Ashland Inc. ASH recorded third-quarter fiscal 2024 (ended Jun 30, 2024) adjusted earnings of $1.49 per share, up from $1.23 in the prior-year quarter. The bottom line surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.47.

Sales were down 0.4% year over year to $544 million. The top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $569 million. Higher volumes within the Personal Care and Specialty Additives segments were partly offset by reduced Life Sciences volumes. Pricing was weaker than the prior-year quarter.

Ashland Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

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

Segment Highlights

Life Sciences: Sales in the segment fell 11% from the prior-year quarter to $195 million in the reported quarter. The decline reflects softer demand in vinyl pyrrolidone and derivatives for pharmaceutical and crop-care end markets, the exit of the VP&D nutrition business and pharma VP&D share loss. The figure missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $221 million.

Personal Care: Sales in the division were up 19.8% year over year to $175 million. The upside was driven by higher volumes, particularly skin care and hair care. The figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $162.6 million.

Specialty Additives: Sales in the segment fell 1.3% year over year to $150 million. Increased volumes in coatings and performance specialties were partly offset by reduced pricing, primarily in Asia, and lower energy end market volumes. The figure missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $154.9 million.

Intermediates: Sales in the segment went down 16.3% year over year to $36 million, affected by lower pricing and volumes of captive internal butanediol. The figure missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $40.9 million.

Financials

Operating activities generated $128 million in cash flows in the reported quarter compared with $137 million in the same period last year. Ongoing free cash flow was $112 million, up from $97 million.

Outlook

For the fiscal fourth quarter, the company expects sales in the range of $530-$540 million and adjusted EBITDA to be in the band of $130-$140 million.

The company expects adjusted EBITDA for the fiscal year to be in the range of $465-$475 million. It projects sales for fiscal 2024 to be around $2.1 billion.

Price Performance

Shares of Ashland have lost 2.4% in the past year compared with a 14.9% decline of the industry.

Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks

ASH currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Other top-ranked stocks worth a look in the basic materials space include Barrick Gold Corporation GOLD, B2Gold Corp. BTG and Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd. ASM.

Barrick is slated to report second-quarter results on Aug 12, before market open. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its second-quarter earnings is pegged at 26 cents. GOLD beat the consensus estimate in each of the last four quarters, with the average earnings surprise being 18.3%. GOLD currently carries a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

B2Gold, carrying a Zacks Rank #2, is slated to report second-quarter results on Aug 8. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BTG's second-quarter earnings is pegged at 8 cents.

Avino Silver, carrying a Zacks Rank #1, is slated to report second-quarter results on Aug 13. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ASM's second-quarter earnings is pegged at 2 cents. The stock has surged nearly 32.4% in the past year.