If five-year projections on the buildout of artificial intelligence and data centers are correct, it should be a good half-decade for Ecolab.
Ecolab helps firms manage their water, pinning big hope on AI, data center growth
Ecolab exceeded analyst epectatations for quarter, forecast growth of 12 to 15% for 2025.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
February 11, 2025 at 8:27PM
The St. Paul-based company helps chip manufacturers recycle and reuse the water needed for production and has cooling technologies to help data centers from overheating from the high energy demands required.
“Those are two great opportunities that we’ve been building over years, and that are really growing nicely right now,” said Christophe Beck, chief executive of Ecolab.
The power needs of data centers in the U.S. is expected to grow from 3% to 4% of U.S. energy capacity to to between 11% and 12 % in 2030, according to a report from the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. In just Minnesota, companies have plans to build 10 new data centers.
And according to the World Economic Forum, a typical computer chip making facility uses as much water each day as 33,000 U.S. households.
As part of Ecolab’s fourth quarter earnings report released Tuesday, the company said it renamed its Global Industrial segment Global Water.
Ecolab’s water solutions business is its largest unit, producing more than half of the company’s overall sales of $2.1 billion. Sales grew 4% in the quarter, and operating income increased 11% to $374.6 million.
Overall, Ecolab’s net earnings increased year over year more than 15% to $472.9 million, or $1.66 a share. Revenue increased 2% to $4 billion.
Adjusted earnings were $1.81 a share and beat analyst expectations of $1.80 a share.
Company officials are confident the company can maintain strong momentum from a record setting year into 2025. The company is forecasting adjusted earnings to increase 12% to 15% in 2025.
“We ended our first century on a record year. We started our new century with a record year again,” Beck said. “And it’s really been done the old-fashioned way by taking care of our customers and taking care of each other.”
Shares of Ecolab closed Tuesday near a 52-week high of $261.23, up 6.2% on an overall down day for the stock market.
Ecolab exceeded analyst epectatations for quarter, forecast growth of 12 to 15% for 2025.
