Quaker Chemical (KWR)
NYSE:KWR
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Quaker Chemical
(NYSE:KWR)
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Rating:54Neutral
Price Target:
$130.00
▼(-3.91% Downside)
Action:ReiteratedDate:03/13/26
The score is held back primarily by inconsistent profitability (including a 2025 loss) and very weak technicals with the stock well below key moving averages. These pressures are partially offset by improved free cash flow, manageable leverage, and earnings-call guidance pointing to EBITDA improvement and share gains in 2026, while the negative P/E and executive departure add additional uncertainty.
Positive Factors
Improving free cash flow
The company produced positive operating and free cash flow across recent years, with a marked improvement in 2025. Sustainable FCF supports disciplined M&A, capital expenditure (~2.5%–3.5% of sales guidance), shareholder returns, and provides a buffer against cyclical revenue swings, enhancing long-term financial flexibility.
Negative Factors
Volatile profitability and GAAP loss in 2025
Material noncash impairment and restructuring drove a GAAP loss in 2025, highlighting volatile earnings quality and prior overpayments or goodwill risk. Such swings reduce predictability of returns, complicate ROE recovery, and may constrain capital allocation until earnings stability and sustained margin recovery are demonstrated.
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Positive Factors
Negative Factors
Improving free cash flow
The company produced positive operating and free cash flow across recent years, with a marked improvement in 2025. Sustainable FCF supports disciplined M&A, capital expenditure (~2.5%–3.5% of sales guidance), shareholder returns, and provides a buffer against cyclical revenue swings, enhancing long-term financial flexibility.
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Quaker Chemical (KWR) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Market Cap
$2.16B
Dividend Yield1.37%
Average Volume (3M)132.77K
Price to Earnings (P/E)―
Beta (1Y)1.07
Revenue Growth0.08%
EPS Growth-107.33%
CountryUS
Employees4,400
SectorBasic Materials
Sector Strength58
IndustryChemicals - Specialty
Share Statistics
EPS (TTM)1.65
Shares Outstanding17,335,075
10 Day Avg. Volume151,729
30 Day Avg. Volume132,768
Financial Highlights & Ratios
PEG Ratio9.44
Price to Book (P/B)1.75
Price to Sales (P/S)1.27
P/FCF Ratio29.77
Enterprise Value/Market Cap1.35
Enterprise Value/Revenue1.54
Enterprise Value/Gross Profit4.39
Enterprise Value/Ebitda19.56
Forecast
1Y Price Target
$177.00Price Target Upside30.83% Upside
Rating ConsensusModerate Buy
Number of Analyst Covering3
EPS Forecast (FY)8.01
Revenue Forecast (FY)$1.97B
Quaker Chemical Business Overview & Revenue Model
Company Description
Quaker Chemical Corporation develops, produces, and markets various formulated chemical specialty products for a range of heavy industrial and manufacturing applications. The company operates through four segments: Americas; Europe, Middle East, a...
How the Company Makes Money
Quaker Houghton makes money primarily by selling formulated process fluids and specialty chemical products to industrial customers on a recurring, consumable basis. Revenue is generated from (1) product sales of industrial fluids used in customers...
Quaker Chemical Earnings Call Summary
Earnings Call Date:Feb 23, 2026
(Q4-2025)
| % Change Since: |
Next Earnings Date:Apr 30, 2026
Earnings Call Sentiment Positive
The call conveyed a cautiously optimistic tone: the company delivered solid Q4 results with double-digit adjusted EBITDA and EPS growth, demonstrated strong and consistent momentum in Asia Pacific, achieved net share gains and meaningful run-rate cost savings, and continued disciplined M&A and shareholder returns. However, material challenges remain — notably a significant drop in operating cash flow year-over-year, an $89 million goodwill impairment and notable restructuring costs, Q4 operational disruptions and customer outages, sequential margin pressure in North America, and soft end markets with tariff-related uncertainty. Taken together, the operational and cash-generation headwinds are meaningful but are balanced by clear revenue momentum, margin recovery plans, and a strengthened balance sheet — leading management to expect YoY adjusted EBITDA growth in 2026.Positive Updates
Revenue Growth and Top-Line Performance
Q4 net sales of $468 million, up 6% year-over-year. Full-year revenue benefited from acquisitions (three closed in 2025 adding ~ $95 million of annualized revenue) and price/mix in some regions.
Negative Updates
Significant Decline in Operating Cash Flow
Operating cash flow was $47 million in Q4 (down from $63 million prior-year quarter) and $136 million for the full year versus $205 million in 2024 — a meaningful reduction driven by higher restructuring outflows and working capital increases.
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Q4-2025 Updates
Positive
Negative
Revenue Growth and Top-Line Performance
Q4 net sales of $468 million, up 6% year-over-year. Full-year revenue benefited from acquisitions (three closed in 2025 adding ~ $95 million of annualized revenue) and price/mix in some regions.
Read all positive updates
Company Guidance
Guidance for 2026: management expects underlying markets to be roughly flat in 2026 with the potential for modest H2 improvement, and targets net share gains of 2%–4%; they expect gross margin to be within a 36%–37% range for the full year, raw material costs to remain steady early in the year, and positive organic growth and share gains in all segments. They forecast year‑over‑year adjusted EBITDA growth for 2026 (and expect Q1 to be the third consecutive quarter of YoY EBITDA improvement), driven by share gains, gross‑margin recovery and the run‑rate impact of acquisitions (Dipsol contributed $21M in Q4; 3 acquisitions in 2025 added ~$95M of annualized revenue and provide roughly a 1%–2% tailwind). SG&A will be higher year‑over‑year due to variable compensation and inflation but will be partially offset by transformational cost actions (they generated ~$25M of run‑rate savings in 2025); the longer‑term goal is to sustain EBITDA margins above 18% with modest targeted investments. Capital spend is expected to be ~2.5%–3.5% of sales in 2026, the balance sheet supports disciplined M&A (year‑end net debt $691M; net leverage ~2.3x TTM adj. EBITDA), and management expects to continue returning cash to shareholders while improving operating performance.Quaker Chemical Financial Statement Overview
Summary
Income Statement
52
Neutral
Balance Sheet
62
Positive
Cash Flow
68
Positive
| Breakdown | Dec 2025 | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 | Dec 2022 | Dec 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Income Statement | |||||
| Total Revenue | 1.89B | 1.84B | 1.95B | 1.94B | 1.76B |
| Gross Profit | 616.37M | 686.03M | 705.64M | 612.65M | 594.64M |
| EBITDA | 162.66M | 280.18M | 285.81M | 120.16M | 255.87M |
| Net Income | -2.49M | 116.64M | 112.75M | -15.93M | 121.37M |
Balance Sheet | |||||
| Total Assets | 2.80B | 2.61B | 2.71B | 2.82B | 2.96B |
| Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments | 179.83M | 188.88M | 194.53M | 180.96M | 165.18M |
| Total Debt | 928.61M | 737.82M | 788.97M | 991.80M | 929.66M |
| Total Liabilities | 1.42B | 1.26B | 1.33B | 1.54B | 1.57B |
| Stockholders Equity | 1.37B | 1.35B | 1.38B | 1.28B | 1.39B |
Cash Flow | |||||
| Free Cash Flow | 80.60M | 215.86M | 240.22M | 13.26M | 27.48M |
| Operating Cash Flow | 136.45M | 204.58M | 279.02M | 41.79M | 48.93M |
| Investing Cash Flow | -214.12M | -76.42M | -27.62M | -40.19M | -49.13M |
| Financing Cash Flow | 61.83M | -122.66M | -238.61M | 24.67M | -13.46M |
Quaker Chemical Technical Analysis
Negative
135.29
Price Trends
148.57
Negative
143.53
Negative
136.01
Negative
Market Momentum
-7.82
Negative
38.94
Neutral
88.17
Negative
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For KWR, the sentiment is Negative. The current price of 135.29 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 126.53, below the 50-day MA of 148.57, and below the 200-day MA of 136.01, indicating a bearish trend. The MACD of -7.82 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 38.94 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 88.17 is Negative, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Negative sentiment for KWR.
Quaker Chemical Risk Analysis
Quaker Chemical disclosed 30 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. Quaker Chemical reported the most risks in the "Finance & Corporate" category.
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
Latest Risks Added 0 New Risks
Quaker Chemical Peers Comparison
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (61)
Name | Overall Rating | Market Cap | P/E Ratio | ROE | Dividend Yield | Revenue Growth | EPS Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
78 Outperform | $2.71B | 38.21 | 34.72% | 1.87% | 4.98% | 30.84% | |
73 Outperform | $1.79B | 16.33 | 9.01% | 2.19% | -4.49% | -100.80% | |
63 Neutral | $2.19B | 12.77 | -1.11% | 0.74% | -2.53% | -100.23% | |
61 Neutral | $10.43B | 7.12 | -0.05% | 2.87% | 2.86% | -36.73% | |
59 Neutral | $2.43B | -56.41 | -33.65% | 2.79% | -13.67% | -608.89% | |
56 Neutral | $2.49B | -12.82 | -127.78% | ― | -13.39% | 88.25% | |
54 Neutral | $2.16B | -964.31 | -0.18% | 1.37% | 0.08% | -107.33% |
* Basic Materials Sector Average
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Quaker Chemical Corporate Events
Executive/Board Changes
Quaker Chemical Announces Involuntary Departure of Senior Executive
Negative
Mar 12, 2026
Effective March 9, 2026, Quaker Chemical Corporation announced that Jeffrey Fleck ceased serving as Senior Vice President and Chief Global Operations Officer, with the company stating his departure was not due to any disagreement. The company clas...
Glossary
BuyA stock rated as a "Buy" is expected to perform better than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock is likely to deliver higher returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
HoldA stock rated as a "Hold" is expected to perform in line with the overall market or a specific benchmark. This rating indicates that the stock is neither particularly compelling nor unfavorable for investment. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
SellA stock rated as a "Sell" is expected to perform worse than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock may deliver lower returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Disclaimer
This AI Analyst Stock Report is automatically generated by our AI systems using advanced algorithms and publicly available financial, technical, and market data. While the information provided aims to be accurate and insightful, it is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Any content created by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system may contain inaccuracies and/or contain errors. Investing in stocks carries inherent risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. This report does not account for your personal financial circumstances, objectives, or risk tolerance. Always conduct your own research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The analysis and recommendations provided are based on historical and current data and may not fully reflect future market conditions or unexpected developments. Neither the creators of this report nor its affiliated entities guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Use this report at your own discretion and risk.