ASH · NYSE · Basic Materials
Ashland Inc. (ASH) — Rank #409 by gross profitability (GP/assets 0.12) · ROE -45.2% · Piotroski F-Score 6 / 9.
As-of 2026-10-30 · CIK 0001674862 · all metrics point-in-time as of the filing date.
About
Ashland Inc. provides additives and specialty ingredients in the North and Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and internationally.
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It operates through Life Sciences, Personal Care, Specialty Additives, and Intermediates segments. The Life Sciences segment offers pharmaceutical solutions, including controlled release polymers, disintegrants, tablet coatings, thickeners, solubilizers, and tablet binders; and nutrition solutions, such as thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers, and additives; agricultural chemicals; diagnostic films; and fine chemicals. Its Personal Care segment provides a range of natural, nature-derived, biodegradable, and performance ingredients; solutions for toothpastes, mouth washes and rinses, denture cleaning, and care for teeth; and household supplies nature-derived rheology ingredients, biodegradable surface wetting agents, performance encapsulates, and specialty polymers. The Specialty Additives segment offers rheology modifiers, foam control agents, surfactants and wetting agents, pH neutralizers, advanced ceramics used in catalytic converters, environmental filters, ingredients for the manufacturing of ceramic capacitors, plasma display panels and solar cells, ingredients for textile printing, thermoplastic metals, and alloys for welding. Its Intermediates segment produces 1,4 butanediol and related derivatives, including n-methylpyrrolidone. It offers its products to customers in a range of consumer and industrial markets, such as architectural coatings, construction, energy, food and beverage, personal care, and pharmaceutical. The company was formerly known as Ashland Global Holdings Inc. and changed its name to Ashland Inc. in August 2022. Ashland Inc.
was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware.
- Industry
- Specialty Chemicals
- Sector
- Basic Materials
- State
- DE
- Filer Category
- Large accelerated filer
- Fiscal Year End
- September 30
- Website
- ashland.com
Company Snapshot
P/E, P/B, and dividend yield matter most — book value provides a floor.
Market Cap
—
P/E (annual)
—
P/S (annual)
—
P/B
—
P/OCF (annual)
—
Shareholder Yield
—
Employees
2,900
Industry
Specialty Chemicals
Exchange
NYSE
10/12
Flags passed
ASH fails 2 critical flags
Passes 10 of 12 quality flags
- FAILRevenue declining YoY
Revenue contracted year over year
- FAILOperating margin declining
Operating margin lower than prior year
- PASSGross margin holding
- PASSDilution within 2%
- PASSFCF not negative from investment
- PASSDisclosure consistent
- PASSFree cash flow intact
- PASSPasses safety gate
- PASSBalance sheet stable
- PASSNo competitive retreat
- PASSSBC not compressing margin
- PASSNo valuation convergence
Strengths Sequential beat (rev + EPS)
A count of the 12 warning flags that could be evaluated. Unweighted: colour follows the worst flag.
Quality Profile
Profitability
1/1 passSafety
1/1 passCash Flow
3/3 passGrowth
1/2 passAsset value and restructuring potential (balance-sheet strength) are the primary reads at this stage.
Profitability
Does it make money well?
Warning: Operating margin declining, Revenue declining YoY · GP/assets 0.12
Gross profitability (GP / assets)
0.12
Primary signal (Novy-Marx).
Return on equity
-45.2%
Gross margin
30.1%
Revenue growth (YoY)
-13.7%
Gross margin improving
Margin trend vs prior year.
Operating Leverage
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue vs COGS | ||||
| Revenue vs OpEx | ||||
| Op. Income vs Revenue |
Growth
Revenue CAGR (3Y)
-8.6%
Revenue CAGR (5Y)
-2.0%
Earnings CAGR (3Y)
—
FCF CAGR (3Y)
-23.4%
Cash Flow Health
Is the cash real?
No warning flags · FCF 104% above net income
Free cash flow
$36.00M
Operating cash flow minus capex.
Positive free cash flow
FCF vs net income
104.3%
(FCF − net income) ÷ |net income|. Positive: cash above earnings. Negative: below.
FCF not below net income
Fails when free cash flow is below net income (yellow flag).
Accruals healthy
Cash-backed earnings.
SBC / revenue
0.8%
Stock-based comp intensity.
Balance Sheet Strength
Can it survive a storm?
No warning flags · net debt $984.00M, F-Score 6/9
Balance-sheet safety
Composite anti-fragile check.
Debt / equity
1.42
Current ratio
3.05×
Quick ratio
1.64×
Net cash
-$984.00M
Cash & equivalents minus total debt.
Piotroski F-Score
6 / 9
Fundamental-strength score (0-9).
Valuation
Is the price reasonable?
No warning flags
Dividend safety
Composite score
0.2 / 5
Capital allocation quality
Composite score
2.3 / 5
Lifecycle Phase History
Price History
Source filings on SEC EDGAR: 10-K annual reports · 10-Q quarterly reports