Business Description
Element Solutions Inc operates as a specialty chemicals company in the United States, China, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Electronics, and Industrial & Specialty. The Electronics segment researches, formulates, and sells specialty chemicals and materials for various types of electronics hardware products. This segment also supplies solder technologies, fluxes, cleaners, and other attachment materials for the electronics assembly industry; proprietary liquid chemical processes to manufacture printed circuit boards; and advanced copper interconnects, die attachment, wafer bump processes, and photomask technologies for integrated circuit fabrication and semiconductor packaging. It primarily serves mobile communications, computers, automobiles, and aerospace equipment industries. The Industrial & Specialty segment provides industrial solutions, which include chemical systems that protect and decorate metal and plastic surfaces; consumable chemicals that enable printing image transfer on flexible packaging materials; and chemistries used in water-based hydraulic control fluids for offshore energy production applications. It serves aerospace, automotive, construction, consumer electronics, consumer packaged goods, and oil and gas production end markets. The company was formerly known as Platform Specialty Products Corporation and changed its name to Element Solutions Inc in January 2019. Element Solutions Inc was founded in 1785 and is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Business History
Generated: Jun 7, 2026 3:44pmPrice Overview
Last updated: Jun 7, 2026 3:41pm (5d ago)Price History (1 Year)
Revenue & Net Income Trend
| Period | Revenue | Net Income | Net Margin | YoY/QoQ |
|---|
Key Metrics
EPS (Diluted): 0.79
Total Equity: $2.67B
Shares: 242,400,000
Total Debt: $1.63B
Cash: $626.50M
EBITDA: $493.40M
Total Debt: $1.63B
Cash: $626.50M
Revenue: $2.55B
Revenue: $2.55B
Revenue: $2.55B
Total Equity: $2.67B
Tax Rate: -64.2%
Equity: $2.67B
Total Debt: $1.63B
Cash: $626.50M
Current Liabilities: $429.90M
Long-Term Debt: $1.63B
Total Debt: $1.63B
Total Equity: $2.67B
Shares: 242,400,000
Shares: 242,400,000
CapEx: -$62.20M
Shares: 242,400,000
Stock Price: $39.84
Net Income: $190.80M
Industry Benchmarks
Deep Analysis
Pre-flight intelligence scans the company first, then routes to the right analytical methods.
Income Statement (Annual)
Last updated: Jun 7, 2026 3:47pm (5d ago)| Metric | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $2.4B | $2.5B | $2.3B | $2.5B | $2.6B |
| Cost of Revenue | $1.4B | $1.6B | $1.4B | $1.4B | $1.5B |
| Gross Profit | $960.8M | $952.7M | $918.5M | $1.0B | $1.1B |
| Operating Expenses | $660.9M | $627.4M | $744.9M | $691.8M | $728.3M |
| Operating Income | $299.9M | $325.3M | $173.6M | $343.9M | $342.2M |
| Net Income | $203.3M | $187.2M | $118.1M | $244.2M | $190.8M |
| EBITDA | $475.5M | $496.1M | $345.1M | $501.6M | $493.4M |
| EPS | $0.82 | $0.76 | $0.49 | $1.01 | $0.79 |
| EPS (Diluted) | — | — | — | — | — |
Balance Sheet (Annual)
Last updated: Jun 7, 2026 3:44pm (5d ago)| Metric | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash & Equivalents | $330.1M | $265.6M | $289.3M | $359.4M | $626.5M |
| Total Current Assets | $1.2B | $1.2B | $1.2B | $1.3B | $1.6B |
| Total Assets | $5.1B | $4.9B | $5.0B | $4.9B | $5.1B |
| Current Liabilities | $415.2M | $344.4M | $369.4M | $379.7M | $429.9M |
| Long-Term Debt | $1.9B | $1.9B | $1.9B | $1.8B | $1.6B |
| Total Liabilities | $2.6B | $2.6B | $2.6B | $2.5B | $2.4B |
| Total Equity | $2.5B | $2.3B | $2.3B | $2.4B | $2.7B |
| Retained Earnings | -$1.3B | -$1.2B | -$1.2B | -$1.0B | -$904.6M |
Cash Flow (Annual)
Last updated: Jun 7, 2026 3:47pm (5d ago)| Metric | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating Cash Flow | $322.5M | $297.7M | $335.8M | $362.0M | $289.8M |
| Capital Expenditure | -$46.3M | -$47.8M | -$52.7M | -$68.4M | -$62.2M |
| Free Cash Flow | $276.2M | $249.9M | $283.1M | $293.6M | $227.6M |
| Acquisitions (net) | -$536.5M | -$22.6M | -$214.8M | -$3.9M | $0 |
| Debt Repayment | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dividends Paid | — | — | — | — | — |
| Stock Buybacks | -$19.6M | -$151.0M | $0 | $0 | -$25.0M |
| Net Change in Cash | $38.2M | -$64.5M | $23.7M | $70.1M | $267.1M |
Analyst Estimates (Annual)
Last updated: Jun 7, 2026 3:41pm (5d ago)| Metric | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue |
$2.5B $2.5B – $2.5B
|
$3.5B $3.4B – $3.5B
|
$3.7B $3.6B – $3.8B
|
$3.9B $3.9B – $3.9B
|
| EBITDA |
$484.5M $482.5M – $486.4M
|
$668.9M $652.0M – $684.0M
|
$717.8M $693.3M – $742.3M
|
$746.5M $746.5M – $746.5M
|
| Net Income |
$356.8M $344.5M – $369.1M
|
$429.8M $421.4M – $438.2M
|
$506.3M $477.3M – $535.4M
|
$556.5M $522.1M – $590.9M
|
| EPS | — | — | — | — |
Growth Trends (YoY %)
Last updated: Jun 7, 2026 3:47pm (5d ago)| Metric | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue Growth | +6.2% | -8.5% | +5.3% | +3.8% |
| Gross Profit Growth | -0.8% | -3.6% | +12.8% | +3.4% |
| Operating Income Growth | +8.5% | -46.6% | +98.1% | -0.5% |
| Net Income Growth | -7.9% | -36.9% | +106.8% | -21.9% |
| EBITDA Growth | +4.3% | -30.4% | +45.3% | -1.6% |
Insider Trading (Recent)
Last updated: Jun 7, 2026 3:44pm (5d ago)All SEC Form 4 codes
- P Purchase
- Open-market or private purchase of shares.
- S Sale
- Open-market or private sale of shares.
- A Award / grant
- Grant or award of securities (RSUs, options, etc.) under Rule 16b-3.
- D Return to issuer
- Securities disposed back to the company under Rule 16b-3.
- F In-kind (tax)
- Shares withheld or delivered to pay the option-exercise price or tax — not an open-market sale.
- I Discretionary
- Discretionary transaction under an employee plan — Rule 16b-3(f).
- M Option exercise
- Exercise or conversion of a derivative (option/RSU) into shares — exempt.
- C Conversion
- Conversion of a derivative security into the underlying shares.
- E Short expiration
- Expiration of a short derivative position.
- H Long expiration
- Expiration or cancellation of a long derivative position with value received.
- O OTM exercise
- Exercise of an out-of-the-money derivative.
- X ITM exercise
- Exercise of an in-the-money or at-the-money derivative.
- G Gift
- Bona fide gift of securities.
- L Small acquisition
- Small acquisition under Rule 16a-6.
- W Inheritance
- Acquisition or disposition by will or the laws of descent.
- Z Voting trust
- Deposit into or withdrawal from a voting trust.
- J Other
- Other acquisition or disposition (explained in a Form 4 footnote).
- K Equity swap
- Transaction in an equity swap or similar instrument.
- U Tender / buyout
- Disposition via tender of shares in a change-of-control transaction.
Compensation-plan codes (A, D, F, M) are routine and rarely directional. Open-market P (buy) and S (sale) carry the most signal.
| Date | Insider | Type | Shares | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-05-04 | Filon Elyse Napoli | M-Exempt | 6,539.00 | $0.00 | $0 |
| 2026-05-04 | Filon Elyse Napoli | A-Award | 3,272.00 | $0.00 | $0 |
| 2026-05-04 | Filon Elyse Napoli | M-Exempt | 6,539.00 | $0.00 | $0 |
| 2026-05-04 | Sofronas Susan W. | M-Exempt | 6,539.00 | $0.00 | $0 |
| 2026-05-04 | Sofronas Susan W. | A-Award | 3,272.00 | $0.00 | $0 |
| 2026-05-04 | Sofronas Susan W. | M-Exempt | 6,539.00 | $0.00 | $0 |
| 2026-05-04 | FRANKLIN MARTIN E | 0.00 | $0.00 | $0 | |
| 2026-05-04 | Fraser Christopher T. | M-Exempt | 6,539.00 | $0.00 | $0 |
| 2026-05-04 | Fraser Christopher T. | A-Award | 3,272.00 | $0.00 | $0 |
| 2026-05-04 | Fraser Christopher T. | M-Exempt | 6,539.00 | $0.00 | $0 |
| 2026-05-04 | ASHKEN IAN G H | J-Other | 6,539.00 | $0.00 | $0 |
| 2026-05-04 | ASHKEN IAN G H | M-Exempt | 6,539.00 | $0.00 | $0 |
| 2026-05-04 | ASHKEN IAN G H | A-Award | 3,272.00 | $0.00 | $0 |
| 2026-05-04 | ASHKEN IAN G H | M-Exempt | 6,539.00 | $0.00 | $0 |
| 2026-05-04 | ASHKEN IAN G H | J-Other | 6,539.00 | $0.00 | $0 |
| 2026-05-04 | ONEAL E STANLEY | M-Exempt | 6,539.00 | $0.00 | $0 |
| 2026-05-04 | ONEAL E STANLEY | A-Award | 3,272.00 | $0.00 | $0 |
| 2026-05-04 | ONEAL E STANLEY | M-Exempt | 6,539.00 | $0.00 | $0 |
| 2026-05-04 | GOSS MICHAEL F | M-Exempt | 6,539.00 | $0.00 | $0 |
| 2026-05-04 | GOSS MICHAEL F | A-Award | 3,272.00 | $0.00 | $0 |
Dividend History (Last 20)
Last updated: Jun 7, 2026 3:41pm (5d ago)| Date | Dividend | Declaration | Record | Payment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-01 | $0.08 | 2026-05-20 | 2026-06-01 | 2026-06-15 |
| 2026-03-02 | $0.08 | 2026-02-10 | 2026-03-02 | 2026-03-16 |
| 2025-12-01 | $0.08 | 2025-11-20 | 2025-12-01 | 2025-12-15 |
| 2025-09-02 | $0.08 | 2025-08-21 | 2025-09-02 | 2025-09-15 |
| 2025-06-02 | $0.08 | 2025-05-21 | 2025-06-02 | 2025-06-16 |
| 2025-03-03 | $0.08 | 2025-02-12 | 2025-03-03 | 2025-03-17 |
| 2024-12-02 | $0.08 | 2024-11-18 | 2024-12-02 | 2024-12-16 |
| 2024-08-30 | $0.08 | 2024-08-20 | 2024-08-30 | 2024-09-13 |
| 2024-05-31 | $0.08 | 2024-05-20 | 2024-05-31 | 2024-06-14 |
| 2024-02-29 | $0.08 | 2024-02-13 | 2024-03-01 | 2024-03-15 |
| 2023-11-30 | $0.08 | 2023-11-16 | 2023-12-01 | 2023-12-15 |
| 2023-08-31 | $0.08 | 2023-08-22 | 2023-09-01 | 2023-09-15 |
| 2023-05-31 | $0.08 | 2023-05-22 | 2023-06-01 | 2023-06-15 |
| 2023-02-28 | $0.08 | 2023-02-13 | 2023-03-01 | 2023-03-15 |
| 2022-11-30 | $0.08 | 2022-11-17 | 2022-12-01 | 2022-12-15 |
| 2022-08-31 | $0.08 | 2022-08-18 | 2022-09-01 | 2022-09-15 |
| 2022-05-31 | $0.08 | 2022-05-19 | 2022-06-01 | 2022-06-15 |
| 2022-02-28 | $0.08 | 2022-02-15 | 2022-03-01 | 2022-03-15 |
| 2021-11-30 | $0.08 | 2021-11-18 | 2021-12-01 | 2021-12-15 |
| 2021-08-31 | $0.06 | 2021-08-19 | 2021-09-01 | 2021-09-15 |
Narrative Economics
Advanced Analysis Forensic deep-dive · two lenses
The two lenses don't actually conflict here — they triangulate. Quality says +20 'Solid': clean accruals, OCF/NI of 1.8x, real buybacks, but flat revenue, cyclical margins, and a levered balance sheet. Valuation says -91 'Rich': DCF, EPV, and composite all cluster in the $13-15 range, and even a generous quality-adjusted gross-up only gets me to $22-25 against a $40 print. The gap isn't a rounding error or a multiple-debate — it's 40-60%. Crucially, the Quality lens itself denies me the 'it's a compounder, pay up' bailout. You can't pay elite-compounder prices for a solid-but-cyclical operator and expect to make money.
My play: zero position today. I'm not shorting it — clean earnings and real buybacks make this a bad short, the +20 quality protects the downside tape. But I'm also not nibbling 'because it's a good business' at 2.5x deserved value. I put this on the watchlist with a hard alert at $26 for a starter (1% position), and I'd only scale to a full 3-4% weight in the low-$20s with confirmation that the cyclical trough on op margins is actually behind us — i.e., two clean quarters of 13%+ op margin AND evidence the semis/electronics demand pulse isn't rolling over. Until then this is somebody else's problem; my capital sits in names where quality and price agree.
Element Solutions is a mature specialty-chemicals earner that converts cash well: FCF of $228–294M over the last four years against net income that's bounced between $118M and $244M, giving an OCF/NI ratio of 1.8x and negative accruals (-2.7% of assets) — both signs the reported earnings are real. Gross margin has actually expanded from 40% in 2021 to ~42% in 2024–25, and the diluted share count has drifted down from 247.9M to 242.4M (a -0.6% CAGR) with buybacks running 238% of SBC. That's genuine per-share value concentration, not a paper-shuffling exercise.
The blemishes are real though. Net debt of ~$999M against $626M cash means the balance sheet is a constraint; Altman Z of 3.16 is safe but not bulletproof. Operating margin collapsed to 7.4% in 2023 before recovering to 13–14%, and 2025 net income ($191M) regressed from 2024's $244M despite flat-to-up revenue, suggesting earnings power is cyclical rather than steadily compounding. Revenue has been essentially flat at $2.4–2.55B for five years — this is not a growth story, it's a cash-flow story with mild operational volatility.
Insider tape over the period shown is almost entirely routine option exercises (M), awards (A), and J-Other items — no open-market P or S transactions visible in the recent slice, so the 'unusual selling' flag from the summary needs context. The mechanical forensics (Beneish -2.41, clean accruals) say the numbers are trustworthy.
Verify before trusting this (6)
- Composition and maturity ladder of the ~$1.6B gross debt — fixed vs floating, covenants, refinancing windows
- Segment mix (Electronics vs Industrial & Specialty) and whether 2023 op-margin collapse was end-market cyclicality or a specific issue
- Why 2025 net income fell to $190.8M while FCF held at $227.6M and revenue rose — one-time items, tax, interest expense?
- Identity and context of the $16.8M in insider sales flagged as unusual — 10b5-1 plan vs discretionary
- Customer concentration in electronics segment (semiconductor/PCB exposure)
- Acquisition cadence and goodwill/intangibles as % of assets — specialty chem roll-ups can mask organic weakness
The composite fair value lands at $13.69 with a signal-adjusted $14.97, and the EPV floor sits at $14.29 — all three methods cluster in the mid-teens, which is unusual agreement. Against a $39.84 price that implies the market is paying ~2.7× the modeled deserved value. Even if I assume the DCF/EPV are too punitive on a solid, cash-generative specialty chemicals operator (Quality lens: Solid, 20) and gross up deserved value by 50-75% to reflect the clean earnings quality and disciplined buybacks, I still land around $21-26 — well below spot.
What's priced in: sustained peak-cycle semis/electronics demand, margin expansion off the 2023 trough (7.4% op margin), and a re-rating to compounder multiples on a business that the quality lens explicitly says is not an elite compounder. With ~$1B net debt and cyclical margin history, paying a full-cycle peak multiple here offers no margin of safety. Earnings quality is high (no haircut needed), which prevents this from being a screaming short, but it doesn't close a 60%+ gap.
Honest read: this isn't 'fairly valued and I'm nitpicking' — the gap is too wide. Either the models are materially wrong on terminal growth/margin, or the stock is meaningfully ahead of itself heading into a late-cycle setup.
Verify before trusting this (5)
- Forward guidance on segment margins — is the 2023 trough behind them durably, or one good cycle?
- Free cash flow conversion and buyback pace at current price (are they still buying at $40?)
- Net debt trajectory and any refi at higher rates
- Semis/electronics end-market mix and visibility into 2025 orders
- Any one-time benefits inflating TTM earnings that the DCF is extrapolating off