PPG Industries, Inc. PPG recently introduced its SEM brand in Mexico’s automotive repair industry, expanding its offerings for the automotive refinish industry with more than 70 years of industry experience. The SEM brand is widely recognized in the United States and Australia for its abrasives, detailing products, masking solutions, and aerosol repair systems. The brand focuses on helping painters, detailers, and automotive specialists achieve professional-grade finishes while reducing material waste.
As surface preparation accounts for nearly 60% of a refinish job, product performance becomes crucial to achieving strong adhesion, color matching, and high-quality final finishes. The SEM portfolio in Mexico includes high and mid-performance abrasives, detailing solutions, high-performance masking tapes, and custom aerosol systems for fast touch-up repairs.
The launch strengthens PPG’s position in the automotive repair market by offering more comprehensive solutions beyond coatings. In the Mexican market, nearly 45,000 automotive painters work under pressure to deliver high-quality finishes, citing an opportunity for PPG products to deliver performance and customer satisfaction.
The products will be key to providing more comprehensive solutions for body shops, improving efficiency, consistency and overall performance. SEM products will be available during the first half of 2026 through PPG-authorized distributors and Comex stores in major Mexican cities, including Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Puebla, León and Tijuana.
PPG stock has lost 6.2% over the past year against the industry’s 1.2% growth.
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PPG’s Zacks Rank & Key Picks
PPG currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present.
Some better-ranked stocks in the Basic Materials space are CF Industries Holdings, Inc. CF, Albemarle Corporation ALB and Balchem Corporation BCPC.
While CF and ALB sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) each at present, BCPC carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for CF’s 2026 earnings is pegged at $15.67 per share, indicating a rise of 67.24% year over year. Its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with an average surprise of 11.42%. CF’s shares have soared 38.7% over the past year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ALB’s 2026 earnings is pinned at $12.45 per share, indicating a 1,675.95% year-over-year increase. Its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters, while missing it in one, with an average surprise of 74.5%. ALB’s shares have jumped 193.8% over the past year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BCPC’s 2026 earnings is pinned at $5.70 per share, indicating a 10.68% year-over-year increase. Its earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the four trailing quarters, while missing it in one.
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PPG Industries, Inc. (PPG): Free Stock Analysis Report
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Albemarle Corporation (ALB): Free Stock Analysis Report
Balchem Corporation (BCPC): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).