Ingevity Corporation NGVT reported an adjusted EBITDA of $115 million in the second quarter, up from the prior-year quarter’s $101 million. This was supported by higher prices, favorable product mix, and increased volumes in Performance Materials and Pavement Technologies, along with improved product mix and asset utilization in Advanced Polymer Technologies.
NGVT also outdid its last year’s second-quarter adjusted EBITDA margin by 6.1%, with second-quarter 2026 adjusted EBITDA margin reaching 36.6%. The company’s efforts to strengthen commercial and operational execution keep its profitability positioned for further improvement.
The actions for its portfolio transformation are underway, particularly the divestiture of the Road Markings segment and directing resources towards higher-return opportunities, which favor the company in the long run. With a more focused company and differentiated technology, Ingevity is poised for higher organic growth opportunities that ensure lucrative returns. Its first municipal water-treatment contract for PFAS filtration is also a growth driver.
The expectation of continued strength in adjusted EBITDA generation is also underlined by the company’s raised guidance released in the second-quarter earnings call. The company increased its 2026 adjusted EBITDA forecast to $380-$400 million from $370-$395 million. A raised full-year 2026 adjusted earnings guidance to $5-$5.45 per share from the previous projection of $4.7-$5.2 also reinforces NGVT’s expectations of higher growth.
Among its peers, Cabot Corporation CBT generated a relatively lower adjusted EBITDA of $194 million in the third quarter of fiscal 2026 compared with $211 million in the year-ago quarter. The company’s Performance Chemicals segment aided the performance through higher volumes and expanded unit margins. Cabot is also preparing itself to support higher global battery demand by targeting additive capacity investments in both the United States and China. For fiscal 2026, Cabot tightened its adjusted earnings guidance to $6.15-$6.45 per share from the previous range of $6-$6.5.
Element Solutions Inc. ESI recorded second-quarter adjusted EBITDA of roughly $184 million, up from the previous-year quarter’s $136 million. As the company is favored by a healthy core market, its own efforts to improve operational excellence complement its growth in profits. ESI now expects adjusted EBITDA for the fiscal year 2026 to be in the range of $690-$710 million, revised upwards from its previous projection of $665-$685 million.
The Zacks Rundown for NGVT
Shares of NGVT have gained 26.3% in the past year against the Zacks Chemical - Specialty industry’s rise of 4.8%.
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From a valuation standpoint, NGVT is currently trading at a forward price-to-sales multiple of 2.1, a discount to the industry average of 2.45X. It carries a Value Score of C.
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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NGVT’s 2026 and 2027 earnings implies a year-over-year rise of 30.75% and 9.26%, respectively. The EPS estimates for 2026 and 2027 have been trending higher over the past 90 days.
NGVT stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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