Here are a few analogies to describe Ashland (ASH):

• Like **International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF)**, but for a much broader range of essential specialty ingredients that enhance everything from pharmaceuticals and cosmetics to paints and industrial materials.
• Imagine a specialized **DuPont** or **Dow**, focusing on advanced additives and performance-enhancing ingredients that improve a vast array of consumer and industrial products.

• Pharmaceutical Solutions: Polymers, binders, and coatings for drug formulation and delivery.
• Nutrition Solutions: Thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers, and additives for food and beverage applications.
• Nutraceutical Solutions: Products and custom formulations for weight management, joint comfort, and general wellness.
• Personal Care Ingredients: Nature-based and performance ingredients for cosmetics and personal hygiene products.
• Oral Care Solutions: Specialized ingredients for toothpastes, mouthwashes, and denture care.
• Household Supplies Ingredients: Rheology ingredients, wetting agents, and specialty polymers for household products.
• Rheology Modifiers: Chemicals that control the flow and consistency of various materials.
• Foam Control Agents: Additives designed to prevent or reduce foam formation.
• Surfactants and Wetting Agents: Ingredients that improve surface wetting and reduce surface tension.
• Advanced Ceramics: Materials used in catalytic converters, environmental filters, and electronic components.
• 1,4 Butanediol and Derivatives: Key chemical intermediates and solvents, including n-methylpyrrolidone.

Ashland (symbol: ASH) primarily sells its products to other companies rather than directly to individuals. Its major customers are manufacturers across a range of consumer and industrial markets that utilize Ashland's specialty ingredients, additives, intermediates, and solvents in their own product formulations.

Based on the company description, Ashland's key customer categories include:

• Pharmaceutical and Nutraceutical Manufacturers: Companies that produce prescription and over-the-counter drugs, as well as dietary supplements and health products. These customers use Ashland's pharmaceutical solutions (e.g., controlled release polymers, binders, coatings) and nutraceutical solutions (e.g., thickeners, stabilizers, ingredients for wellness products).

• Personal Care and Household Product Manufacturers: Companies involved in creating cosmetics, toiletries (like toothpastes, mouthwashes), skin and hair care products, and household cleaning supplies. They purchase Ashland's nature-based and performance ingredients, rheology ingredients, and specialty polymers.

• Industrial and Specialty Material Manufacturers: This broad category encompasses companies in various sectors such as architectural coatings, construction, energy, textiles, and advanced ceramics. These customers use Ashland's rheology modifiers, foam control agents, surfactants, advanced ceramic ingredients (for catalytic converters, filters, solar cells), and intermediates like 1,4 butanediol and n-methylpyrrolidone.

Guillermo Novo, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Guillermo Novo joined Ashland's Board of Directors in May 2019 and assumed the role of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer on December 31, 2019. Prior to Ashland, he served as President and CEO of Versum Materials from 2016 to 2019. From 2012 to 2016, he was Executive Vice President of Materials Technologies at Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. He also held the position of group Vice President, Dow Coating Materials, at Dow Chemical Company. Novo began his career in 1986 at Rohm and Haas Company, where he spent 24 years in various commercial, marketing, and management roles across South America, the U.S., and Asia.

William C. Whitaker, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

William C. Whitaker was appointed Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, effective July 18, 2025, after serving as interim CFO. He joined Ashland in 2015 and has held various roles of increasing responsibility within corporate development, treasury, financial planning and analysis (FP&A), and investor relations. Before joining Ashland, Whitaker worked in private equity and transaction advisory services.

Alessandra Faccin Assis, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Life Sciences and Intermediates

Alessandra Faccin Assis is the Senior Vice President and General Manager for Life Sciences and Intermediates at Ashland. She is recognized as a dynamic and results-oriented business leader with a proven ability to accelerate growth, drive execution discipline, and foster growth in emerging markets, as well as build high-performing teams. Her experience spans multiple cultures, having lived and worked in the United States, Singapore, and Brazil.

Jim Minicucci, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Personal Care

Jim Minicucci serves as the Senior Vice President and General Manager for Personal Care at Ashland. He is an accomplished global business leader with a demonstrated track record of achieving both top and bottom-line results. His expertise includes leading organizations in sales, marketing, operations, and technology, along with extensive experience in developing and implementing corporate and business unit strategies, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A).

Dago Caceres, Vice President and General Manager, Specialty Additives

Dago Caceres holds the position of Vice President and General Manager, Specialty Additives at Ashland, a role he has held since April 2024. Prior to Ashland, he was the global strategy director for IFF Pharma Solutions from February 2021 to April 2024, and before that, the global strategic marketing leader at DuPont from August 2019 to February 2021. He has also held various leadership positions and possesses extensive experience with chemical and science-driven companies, including Dow Chemical, FMC BioPolymer, and Rohm and Haas.

1. Significant Indebtedness: Ashland Global Holdings Inc. faces a substantial debt burden that limits its capacity to pursue strategic acquisitions and business opportunities. This indebtedness also reduces operational flexibility in response to fluctuating market conditions. A significant portion of its cash flow may be dedicated to debt repayments, thereby restricting funds available for growth initiatives and potentially placing Ashland at a competitive disadvantage compared to less leveraged competitors. The company is also more vulnerable to economic changes and interest rate increases, which could complicate its ability to meet financial obligations.
2. Environmental Liabilities and Evolving Regulatory Landscape: Ashland carries significant legacy environmental remediation and related litigation reserves, with estimated potential future costs. The company is also exposed to an evolving global regulatory landscape, including regulations concerning chemicals (such as TSCA, REACH, CSAR, PFAS, and microplastics) and climate disclosure regimes. These environmental matters and regulatory changes can lead to substantial compliance costs, potential litigation, and may impact the company's product mix and overall operating expenses.
3. Soft Demand, Pricing Pressures, and Raw Material/Energy Cost Volatility: Ashland operates in an environment characterized by ongoing demand softness and pricing pressures, particularly in certain end markets and export markets. The company also faces volatility in the prices of raw materials, especially hydrocarbon derivatives, cotton linters, wood pulp, and energy costs. Ashland's ability to fully pass on these increased costs to customers is dependent on prevailing market conditions, which can negatively impact its sales volumes, profit margins, and overall financial performance.

The global transition from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to electric vehicles (EVs) presents a clear emerging threat to Ashland's Specialty Additives segment. A stated application for Ashland's advanced ceramics in this segment is their use in catalytic converters. As EV adoption accelerates worldwide, the demand for catalytic converters, which are components specific to ICE vehicles for emission control, will significantly decrease, directly impacting a portion of Ashland's business in advanced ceramics.

Addressable Markets for Ashland's Main Products and Services

• Pharmaceutical Excipients: The global pharmaceutical excipients market size was valued at approximately USD 9.31 billion in 2025 and is expected to surpass USD 16.14 billion by 2035.
• Nutraceutical Ingredients: The global nutraceutical ingredients market size was accounted at USD 95.73 billion in 2025 and is predicted to increase to approximately USD 204.47 billion by 2035.
• Personal Care Ingredients: The global personal care ingredients market size was approximately USD 15.48 billion in 2025 and is predicted to increase to approximately USD 25.96 billion by 2034.
• Rheology Modifiers: The global rheology modifiers market size was approximately USD 8.93 billion in 2024 and is expected to exceed around USD 13.55 billion by 2034.
• 1,4 Butanediol (BDO): The global 1,4 butanediol market size was estimated at USD 7,684.4 million in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 13,407.6 million by 2030.

Ashland Global Holdings Inc. (ASH) is expected to drive future revenue growth over the next 2-3 years through several strategic initiatives:

1. Innovation and New Product Launches: Ashland is focused on accelerating commercial success through innovation, particularly in high-value areas. The company has a strategic aim of achieving $100 million in innovation revenue growth by 2027, driven by continued launches in cellulosic excipients, biofunctional actives, and regional production. Specific areas of focus include bioresorbable polymers and other injectables, where the market is growing at 7%, and tablet coatings, where Ashland aims for a significant market share. The Life Sciences segment has already seen a 4% increase in sales, propelled by injectables, high-value cellulose excipients, and new high-purity excipient launches.
2. Globalization and Expansion into Key Growth Regions: Ashland is executing a "globalize" strategy involving significant investments and expansion in key international markets. This includes investments in Ireland and the United States for its injectables business, Brazil for tablet coatings and microbial protection, China for biofunctional actives, and the construction of a new tablet coating plant in India. This geographic expansion is expected to scale high-quality business lines and accelerate growth.
3. Strategic Focus on High-Value Life Sciences and Personal Care Markets: The company is actively prioritizing and increasing capital deployment towards its core additives portfolio, specifically expanding its high-value pharmaceuticals and personal care businesses. These segments are considered resilient, with Life Sciences demonstrating strong demand in pharma applications and double-digit growth in tablet coatings. Ashland's portfolio optimization initiatives, including divesting lower-margin product lines, are designed to enhance shareholder value through improved margins and focused growth.
4. Manufacturing Network Optimization and Cost Savings: Ashland's $60 million manufacturing network optimization plan and a broader $90 million cost savings program (to be executed from fiscal year 2025 to 2027) are critical for improving operational consistency, profitability, and cost competitiveness. These actions are expected to strengthen Ashland's cost position, enable market share gains as demand recovers, and are yielding early margin gains.
5. Growth in Battery Materials: Ashland is positioning itself for future revenue growth in the higher-margin battery materials market. A congressional visit to Ashland's new lithium-ion materials facility signals policy and industry interest, indicating potential for expansion in this high-growth sector.

Share Repurchases

• In May 2022, Ashland's board authorized a new, evergreen $500 million common stock repurchase program, replacing a previous $1 billion program.
• Ashland reported $1.3 billion in share repurchases over the last four years (as of January 2025), with $620 million remaining under the current authorization.
• In September 2021, Ashland entered into an accelerated share repurchase agreement to buy back $450 million of common stock.

Inbound Investments

• In November 2025, Standard Investments LLC increased its stake in Ashland by acquiring 385,000 shares, holding a total of 2,625,000 shares, representing 6.46% of its portfolio.

Outbound Investments

• Ashland completed the acquisition of the Schülke & Mayr personal care business.
• Ashland is pursuing targeted bolt-on M&A opportunities in pharma, personal care, and coatings.

Capital Expenditures

• Ashland anticipates fiscal 2025 capital expenditures to be around $120 million.
• The fiscal 2026 outlook includes capital expenditures of approximately $100 million.
• The company has a $60 million manufacturing optimization program underway, primarily consolidating cellulosic ingredient production networks.