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Ecolab Third Quarter Earnings Preview
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ECL
Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) will release its third quarter results on Tuesday, October 30, 2012. Analysts are expecting the company to report a profit of 87 cents a share, up from 75 cents a year ago.
Investors should care about a company's quarterly earnings because it shows the state of the business over the past 90 days and provides guidance for the following 90 days. SEE: Earnings: Quality Means Everything
What to Expect: Ecolab is expected to report 87 cents per share, up 16% from a year ago when the company reported earnings of 75 cents per share.
While down from 92 cents three months ago, the consensus estimate has remained unchanged over the past 30 days. For the fiscal year, analysts are projecting earnings of $2.99 per share.
Ecolab is expected to report revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, beating last year's figure of $1.74 billion by 76.8%. Revenue for the fiscal year is expected to come in at $11.91 billion.
Company Performance: Revenue has grown by double-digit increases in the past four quarters. The average revenue increase has been 46.9%. The first quarter marked the biggest jump of 85.1%.
The P/E ratio for ECL is 39.1, above the industry average of 9.15. This could mean that the market is expecting big things over the next few months or years. The price/earnings ratio is calculated by taking a stock price and dividing it by the earnings-per-share (EPS). A high P/E ratio indicates a stock that is expensive, while a low P/E ratio indicates a stock that is cheap. SEE: The P/E Ratio: A Good Market-Timing Indicator
The stock price has increased from $67.17 on July 27, 2012 to $68.99 over the past quarter. Ecolab's worst recent stretch was when its stock price fell $3.82 per share between August 22, 2012 and September 4, 2012.
The Competition: Ecolab develops and markets cleaning and sanitizing products and programs, pest elimination, maintenance, and repair services for the hospitality, foodservice, healthcare and industrial markets. The majority of analysts (12 of 16) give Ecolab a buy rating. They have become increasingly pessimistic about the stock, as the number of buy ratings has dropped slightly over the last three months.
The company's closest competitor in the personal and household prods. industry is Clorox (CLX). Analysts are more optimistic about Ecolab than about Clorox. Only zero out of 15 analysts rate the latter a buy.
Investors should care about a company's quarterly earnings because it shows the state of the business over the past 90 days and provides guidance for the following 90 days. SEE: Earnings: Quality Means Everything
What to Expect: Ecolab is expected to report 87 cents per share, up 16% from a year ago when the company reported earnings of 75 cents per share.
While down from 92 cents three months ago, the consensus estimate has remained unchanged over the past 30 days. For the fiscal year, analysts are projecting earnings of $2.99 per share.
Ecolab is expected to report revenue of $3.07 billion for the quarter, beating last year's figure of $1.74 billion by 76.8%. Revenue for the fiscal year is expected to come in at $11.91 billion.
Company Performance: Revenue has grown by double-digit increases in the past four quarters. The average revenue increase has been 46.9%. The first quarter marked the biggest jump of 85.1%.
The stock price has increased from $67.17 on July 27, 2012 to $68.99 over the past quarter. Ecolab's worst recent stretch was when its stock price fell $3.82 per share between August 22, 2012 and September 4, 2012.
The Competition: Ecolab develops and markets cleaning and sanitizing products and programs, pest elimination, maintenance, and repair services for the hospitality, foodservice, healthcare and industrial markets. The majority of analysts (12 of 16) give Ecolab a buy rating. They have become increasingly pessimistic about the stock, as the number of buy ratings has dropped slightly over the last three months.
The company's closest competitor in the personal and household prods. industry is Clorox (CLX). Analysts are more optimistic about Ecolab than about Clorox. Only zero out of 15 analysts rate the latter a buy.
by
Investopedia Staff
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