Ashland Q4 Earnings Miss Estimates on Portfolio Actions, Revenues Down

Ashland Global Holdings Inc. ASH recorded a profit of $32 million or 71 cents per share for the fourth-quarter fiscal 2025 (ended Sept. 30, 2025) compared with a profit of $16 million or 33 cents in the prior-year quarter. 

Barring one-time items, adjusted earnings were $1.08 per share, down from the year-ago quarter figure of $1.26. The bottom line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.17. 

Sales were down 8% year over year to $478 million. The top line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $474 million. Sales for the fiscal fourth quarter were adversely impacted by the portfolio optimization actions involving curtailing or divesting certain lower-margin products, lower volumes in Specialty Additives and reduced pricing. 

Ashland Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Ashland Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Ashland Inc. Quote

ASH’s Segment Highlights

Life Sciences: Sales in the segment were down 10% year over year to $173 million in the reported quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same was $172 million. The decline was primarily caused by the portfolio optimization. 

Personal Care: Sales in the division declined 7% year over year to $151 million. The metric surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $148 million. The decrease was primarily due to portfolio optimization, mainly attributed to the divestiture of the Avoca business line. 

Specialty Additives: Sales in the segment fell 9% year over year to $131 million but beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $129 million. The decline was primarily due to the portfolio actions, including the divestment of the low-margin construction business. 

Intermediates: Sales in the segment went down 8% year over year to $33 million. The figure also missed the consensus estimate of $34 million. Overall sales decreased, mostly due to lower prices and reduced merchant volumes. 

ASH’s Financials

Cash and cash equivalents were $215 million at the end of the quarter, up around 3.9% sequentially. Long-term debt was $1,384 million, up roughly 2.6% over the prior quarter. 

ASH’s Outlook

For fiscal 2026, Ashland expects sales to be in the range of $1.835-$1.905 billion and adjusted EBITDA to be $400-$430 million. 

ASH’s Price Performance

Shares of Ashland have lost 37.1% in the past year compared with a 12.7% decline in the industry. 

ASH’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks

ASH currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell). 

Some better-ranked stocks worth a look in the basic materials space are AngloGold Ashanti plc AU, Integra Resources Corp. ITRG and U.S. Gold Corp. USAU. 

AngloGold is scheduled to report third-quarter results on Nov. 11. AU carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for AU’s third-quarter earnings is pegged at $1.34, indicating a 139.3% year-over-year growth. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Integra Resources is scheduled to report third-quarter results on Nov. 12. ITRG carries a Zacks Rank #2 at present. The consensus estimate for ITRG’s third-quarter earnings is pegged at 13 cents, indicating a 262.5% year-over-year growth. 

U.S. Gold is expected to report fiscal second-quarter results on Dec. 15. USAU carries a Zacks Rank #2 at present. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for USAU’s second-quarter earnings is pegged at a loss of 13 cents, indicating a 35% year-over-year growth.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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