Ecolab

ECL

Market cap $77B

Data centers receive sharp criticism for their high water usage, but the impact on the broader water industry and for investors is also about infrastructure bottlenecks, regulation, and emerging technologies, among other things. Utilities companies must navigate significant changes when hyperscalers enter their territory—in some cases, a new data center operator may immediately become one of the largest customers in the region.

ECL's $4.75B CoolIT acquisition boosts its AI cooling portfolio and positions High-Tech as a major long-term growth engine.

During the last two years, the AI trade has increasingly diverged from the broad market. The K-shaped environment, in which investors bought the obvious names—NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) , Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) , Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) —worked as capital rushed toward silicon.

Dividend Aristocrats rebounded in June and are now outperforming SPY YTD with a 9.61% return versus SPY's 6.91%. CAT leads 2026 performance at +76.98%, with 46 Aristocrats now ahead of SPY and 39 posting double-digit total returns. Recent dividend increases averaged 4.09%, slightly below the 2025 average, with 2026's average dividend growth rate at 3.97%.

ECL's strong Q1 earnings, digital growth and expanding high-tech platform support long-term upside despite rising cost pressures.

ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ecolab will host a live webcast to discuss its second quarter 2026 results. A news release containing second quarter results is expected to be issued before market open on July 28, 2026. Details for the public webcast are as follows: TIME: 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time DATE: Tuesday, July 28, 2026 DURATION: One hour LOCATION: www.ecolab.com/investor ARCHIVE: A replay of the webcast and supplemental data will be available on Ecolab's website. About Ecolab A trusted par.

Join Get Blue™, co-founded by Water.org's Matt Damon and Gary White, and partners Gap Inc., Starbucks, Amazon, and Ecolab to shop, share, and donate to help end the global water crisis. Get Blue™ is partnering with iconic brands like Gap, Starbucks, Amazon, and Ecolab to turn everyday actions into a powerful force to Bring Water Home™ and help end the global water crisis.

Across the portfolios, between two-thirds and three-quarters of holdings have met or exceeded both Sustainable Growth Advisers' internal expectations and consensus forecasts for earnings and revenue growth. The average holding in the portfolios has experienced approximately 10% contraction in its price-to-earnings multiple this year, driven largely by sentiment and style rotation rather than deteriorating business quality. Sustainable Growth Advisers initiated a new position in Mastercard, viewing a share price dislocation caused by proposed interest rate caps as an attractive entry point into a high-quality earnings compounder.

Ecolab Inc. (ECL) Presents at 46th Annual William Blair Growth Stock Conference Transcript

Ecolab (ECL) reported earnings 30 days ago. What's next for the stock?