Ashland (ASH) to Hike Prices of 1,4-Butanediol & Derivatives
Ashland Global Holdings Inc. ASH recently announced that it is increasing prices of 1,4-Butanediol and various derivative products in North America.
It is increasing the price of 1,4 butanediol by 14 cents per pound. The price hike of both n-methyl-pyrrolidone and 2-pyrrolidone is in the range of 18- 35 cents per pound.
The company is increasing prices of gamma-butyrolactone and tetrahydrofuran by 20 to 40 cents per pound.
The price hikes are effective Oct 1, 2021 or as agreements allow. Micropure and other specialty grades or packaged material may carry a larger price hike.
Shares of Ashland have gained 25.2% in the past year compared with a 18.3% rise of the industry.
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The company’s fiscal third-quarter results were somewhat negatively impacted by global supply-chain disruptions and raw-material cost escalation in Performance Adhesives that contributed to higher-than-expected costs during the quarter. Supply chain and logistics constraints also offset the strong demand and affected the company’s ability to fully meet its customer demand. However, Ashland benefited from sales in the industrial businesses that reached pre-pandemic levels, the resilient demand in the core consumer products and favorable foreign-currency impacts.
Ashland, in its last earnings call, stated that it is working to leverage the ongoing strong demand to cater to the incremental demand of its consumers. The company also reaffirmed its expectations for full-year results.
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
Ashland currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the basic materials space are Nucor Corporation NUE, The Chemours Company CC and Olin Corporation OLN.
Nucor has a projected earnings growth rate of around 478.7% for the current year. The company’s shares have soared 123.3% in a year. It currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Chemours has an expected earnings growth rate of around 86.4% for the current year. The company’s shares have gained 46.1% in the past year. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
Olin has an expected earnings growth rate of around 630.4% for the current fiscal. The company’s shares have surged 310.6% in the past year. It currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.
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