ASH
Ashland Inc.58.65
-1.18-1.97%
Dec 16, 4:00:02 PM EST
Earnings Call Transcripts
This Quarter (Q1 '26)
No earnings call transcript available yet
Last Quarter (Q4 '25)
FY Q1 '26
Q&A clarifies recoveries, China strategy
Q&A reinforces the scripted story of resilient Life Sciences and Personal Care growth amid coatings weakness, but adds that Personal Care customer outages resolved with most recovery in Q2 for low single-digit organic gains. China coatings appear bottomed with H2 comp relief, network rebalancing for exports, and China-specific innovation to counter overcapacity. Life Sciences highlighted GLP-1 tailwinds via VP&D, tablet coatings, and summer sodium caprylate launch. Outage hits mostly H2-recoverable, yet timing hedged prudently. China execution matters next.
Key Stats
Market Cap
2.68BP/E (TTM)
-Basic EPS (TTM)
-17.74Dividend Yield
0.03%Recent Filings
10-Q
Q1 FY2026 results
Ashland's Q1 FY2026 sales dipped 5% y/y to $386M while gross margin held steady at 27.2%, but operating loss narrowed sharply to $6M from $179M after stripping out last year's $183M Avoca impairment. Cash from continuing operations surged to $125M, driving free cash flow (derived) of $111M; cash climbed to $304M with $596M revolver availability and net leverage at 2.7. Life Sciences grew 4% y/y to $139M, Personal Care slipped post-Avoca sale, yet segments posted $42M EBITDA. Operating loss exceeded net loss due to $8M net interest. Asbestos claims persist.
8-K
Q1 sales down 5%, EBITDA resilient
Ashland posted Q1 fiscal 2026 sales of $386 million, down 5% year-over-year, with Adjusted EBITDA at $58 million off 5% but resilient at 15% margin despite Calvert City outage costing $10 million. Life Sciences grew 4% on pharma demand; Personal Care and Specialty Additives dipped amid soft markets, yet cost actions stabilized margins. Cash flow surged to $125 million on tax refund. Full-year Adjusted EBITDA narrowed to $400-$420 million, factoring $11 million in Q2 disruptions. Disruptions hit early, but recovery beckons.
8-K
CEO gets $2M retention RSUs
Ashland's board approved a $2 million one-time RSU award to CEO Guillermo Novo on January 26, 2026, cliff-vesting December 31, 2028, to secure his leadership through that date. No retirement acceleration applies, but pro-rata vesting holds for without-cause termination. Both sides now commit to 180 days' notice. Retention locked in.
8-K
All director nominees elected
Ashland stockholders at the January 20, 2026 annual meeting elected all eight director nominees, including Steven D. Bishop and Jerome A. Peribere, with strong support exceeding 90% for most. Ernst & Young LLP's appointment as fiscal 2026 auditor passed overwhelmingly with 41.5 million for votes. Say-on-pay for executives won handily too. All proposals cleared decisively.
10-K
FY2025 results
Ashland's FY2025 ended September 30, 2025 delivered stable operations across Life Sciences (64% of sales via cellulosics 39%, PVP 25%), Personal Care, Specialty Additives, and Intermediates, with raw materials and energy costs stabilized after 2022 volatility. Environmental remediation reserves stood at $226 million, down from prior years with $48 million expense versus $56 million in 2024. Safety improved to TPRR 0.41 from 0.46. $520 million remains available under the 2023 repurchase program—no Q4 buys. Stock underperformed S&P MidCap 400, dropping to 74 index points. Business disruptions from natural disasters threaten quarterly momentum.
IPO
Website
Employees
Sector
Industry
APD
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc
242.25-2.76
AVNT
Avient Corporation
30.50+0.02
BCPC
Balchem Corporation
157.10-1.61
BON
Bon Natural Life Limited
1.79+0.04
CC
Chemours Company (The)
11.69-0.09
DD
DuPont de Nemours, Inc.
40.45-0.16
EMN
Eastman Chemical Company
63.65-0.30
IFF
International Flavors & Fragran
64.58+0.41
LNXSF
Lanxess Ag
20.00+0.00
MATV
Mativ Holdings, Inc.
12.82+0.09