Alto Ingredients, Inc. ALTO is looking to turn biogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) into a larger revenue opportunity rather than treating it simply as a byproduct of ethanol production. The company is pursuing a strategy that combines higher-value CO2 sales with CO2 utilization and sequestration initiatives.
In the first quarter of 2026, Alto Ingredients began a project to add a third storage tank at its Columbia liquid CO2 processing facility. The project is intended to increase throughput and storage capacity and help the company capitalize on growing demand and limited supply of premium CO2 in the Pacific Northwest. Maintenance performed during a planned outage was also aimed at improving plant reliability and supporting CO2 customer demand during the summer demand period.
At its Pekin campus, Alto Ingredients continues to evaluate large-scale CO2 utilization and sequestration opportunities. Management has indicated that a future project could involve a combination of utilization and sequestration, potentially lowering the facility’s carbon-intensity score, increasing eligibility for carbon-related incentives and generating additional liquid CO2 revenues. The company is also holding discussions with outside parties regarding structures that could reduce the capital commitment required from it compared with the earlier standalone project.
Overall, the initiatives reflect Alto Ingredients’ effort to more effectively monetize its biogenic CO2 production. However, the Pekin opportunities remain under evaluation, and their timing, structure, economics and regulatory benefits have not yet been finalized.
What Do the Latest Metrics Say About Alto Ingredients?
Alto Ingredients, which competes with Green Plains Inc. GPRE and MGP Ingredients, Inc. MGPI, has seen its shares rally 300% in the past year, way higher than the industry’s 5.3% growth. Shares of Green Plains have risen 98.3%, while MGP Ingredients has declined 42.9% during the same period.
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From a valuation standpoint, Alto Ingredients’ forward price-to-sales ratio of 0.36 is lower than the industry’s average of 3.2. The company is trading at a discount to Green Plains (with a forward price-to-sales ratio of 0.6) and MGP Ingredients (0.75).
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The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Alto Ingredients’ 2026 and 2027 earnings per share implies a year-over-year rise of 671.4% and 53.7%, respectively.
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Alto Ingredients 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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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).