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Rob Cottrell

Rob Cottrell

Research Analyst at Cleveland Research Company

Cleveland, OH, US

Rob Cottrell is a Research Analyst at Cleveland Research Company, specializing in providing in-depth equity research and market analysis. At Cleveland Research, he delivers insights on procurement, inflation management strategy, and cost modeling, recently contributing expertise at the 9th R&D Procurement & Sourcing in Pharma Summit. Cottrell began his role at Cleveland Research Company in 2024, following previous experience with ING North America, and is recognized for his analytic rigor in tracking performance metrics and offering actionable advisory for clients. He holds professional credentials relevant to equity research roles, reflecting a strong foundation in finance and market intelligence.

Rob Cottrell's questions to ICON (ICLR) leadership

Question · Q3 2025

Rob Cottrell asked about the balance between sharing savings from technology investments with customers versus capturing them for ICON plc's margins, and when these efficiency savings are expected to flow through into 2026 or 2027.

Answer

CEO Barry Balfe clarified that margin management through technology is an organic, ongoing process, and no massive immediate upside is expected. He described customer conversations as evolving towards long-term partnerships where efficiency gains from co-developed technologies are built into governance models, allowing for shared benefits and revisiting commercial terms as the clinical trial paradigm is disrupted. CFO Nigel Clerkin emphasized the benefits of scale in making these investments and the philosophy of jointly sharing benefits as a service organization.

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Question · Q3 2025

Rob Cottrell asked about the balance between sharing technology-driven savings with customers and capturing those savings for ICON plc's margins, and when these efficiency savings are expected to flow through into 2026 or 2027.

Answer

CEO Barry Balfe explained that margin management through technology is an ongoing, organic process, not a single event. He highlighted that co-developing transformational technologies with customers leads to discussions about revisiting commercial terms to share recognized efficiencies. CFO Nigel Clerkin added that this approach leverages ICON's scale and reflects a fundamental service philosophy of jointly sharing benefits with customers.

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Question · Q2 2025

Rob Cottrell of Cleveland Research Company asked how to reconcile commentary on higher near-term pass-throughs with increased price competition, and how higher pass-throughs flow through to bookings and backlog.

Answer

CEO Steve Cutler explained that the two are not offsetting factors, as price competition centers on margin-producing direct fees, while pass-throughs are non-margin costs dictated by study type. CFO Nigel Clerkin clarified that pass-throughs are simply included as part of the total value of a gross study award and are not treated differently in bookings.

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