Avient Corporation AVNT reported adjusted earnings of 83 cents per share for the first quarter of 2026, up 9.2% from 76 cents a year ago. The bottom line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 81 cents by 2.5%.
Net sales were $847.4 million, up 2.5% year over year and slightly ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $845.8 million. The top line improved despite a challenging backdrop, with sales growth supported by currency translation. AVNT highlighted that first-quarter sales growth included a 5% favorable foreign exchange impact.
Profitability improved alongside revenues. Adjusted EBITDA rose to $149.9 million from $144.7 million a year ago, taking adjusted EBITDA as a percent of sales to 17.7% from 17.5%. The results benefited from productivity improvement and cost-control actions.
Avient Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Avient Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Avient Corporation Quote
AVNT Segment Highlights
Color, Additives and Inks sales were $528.1 million in the quarter, up 1.6% from $519.7 million a year ago. Segment EBITDA increased to $103.8 million from $100.3 million, implying an EBITDA margin of about 19.7% versus roughly 19.3% in the prior-year quarter.
Specialty Engineered Materials generated sales of $320.2 million, up 3.8% from $308.4 million in the year-ago quarter. Segment EBITDA rose to $70 million from $68.6 million, translating to an EBITDA margin of about 21.9% compared with approximately 22.2% a year ago.
Avient Balance Sheet and Cash Flow
Avient ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $427.6 million, down from $510.5 million in the prior quarter. Long-term debt was essentially steady at $1,924 million versus $1,922.6 million at year-end 2025.
Net cash used in operating activities was $34.5 million compared with $51.1 million used in the prior-year quarter, while capital expenditures were $19 million versus $12.5 million a year ago.
AVNT’s Outlook
AVNT guided to second-quarter adjusted earnings of 89 cents per share, which management said would represent 11% growth over the prior-year quarter. The company also emphasized that its first-half expectations are now slightly better than expected versus the start of the year.
For full-year 2026, Avient maintained its adjusted EPS guidance range of $2.93 to $3.17 and reiterated its adjusted EBITDA outlook of $555 million to $585 million. Management noted that the outlook for the second half of the year is less certain, supporting its decision to keep the full-year targets unchanged.
AVNT’s Price Performance
Shares of Avient have lost 9.7% in the past year against the 18.4% growth in the industry.
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AVNT's Zacks Rank & Other Chemicals Releases
AVNT currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Kronos Worldwide KRO reported a first-quarter 2026 net loss of 4 cents per share, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 33 cents. Kronos expects gross margin to improve as higher-cost inventory produced in late 2025 works through the system and it realizes the benefit of lower-cost production in 2026.
Huntsman Corporation’s HUN first-quarter 2026 adjusted loss per share was 20 cents compared with a loss of 11 cents in the year-ago quarter. It was narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 23 cents. The company expects margin improvement across regions from its pricing initiatives. It anticipates second-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $60-$75 million for Polyurethanes, $30-$40 million for Performance Products and $50-$55 million for Advanced Materials.
Olin Corporation OLN reported a first-quarter 2026 adjusted loss of 65 cents per share, narrower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 67 cents. Olin guided second-quarter 2026 adjusted EBITDA to a range of $160 million to $200 million.
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