ASH News & Events

Reports Q2 revenue $482M, consensus $485.61M. "Ashland's second quarter results reflect commercial execution across much of the portfolio as we navigated a challenging operating environment with generally resilient demand," said Guillermo Novo, chair and chief executive officer of Ashland. "Sales increased modestly year-over-year, driven by strength in Personal Care, resilient performance in Life Sciences, and stabilization in Specialty Additives. Life Sciences delivered steady results, supported by strong customer engagement and continued volume growth in pharma applications, reflecting sustained demand in injectables and oral solid-dosage excipients. Personal Care generated broad-based growth, led by double-digit gains in biofunctional actives and solid execution across skin care, hair care, and microbial protection. In Specialty Additives, coatings returned to growth on share gains, while we reduced our construction exposure on portfolio mix management, and energy markets were softer in the Middle East due to the ongoing conflict. In Intermediates, demand and pricing were stable at trough levels, with disciplined commercial and operating actions supporting profitability."

Consensus $1.85B. Lowers FY26 adjusted EBITDA view to $385M-$400M from $400M-$420M. The company said, "Ashland is updating its full-year fiscal 2026 sales guidance to a range of $1,835 to $1,870 million and its Adjusted EBITDA guidance to a range of $385 to $400 million. The updated outlook reflects productivity challenges associated with the Hopewell scale-up, as well as softer energy-related demand tied to the Middle East conflict and reduced EV driven demand for BDO based derivatives. These impacts are partially offset by resilient demand in core end markets, ongoing pricing actions, and continued growth across the globalize and innovate platforms. Despite a mixed macroeconomic backdrop, Ashland's core Personal Care and Life Sciences end markets continue to show resilience, underpinned by stable fundamentals and sustained momentum in innovation-led and globalized product offerings. Second quarter sales trends were encouraging, reflecting solid momentum across several consumer-focused markets, with early third quarter activity showing a continuation of this commercial strength. While cost-savings initiatives remain in progress, a slower-than-anticipated productivity ramp-up associated with the Hopewell HEC manufacturing site is delaying the pace of benefit realization. Ashland continues to expect the year to follow a typical seasonal cadence, with stronger performance anticipated in the second half as commercial activity builds and operational stability improves."