Ashland's Q2 Earnings and Revenues Miss Estimates, Down Y/Y

Ashland Global Holdings Inc. ASH recorded second-quarter fiscal 2025 (ended March 31, 2025) profit of $31 million or 65 cents, down from $120 million or $2.39 in the prior-year quarter.

Barring one-time items, adjusted earnings came in at 99 cents, down from the year-ago quarter’s figure of $1.27. The bottom line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.10.

Sales were down 16.7% year over year to $479 million. The top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $508.8 million. Sales for the fiscal second quarter were adversely impacted by the portfolio optimization actions involving curtailing or divesting certain lower-margin products, lower volumes and prices.

(Find the latest EPS estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.)

ASH’s Segment Highlights

Life Sciences: Sales in the segment were down 22.5% year over year to $172 million in the reported quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same was $177 million. The decline was primarily caused by the divestiture of the Neutraceuticals division and the exit of the low-margin nutrition industry.

Personal Care: Sales in the division declined 13.6% year over year to $146 million. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same was $162.3 million. The decrease was mostly due to portfolio optimization.

Specialty Additives: Sales in the segment fell 14.6% year over year to $134 million. It missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $141.1 million. The decline was mostly due to portfolio optimization.

Intermediates: Sales in the segment went down 7.5% year over year to $37 million. The figure modestly beat the consensus estimate of $36.3 million. The overall sales decreased, mostly due to lower prices.

ASH’s Financials

Cash and cash equivalents were $168 million at the end of the quarter, down around 23% sequentially. Long-term debt was $1,336 million, up roughly 2% over the same time frame.

ASH’s Outlook

For the full fiscal year, Ashland expects sales to be in the range of $1.825-$1.9 billion and adjusted EBITDA to be $400-$420 million.

ASH’s Price Performance

Shares of Ashland have lost 49% in the past year against a 0.9% decline of the industry.

ASH’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks

ASH currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Better-ranked stocks worth a look in the basic materials space include Hawkins, Inc. HWKN, Franco-Nevada Corporation FNV and Coeur Mining CDE. While HWKN and CDE carry a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), SSRM has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Hawkins is scheduled to report fiscal fourth-quarter results on May 14. The consensus estimate for Hawkins’ earnings is pegged at 74 cents. HWKN beat the consensus estimate in one of the last four quarters while missing thrice, with the average earnings surprise being 6.1%. 

Franco-Nevada is slated to release first-quarter results on May 8. The consensus estimate for FNV’s first-quarter earnings is pegged at $1. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter earnings has been going up over the past 60 days.

Coeur Mining is slated to release first-quarter results on May 7. CDE delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 27.9%, on average. 

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

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