Ashland ASH

Food Distribution, Consumer Defensive

$72.99

−0.79%

Market cap: $3.3B
PE: 62.4×; 8y median 31.3×
Forward PE: n/m; not a meaningful number
Price to sales: 1.8×
EV/EBIT: 31.2×
Revenue, 12 months: $1.8B; −1% on a year ago
Net margin: 2.8%
Free cash flow yield: 7.5%

Ashland trades at 62.4× trailing earnings, pricier than 80% of the last ten years. Revenue was $1.8B over the last twelve months, down 1% on a year earlier with a 3% net margin.

Charts

Financials

Income statement for ASH, by quarter
Income statement	Q4 FY23	Q1 FY24	Q2 FY24	Q3 FY24	Q4 FY24	Q1 FY25	Q2 FY25	Q3 FY25	Q4 FY25	Q1 FY26	Q2 FY26	Q3 FY26
	$517M−18%	$473M−10%	$575M−5%	$544M−0%	$522M+1%	$405M−14%	$479M−17%	$463M−15%	$477M−9%	$386M−5%	$482M+1%	$497M+7%
Cost of revenue	$389M−8%	$375M+4%	$414M+2%	$358M−3%	$348M−11%	$294M−22%	$332M−20%	$331M−8%	$318M−9%	$281M−4%	$335M+1%	$327M−1%
Gross profit	$128M−39%	$98M−41%	$161M−18%	$186M+5%	$174M+36%	$111M+13%	$147M−9%	$132M−29%	$159M−9%	$105M−5%	$147M+0%	$170M+29%
R&D	$14M−7%	$12M−8%	$14M+17%	$15M+25%	$13M−7%	$13M+8%	$14M+0%	$13M−13%	$13M+0%	$13M+0%	$14M+0%	$15M+15%
SG&A	$109M+16%	$83M−11%	$106M+34%	$114M+36%	$101M−7%	$78M−6%	$85M−20%	$106M−7%	$76M−25%	$86M+10%	$79M−7%	$99M−7%
	−$10M	−$18M	$21M−75%	−$61M	$31M	−$179M+894%	$51M+143%	−$708M+1061%	$61M+97%	−$6M−97%	$39M−24%	$43M
Pre-tax income	−$37M	$4M−92%	$17M−81%	−$70M	$25M	−$209M	$39M+129%	−$704M+906%	$65M+160%	−$15M−93%	$20M−49%	$56M
	−$29M	−$24M	−$104M+10300%	−$101M	$6M	−$43M+79%	$9M	$15M	$32M+433%	−$1M−98%	$5M−44%	$15M+0%
Net income	−$4M	$26M−35%	$120M+32%	$6M−88%	$16M	−$165M	$31M−74%	−$742M	$32M+100%	−$12M−93%	$16M−48%	$16M
	−$0.08	$0.51−30%	$2.39+43%	$0.12−87%	$0.34	−$3.50	$0.65−73%	−$16.21	$0.74+118%	−$0.26−93%	$0.34−48%	$0.35
	53M+0%	51M−7%	51M−7%	51M−4%	47M−11%	47M−8%	47M−8%	46M−10%	43M−9%	46M−2%	46M−2%	46M+0%

EPS, diluted: 10 periods, Q4 FY16 to Q4 FY25: quarter's net income to common over its shares, to the cent.

Diluted shares: 3 periods, Q4 FY16 to Q4 FY23: a loss quarter: its basic count, share-days: the 12-month average less the 9-month, weighted by days. 6 periods, Q4 FY18 to Q4 FY25: share-days: the 12-month average less the 9-month, weighted by days. Q4 FY19: the earlier year to date counted no dilution: the quarter's basic count plus the later year to date's dilution.

From each company's 10-Q and 10-K filings, the newest version of each figure. Quarters are as filed (a fourth quarter is the year less its first nine months), fiscal years as the 10-K prints them, restated where a later 10-K restated them, and balance sheet lines as of the period's end. A quarter whose 10-Q isn't filed yet is from the company's results release. Growth is on the same period a year earlier. A dash is a period with no figure for the line: the filing doesn't print it, or it hasn't been read yet.

Peers

Companies in Food Distribution nearest Ashland's size, closest first.

Company	Market cap	PE	Its 10y median PE	P/S	Revenue growth	Net margin
ASHAshland	$3.3B	62.4×	31.3×	1.8×	−1%	2.8%
SEBSeaboard	$3.7B	5.9×	10.8×	0.4×	+8%	6.2%
CENTCentral Garden & Pet	$2.8B	16.9×	15.3×	0.9×	−1%	5.4%
UNFIUnited Natural Foods	$2.8B	35.5×	12.0×	0.1×	−2%	0.3%
HWKNHawkins	$2.8B	34.3×	19.3×	2.5×	+9%	7.3%
CHEFChefs' Warehouse	$4.3B	51.1×	45.4×	1.0×	+11%	2.1%
ANDEAndersons	$2.2B	12.6×	16.9×	0.2×	−5%	1.6%
DPZDominos Pizza	$10.3B	17.3×	31.4×	2.0×	+5%	12.0%
UVVUniversal	$978.3M	52.4×	14.4×	n/m	n/m	n/m
CAPLCrossAmerica Partners	$843.6M	15.9×	22.2×	0.2×	+0%	1.4%
PFGCPerformance Food	$14.9B	41.4×	31.5×	0.2×	+7%	0.5%
Peer median	$2.8B	25.8×	18.1×	0.4×	+5%	2.1%