Quality Investor

Ashland Inc.

Rank #409DeclineWatchlistCompare with other stocks

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

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

  • FAIL
    Revenue declining YoY

    Revenue contracted year over year

  • FAIL
    Operating margin declining

    Operating margin lower than prior year

  • PASS
    Gross margin holding
  • PASS
    Dilution within 2%
  • PASS
    FCF not negative from investment
  • PASS
    Disclosure consistent
  • PASS
    Free cash flow intact
  • PASS
    Passes safety gate
  • PASS
    Balance sheet stable
  • PASS
    No competitive retreat
  • PASS
    SBC not compressing margin
  • PASS
    No 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 pass
GP / assets
0.12
Return on equity
-45.2%
Gross margin trend
PASS

Safety

1/1 pass
Balance-sheet safety
PASS
Debt / equity
1.42
Current ratio
3.05×
Net cash
-$984.00M

Cash Flow

3/3 pass
Positive FCF
PASS
Cash-backed earnings
PASS
Accruals healthy
PASS
SBC / revenue
0.8%

Growth

1/2 pass
Revenue growth
-13.7%
Piotroski F-Score
6 / 9
Share dilution
-8.0%

Asset 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.

PASS

Operating Leverage

2022202320242025
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

PASS

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).

PASS

Accruals healthy

Cash-backed earnings.

PASS

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.

PASS

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

Weak
Payout ratio
N/A0/5 Weak
FCF coverage
0.47×0/5 Weak
Dividend growth streak
0 yr0/5 Weak
Balance-sheet health
D/E 1.42 · IC N/A1/5 Weak

Capital allocation quality

Composite score

2.3 / 5

Fair
Share count trend(net buybacks)
-8.0%5/5 Strong
Buyback timing
N/AN/A
Dividend growth consistency(non-payer or broken streak)
0 yr0/5 Weak
Net debt trajectory
-3.7%2/5 Fair

Lifecycle Phase History

20202025
Decline
Capital Return
Value

Price History

ASH-17.9% · -3.8% CAGRSPY+82.9% · +12.8% CAGR