NGVT Q2 Earnings Beat on Pricing, Mix and Higher Volumes

Segmental Review

Performance Materials generated net sales of $160.6 million, up 4.4% from $153.9 million in the prior-year quarter. The segment’s EBITDA increased 6.3% year over year to $86.1 million. Higher volumes, improved price and mix, and stronger plant utilization more than offset increased selling, general and administrative and other expenses.

The company’s Performance Chemicals operations are now represented by the Pavement Technologies segment following the Road Markings divestiture. Pavement Technologies’ net sales fell 22.4% year over year to $104.2 million, primarily because the Road Markings product line was sold on April 15, 2026. Segment EBITDA declined to $25.4 million from $28.8 million because the prior-year quarter included $6 million of Road Markings EBITDA. Improved pricing and volumes in the remaining business partly offset the lost contribution.

Advanced Polymer Technologies posted net sales of $49.3 million, up 13.9% from $43.3 million. Segment EBITDA jumped to $11.2 million from $2 million. Improved product mix and higher plant utilization supported the increase, as the year-ago period included extended downtime related to new boiler installations.

Financials

Net cash used in operating activities was $13.8 million in the second quarter. Free cash flow totaled $89.1 million. NGVT repurchased approximately $35 million of common stock during the quarter at a weighted average price of $70.94 per share. Roughly $211 million remained available under the company’s existing share-repurchase authorization at the end of the period. Net leverage improved to 2.5 times from 3 times in the prior-year quarter and also declined from the first quarter of 2026. Cash and cash equivalents stood at $97.4 million as of June 30, 2026.

Outlook

Ingevity raised its full-year 2026 adjusted earnings guidance to $5-$5.45 per share from the previous projection of $4.7-$5.2. The company also increased its adjusted EBITDA forecast to $380-$400 million from $370-$395 million. The company continues to expect full-year net sales of $1.05-$1.15 billion. Free cash flow is now projected at $220-$245 million, excluding the $113.2 million litigation settlement payment, compared with the prior outlook of $215-$245 million. Ingevity intends to use its projected cash generation to reduce leverage to its long-term target range of 2-2.5 times and return capital to shareholders.

NGVT Stock’s Price Performance

Shares of Ingevity have gained 52.7% in a year compared with the industry’s 5.6% growth.

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NGVT’s Rank & Key Picks

NGVT currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the basic materials space are Neo Performance Materials Inc. NOPMF,Almonty Industries Inc. ALM and Skeena Resources Limited SKE.

Neo Performance is slated to report second-quarter 2026 results on Aug. 11. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at 50 cents per share. NOPMF sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. 

Almonty is expected to report second-quarter 2026 results on Aug. 13. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALM’s second-quarter earnings per share is pegged at 10 cents, indicating 300% year-over-year growth. ALM carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present.

Skeena is expected to report second-quarter 2026 results on Aug. 13. The consensus estimate for SKE’s loss per share is pegged at 11 cents. SKE presently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

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

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