How Will Ecolab Stock React To Its Upcoming Earnings?
Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) is set to report its earnings on Tuesday, April 28, 2026. The company has $76 Bil in current market capitalization. Revenue over the last twelve months was $16 Bil, and it was operationally profitable with $2.9 Bil in operating profits and net income of $2.1 Bil. While a lot will depend on how results stack up against consensus and expectations, understanding historical patterns might just turn the odds in your favor if you are an event-driven trader.
There are two ways to do that: understand the historical odds and position yourself prior to the earnings release, or look at the correlation between immediate and medium-term returns post earnings and position yourself accordingly after the earnings are released.
See earnings reaction history of all stocks
Smart investing isn’t about stock picking or prediction, it’s about asset allocation. See how Trefis’ Boston-based wealth management partner does it. It has included the High Quality Portfolio as part of its asset allocation strategy.
Ecolab’s Historical Odds Of Positive Post-Earnings Return
Some observations on one-day (1D) post-earnings returns:
- There are 20 earnings data points recorded over the last five years, with 11 positive and 9 negative one-day (1D) returns observed. In summary, positive 1D returns were seen about 55% of the time.
- Notably, this percentage increases to 67% if we consider data for the last 3 years instead of 5.
- Median of the 11 positive returns = 3.9%, and median of the 9 negative returns = -4.1%
Additional data for observed 5-Day (5D) and 21-Day (21D) returns post earnings are summarized along with the statistics in the table below.
| Forward Returns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Earnings Date | 1D | 5D | 21D |
| 2/10/2026 | 4.0% | 5.4% | -3.6% |
| 10/28/2025 | -4.1% | -8.0% | -2.2% |
| 7/29/2025 | -3.9% | -2.1% | 3.4% |
| 4/29/2025 | 3.3% | 6.7% | 9.9% |
| 2/11/2025 | 6.2% | 8.2% | 3.8% |
| 10/29/2024 | -1.0% | -4.7% | -3.5% |
| 7/30/2024 | -7.7% | -6.7% | 0.3% |
| 4/30/2024 | 2.0% | 3.3% | 2.0% |
| 2/13/2024 | 9.0% | 6.6% | 10.9% |
| 10/31/2023 | 5.4% | 9.6% | 18.5% |
| 8/1/2023 | 1.1% | 0.7% | -0.0% |
| 5/2/2023 | 3.3% | 2.4% | -2.2% |
| 2/14/2023 | 7.1% | 7.0% | 7.7% |
| 11/1/2022 | -9.0% | -11.9% | -4.6% |
| 7/26/2022 | -2.7% | 2.6% | 2.9% |
| 4/26/2022 | -4.1% | -5.7% | -9.8% |
| 1/20/2022 | -8.5% | -13.9% | -16.2% |
| 10/26/2021 | 3.9% | 0.4% | 5.4% |
| 7/27/2021 | 0.8% | -0.5% | 1.5% |
| 4/27/2021 | -3.7% | 0.1% | -5.2% |
| SUMMARY STATS | |||
| # Positive | 11 | 12 | 11 |
| # Negative | 9 | 8 | 9 |
| Median Positive | 3.9% | 4.4% | 3.8% |
| Median Negative | -4.1% | -6.2% | -3.6% |
| Max Positive | 9.0% | 9.6% | 18.5% |
| Max Negative | -9.0% | -13.9% | -16.2% |
Correlation Between 1D, 5D and 21D Historical Returns
A relatively less risky strategy (though not useful if the correlation is low) is to understand the correlation between short-term and medium-term returns post earnings, find a pair that has the highest correlation, and execute the appropriate trade. For example, if 1D and 5D show the highest correlation, a trader can position themselves “long” for the next 5 days if the 1D post-earnings return is positive. Here is some correlation data based on a 5-year and a 3-year (more recent) history. Note that the correlation 1D_5D refers to the correlation between 1D post-earnings returns and subsequent 5D returns.
| History | 1D_5D | 1D_21D | 5D_21D |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5Y History | 15.1% | -2.7% | -7.3% |
| 3Y History | 6.9% | -28.1% | -13.7% |
Is There Any Correlation With Peer Earnings?
Sometimes, peer performance can have an influence on post-earnings stock reaction. In fact, the pricing-in might begin before the earnings are announced. Here is some historical data on the past post-earnings performance of Ecolab stock compared with the stock performance of peers that reported earnings just before Ecolab. For fair comparison, peer stock returns also represent post-earnings one-day (1D) returns.
| 1D Return | Peer Post-Earnings 1D Return | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| ECL Earnings Dates | ECL | ROL | CTAS |
| 7/29/2025 | -3.9% | 3.9% | 0.3% |
| 4/29/2025 | 3.3% | 2.6% | N/A* |
| 10/29/2024 | -1.0% | -4.9% | N/A* |
| 7/30/2024 | -7.7% | -4.0% | 0.9% |
| 10/31/2023 | 5.4% | 9.6% | N/A* |
| 8/1/2023 | 1.1% | -9.3% | 1.9% |
| 5/2/2023 | 3.3% | 6.3% | N/A* |
| 11/1/2022 | -9.0% | 6.7% | N/A* |
| 7/26/2022 | -2.7% | N/A* | 2.8% |
| 1/20/2022 | -8.5% | N/A* | -11.3% |
| 10/26/2021 | 3.9% | N/A* | 10.6% |
| 7/27/2021 | 0.8% | N/A* | 5.3% |
| CORRELATION | -14.7% | -49.1% | |
* N/A indicates that the peer reported earnings after ECL
Separately, if you want upside with a smoother ride than an individual stock such as ECL, consider the Trefis High Quality (HQ) Portfolio, with a collection of 30 stocks, has a track record of comfortably outperforming its benchmark that includes all 3 — the S&P 500, S&P mid-cap, and Russell 2000 indices. Why is that? As a group, HQ Portfolio stocks provided better returns with less risk versus the benchmark index; less of a roller-coaster ride, as evident in HQ Portfolio performance metrics.