 billion, Global Institutional & Specialty climbed 6% to $1.367 billion, Global Healthcare & Life Sciences fell 23% to $322.1 million and Global Pest Elimination increased 8% to $295.2 million.

Selling, general and administrative expenses rose 1% to $1.1 billion. Adjusted operating income for the quarter increased 10% to $688.2 million, with an adjusted operating margin of 17.3% vs. 15.9% a year ago.

Adjusted EPS of $1.81 (+17% Y/Y) beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.79.

The company held $1.26 billion in cash and equivalents as of December end.

Outlook: Ecolab expects first-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.47 – $1.53, vs. the $1.48 estimate, and 2025 adjusted EPS of $7.42 – $7.62, compared to the $7.40 estimate.

Christophe Beck, Ecolab’s chairman and chief executive officer, said,

“We enter 2025 confident in our ability to deliver continued strong performance in a dynamic environment. Growth in the United States, our largest and most profitable region, continues to be very strong, and growth across the rest of the world is solid as we more than offset uneven macroeconomic trends.”

“Additionally, we will implement value pricing that reflects the increasing value Ecolab delivers to customers. As a result, we expect to deliver attractive organic operating income margin expansion, as our confidence in reaching our 20% margin target over the next three years continues to strengthen.”

Investors can gain exposure to the stock via VanEck Environmental Services ETF EVX and Invesco Water Resources ETF PHO

Price Action: ECL shares are up 6.76% at $262.57 at the last check Tuesday.

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