Element Solutions
It makes the chemicals electronics factories use up as they build: plating baths that grow the copper wiring inside boards and chips, and the solder pastes that join them.
Our viewNeutral Medium conviction
The scores
The profile · 1-4
Growth3/4 ↑
Growth excluding acquisitions and metal is 15% and accelerating, but 23 of the 56 reported points were bought and 17 were metal price.
Business quality3/4 →
Qualification barrier evidenced by a rival's own filing, but untested against a newly independent, focused Qnity and against solder-free bonding.
Financial position3/4 ↑
Leverage 2.9 times falling to a guided 2.5, nothing due before 2028, cash covers it. The 2028 notes refinance far above 3.875%.
Execution record3/4 →
Seven beats in eight, guidance raised, both acquisitions ahead of plan - against a signed merger its own owners forced it to abandon.
Per share capture3/4 →
Share count effectively flat, deals paid in cash, no convertibles. No buyback offset issuance, and the acquisition prices are unproven.
Potential2/4 ↑
Real upside, but nothing is committed: minimal backlog, no customer above a tenth, Kuprion unsized, and growth rides customers' capacity decisions.
Risk profile3/4 →
Customers and geographies diversified, no binary event. Nearly half of 2025 income taxes paid in China is the one serious concentration.
Valuation2/4 ↓
15x guided adjusted EBITDA and 49x trailing earnings, well above its own six-year medians on every measure the pack carries.
Evidence quality3/4 →
Central claims are filed and corroborated by three independent issuers, but growth durability rests on management answers no filing carries.
The Verdict
We rate Element Solutions neutral. It makes the chemicals electronics factories use up, from plating baths to solder pastes, and the AI build-out has sped up its growth. The business is solid, but about a third of its revenue is metal passed on at cost, which makes the shares screen cheaper than they are. On the company's adjusted profit the price is fair; on the profit it reports after the cost of what it bought, it is dear. Taken together it is full, not cheap. The view hinges on growth coming from volume rather than metal price, and lasting through next year.
The long caseAI computing needs more advanced chip packages and boards, each using more chemistry; Element Solutions gains only if its growth comes from volume rather than metal prices passed through.
The evidence under this - 8 claims
C01facthigh confidence
Element Solutions sells specialty chemistry and materials that its customers consume as part of their own production process, which makes the revenue recur with their output rather than with a replacement cycle.
C08facthigh confidence
Organic net sales grew 15% in the second quarter of 2026, with Electronics up 20% and Specialties up 3%, the third consecutive quarter of double-digit organic growth.
C03facthigh confidence
Pass-through metals were $317.4 million of the $977.9 million of second-quarter 2026 net sales, against $113.4 million of $625.2 million a year earlier - roughly a third of reported revenue against roughly a fifth.
C04management claimmedium confidence
Management states that for the most part the company does not realise margins on the metals it passes through, and that deflationary metal pricing should not materially affect profit dollars.
against this
- Management also said higher metal prices give it 'a little bit of an opportunity to take price in some of our businesses, Micromax being one of them', so the pass-through is not perfectly margin-neutral in the upward direction and part of the reported margin gain may be price taken under cover of metal inflation rather than mix.
- It also said that in the semiconductor and industrial businesses it does not adjust organic growth for metals at all, so metal price is inside the organic figure there, which is inconsistent with treating metal as purely a pass-through everywhere.
C37factmedium confidence
On enterprise value against operating profit struck after amortisation of what was acquired, the shares sit near the median of the two competitors their own annual report names and whose filings confirm the same product, between the two of them and just above the cheaper.
- 2026-09-26editedRe-struck on the refreshed pack's cohort at the 25 September 2026 close: EV/EBIT 26.9 against Qnity 26.8 and MKS 29.6, median 28.2 (was 27.1 against a 27.75 median), so it now sits just above the cheaper of the two rather than essentially at the median.
C36estimatemedium confidence
At the current price the shares trade near forty-nine times trailing reported earnings and about fifteen times the midpoint of the company's own raised 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance, and the distance between those two is roughly $120 million a year of acquired-intangible amortisation plus recurring acquisition and integration expense that the adjusted measure removes and a serial acquirer keeps incurring.
derivedTrailing price to earnings and enterprise value come from the frozen research pack. The forward multiple is that enterprise value divided by the $690-710 million guidance midpoint from the results release. The amortisation run rate annualises the $29.5 million charged in the second quarter; acquisition, integration and transaction expense was $30.7 million in the first half and $11.6 million in the comparable half of 2025, and has appeared in every period examined.
against this
- Amortisation of acquired intangibles is genuinely non-cash, and a buyer of this business is buying cash flow rather than book earnings, so the trailing GAAP multiple overstates what the equity costs on the measure that matters most.
- But the trailing figure is also depressed by only two quarters of ownership of businesses the forward guide includes for a full year, so neither multiple describes the same company and the truth sits between them - which is the reason the frame below is struck on operating profit after amortisation rather than on either.
- 2026-09-26editedRe-struck at the 25 September 2026 close in the refreshed pack: trailing price to reported earnings 48.6 (was 49.0) and enterprise value $10.63B over the $700M guidance midpoint about 15.2 times; the wording holds.
C38inferencemedium confidence
Every valuation measure on which the shares look cheaper than that cohort is struck on revenue, on book value, or on profit before amortisation of what was acquired, and every measure on which they look dearer is struck on profit or cash flow after it.
derivedIn the refreshed pack's cohort at the 25 September 2026 close the subject ranks cheapest of three on enterprise value to sales, price to sales, price to book and enterprise value to EBITDA, dearest of three on price to earnings and price to free cash flow, and between the two members on enterprise value to operating profit. The revenue denominator carries a third of reported sales in pass-through metal the competitors do not carry to the same degree, which mechanically depresses every revenue multiple and every margin; the book denominator carries goodwill from acquisitions the competitors have less of; and EBITDA adds back the roughly $120 million a year of acquired-intangible amortisation (C36) that operating profit charges. All three distortions run the same way.
against this
- Qnity's own MD&A refers to price 'including metals pass-through', so at least one cohort member also carries metal in its revenue and the distortion is a difference of degree rather than a clean separation - neither company discloses its metal content in a way that would let the multiples be restated on a common basis.
- Both peers sell competing chemistry out of one segment of a larger company, at 44% and 34% of revenue, so their whole-company multiples price a great deal that is not this activity, and the comparison characterises the group rather than pricing the subject.
- 2026-09-26editedCorrected against the pack: the original basis omitted enterprise value to EBITDA, on which the subject ranked cheapest of three in the 6 September pack (19.2 against a 20.45 median) and still does (19.0 against 19.8 and 21.8), so 'every cheap measure is revenue or book' was false as written. The exception is the amortisation add-back the thesis already argues about, so the claim now names it; the argument is unchanged.
C07inferencehigh confidence
The company's headline adjusted EBITDA margin is struck on net sales excluding pass-through metals, not on reported net sales, so the margin it publishes and the revenue it publishes have different denominators.
derivedAdjusted EBITDA of $183.5 million divided by reported net sales of $977.9 million is 18.8%, but divided by the release's ex-metals net sales of $660.5 million it is 27.8%, which is the figure the release headlines. The prior-year pair reproduces the same way, $136.0 million over $511.8 million giving the 26.6% stated. Both segment margins reproduce on the same basis. The release also states the margin improved '120 basis points' and the prepared remarks describe it as margin 'excluding the impact of pass-through metals'.
against this
- The company does label the measure as excluding pass-through metals in the prepared remarks and in the non-GAAP section, so this is disclosed rather than concealed - the finding is that the headline revenue growth and the headline margin are computed on different bases within the same release, not that either is misstated.
- A reader taking the 27.8% margin and applying it to reported revenue would overstate adjusted EBITDA by roughly a third, which is the practical consequence and the reason it is worth stating.
The company
Every circuit board and chip package needs chemistry to make it: plating baths that grow copper wiring through boards and across wafers, solder pastes that join parts to boards, and silver and copper pastes that bond power chips to their bases. Element Solutions sells all of these, plus finishing chemistry for car and industrial platers.
Nearly all of it is used up in production and reordered, so sales follow the customer's output. Without it there is no joint at all; the only alternative is another supplier's chemistry.
The evidence under this - 3 claims
C01facthigh confidence
Element Solutions sells specialty chemistry and materials that its customers consume as part of their own production process, which makes the revenue recur with their output rather than with a replacement cycle.
C33facthigh confidence
The company names MKS Instruments, Qnity Electronics, Henkel, Senju Metal and Uyemura as its most significant Electronics competitors, and MKS, Quaker Houghton and Castrol in Specialties.
C34management claimlow confidence
Kuprion is a copper-nanoparticle sintering paste that forms a bulk copper joint at solder reflow temperatures which then remains stable far above them, aimed at power semiconductor die attach and thermal applications where silver sintering is the incumbent.
sourceMacDermid Alpha product literature for Kuprion ActiveCopper…primarySecond quarter 2026 earnings call transcript, held 28 July…primary
against this
- The technical description rests on the company's own product literature and its earnings call. The granted patent behind it, USPTO 11929341, was located but its full text could not be opened, so no independent specification of the mechanism was read.
- Management declined to size the 2027 revenue, saying it is 'dangerous to size these things' because the second plant's timing decides the figure, and the product is at sampling and qualification rather than in production - which is precisely the stage at which the qualification barrier that protects the rest of the portfolio works against a new entrant.
- 2026-10-22editedthird-quarter call reported two customer qualifications for high-volume manufacturing (C61); the mechanism and the immaterial revenue today are unchanged, so the wording stands
How it makes money
Orders are small and constant: the company carries almost no backlog, and no customer is a tenth of sales. Part of every price is the silver or tin inside, passed to the customer at cost: $317.4M of the second quarter's $977.9M of sales, on which management says it earns almost nothing.
The evidence under this - 4 claims
C01facthigh confidence
Element Solutions sells specialty chemistry and materials that its customers consume as part of their own production process, which makes the revenue recur with their output rather than with a replacement cycle.
C18facthigh confidence
No customer represented ten per cent or more of consolidated net sales in 2025, 2024 or 2023, and order backlog levels are minimal because of short cycle times in most of the businesses.
C03facthigh confidence
Pass-through metals were $317.4 million of the $977.9 million of second-quarter 2026 net sales, against $113.4 million of $625.2 million a year earlier - roughly a third of reported revenue against roughly a fifth.
C04management claimmedium confidence
Management states that for the most part the company does not realise margins on the metals it passes through, and that deflationary metal pricing should not materially affect profit dollars.
against this
- Management also said higher metal prices give it 'a little bit of an opportunity to take price in some of our businesses, Micromax being one of them', so the pass-through is not perfectly margin-neutral in the upward direction and part of the reported margin gain may be price taken under cover of metal inflation rather than mix.
- It also said that in the semiconductor and industrial businesses it does not adjust organic growth for metals at all, so metal price is inside the organic figure there, which is inconsistent with treating metal as purely a pass-through everywhere.
Where the money comes from, stream by stream
| Stream | Share of sales (Q2 2026) | How it earns it |
|---|---|---|
| Assembly Solutions | 37.7% | Solder pastes, fluxes and thermal materials that join components to boards; about half the sales are tin and silver passed through at cost. |
| Industrial Solutions | 17.6% | Metal and plastic finishing chemistry, such as electroless nickel and chrome plating, for car, appliance and industrial parts. |
| Circuitry Solutions | 15.8% | Plating and surface-finishing chemistry that forms the copper pathways on circuit boards, used up as boards are made. |
| Micromax | 13.2% | Conductive pastes and inks bought in February 2026; roughly two-thirds of its second-quarter sales were metal content. |
| Semiconductor Solutions | 11.8% | Wafer and advanced-packaging plating chemistry for chip makers and packaging houses, consumed with every wafer processed. |
| Energy Solutions | 2.4% | Water-based hydraulic control fluids for offshore oil and gas production and drilling. |
| EFC | 1.6% | High-purity specialty gases and materials for chip production, bought in January 2026. |
Who runs it
Ben Gliklich has run the company since 2019. On 22 October Carey Dorman, its finance chief, became president too, and a new chief operating officer took over the business units. Founder Sir Martin Franklin left the board in May. Insiders own about 6%. Pay rides on adjusted profit, which leaves out the cost of past deals; shareholders voted the plan down in May.
The evidence under this - 6 claims
C49facthigh confidence
Benjamin Gliklich has been chief executive since January 2019, having joined in 2014, and Carey Dorman chief financial officer since March 2019 and also president of enterprise operations since October 2025; founder Sir Martin Franklin left the board as executive chairman at the 4 May 2026 annual meeting, the board proposed Ian Ashken as independent chairman, and Franklin's Mariposa Capital, paid a $2.0 million services fee in 2025, is to keep advising for at least three years.
C50facthigh confidence
Directors and executive officers as a group owned 6.2% of the shares at 9 March 2026, of which Sir Martin Franklin held 5.2% and the chief executive 1.27 million shares, under 1%; BlackRock (10.9%), Vanguard (10.3%) and FMR (7.1%) were the other holders above 5%, and there is one class of common stock.
against this
Franklin's 5.2% sits with a director who left the board on 4 May 2026 (C49), so the group figure overstates what the people now running the company own, and both he and the chief executive have sold shares since mid-2025 (C40).
C51facthigh confidence
The 2025 annual bonus paid on company-wide and business adjusted EBITDA and on adjusted earnings per share; long-term awards are 67% performance units vesting after three years on constant-currency adjusted EBITDA growth and adjusted earnings per share, modified from 2025 by total shareholder return against a peer group, when adjusted earnings per share replaced cash return on investment, and 33% time-vesting units.
against this
Every operating metric in the plan is adjusted, and adjusted earnings per share eliminates all amortisation of acquired intangibles (C23), so pay rides on the profit measures on which acquisitions look cheapest (C38); replacing cash return on investment removed the one metric that charged for the capital spent.
C52facthigh confidence
The board cancelled the 2022 stretch awards, whose target of doubling adjusted earnings per share from 2021 to 2026 it judged unattainable, and on 10 December 2025 granted 1,465,000 vested shares instead, 750,000 of them to the chief executive, at about 75% of the original awards' value and locked up in thirds to December 2028; the grant cost $37.1 million and the chief executive's 2025 pay was $26.5 million.
sourceElement Solutions proxy statement (DEF 14A), filed March 23,…primaryForm 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025primary
against this
The board's case is that the company led its proxy peer group on three- and five-year shareholder return while chief-executive pay sat in the bottom quartile of that group, so the grant paid for results that happened rather than against a miss.
C54facthigh confidence
At the 4 May 2026 annual meeting shareholders rejected the advisory vote on executive pay by 133.5 million votes to 94.5 million, and directors Michael Goss, Ian Ashken and Susan Sofronas drew 47.7 million, 40.8 million and 32.9 million votes against.
against this
The vote is advisory and binds the board to nothing, and 93.92% of votes cast approved the 2024 pay a year earlier (S13), so the objection reads as one to the December 2025 grant rather than a standing one.
C60facthigh confidence
On 22 October 2026 the company announced that Matt Liebowitz, head of strategy and corporate development, becomes chief operating officer with the Electronics and Specialties business units reporting to him, Rick Fricke becomes an advisor, and Carey Dorman becomes president in addition to chief financial officer; Electronics will be split into more autonomous customer-aligned business units under the MacDermid Alpha brand.
Why it wins, and who could beat it
Why customers come back
The chemistry is written into the customer's approved process. Switching means proving yield and reliability all over again to save a little on a material that is a small part of the product's cost but decides whether the rest of it works.
The best evidence comes from a rival. MKS, which sells competing plating chemistry, tells its own shareholders that customers need lengthy qualification before ordering from a new supplier. Management says switching is very uncommon.
The evidence under this - 2 claims
C12facthigh confidence
A competitor selling the same plating chemistry discloses that prospective customers typically require lengthy qualification periods before placing volume orders with a new supplier, and that customers may require requalification even when it moves production between its own plants.
C13management claimmedium confidence
Management says switching costs in its industry are really high and that customers switching is very uncommon, and that where it has taken share the gains should be sticky.
against this
- Management said in the same answer that some recent share gains came because local competitors 'haven't been capitalized to float metal and handle the payment terms' at spiked metal prices - a financing advantage that reverses when metal prices fall, not a qualification barrier, and management itself flagged that business as transactional and not the kind it wants.
- The company publishes no retention rate, win rate, average customer tenure or count of processes of record, so the assertion cannot be checked against any disclosed number.
The threat
Qnity and MKS sell the same plating chemistry, $3.4B between them last year, and each names Element Solutions as a main rival. The deeper threat is TSMC's hybrid bonding, already in production, which joins stacked chips copper to copper with no solder at all, in the fastest-growing part of chip packaging.
The evidence under this - 3 claims
C16facthigh confidence
Qnity's Interconnect Solutions segment had 2025 net sales of $2,112 million and MKS's Materials Solutions Division $1,323 million, so the two listed competitors whose filings can be read disclose roughly $3.4 billion of revenue in the same activity.
C17facthigh confidence
Both named listed competitors name Element Solutions back: Qnity lists it among its most notable competitors and MKS names it first among the companies competing with its chemistry products.
C14facthigh confidence
TSMC offers hybrid-bonding-based stacking commercially as TSMC-SoIC within its 3DFabric family and is spending capital expenditure on expanding advanced packaging capacity, so solder-free die-to-die joining is in production rather than announced.
against this
- The 20-F names SoIC and CoWoS as services offered and does not disclose what share of packaged units use hybrid bonding rather than microbumps, so the filing establishes that the substitute ships and not how much of the market it has taken.
- Hybrid bonding needs electroplated copper pads and filled through-silicon vias, which is chemistry this company sells, so the substitution removes assembly material at one interface while adding plating demand at another - the net effect on its revenue is not established by this source or any other reached.
Who else does this, rival by rival
| Ticker | Rival | How far along | Priced against it |
|---|---|---|---|
| TSM | TSMC-SoIC and CoWoS (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company)Priced against it: Different product | On sale | Different product |
| Q | Qnity Electronics Advanced Circuit & PackagingPriced against it: Yes | On sale | Yes |
| MKSI | MKS Materials Solutions Division (the former Atotech)Priced against it: Yes | On sale | Yes |
How big it could get
How big this could get
Nobody publishes what electronics factories spend on this chemistry. The three listed suppliers whose accounts can be read sell roughly $5B a year between them. The biggest rivals in solder and assembly materials, Henkel, Senju Metal and Uyemura, report no comparable line, so the part nobody measures is Element Solutions' own largest business.
The evidence under this - 3 claims
C16facthigh confidence
Qnity's Interconnect Solutions segment had 2025 net sales of $2,112 million and MKS's Materials Solutions Division $1,323 million, so the two listed competitors whose filings can be read disclose roughly $3.4 billion of revenue in the same activity.
C43facthigh confidence
Electronics contributed approximately 70% of 2025 net sales of $2,551.2 million and Specialties approximately 30%, with Assembly Solutions about half of the Electronics segment and roughly half of Assembly Solutions' sales being metal content passed through to customers.
C33facthigh confidence
The company names MKS Instruments, Qnity Electronics, Henkel, Senju Metal and Uyemura as its most significant Electronics competitors, and MKS, Quaker Houghton and Castrol in Specialties.
The results
The numbers
Is it growing?Fast
Sales grew 40% over the twelve months to Sep 2026, faster than the 3.8% in the year to Dec 2025.
Is it profitable?Healthy
Operating margin is 12%, up from 7.4% in the year to Dec 2023.
Does growth pay off?Flat
Running costs take 25¢ of each sales dollar, down from 28¢ in the year to Dec 2021.
Does it earn good returns?Low
Each dollar put into the business earns 5.8% a year after tax, about where it was (5.9%) in the year to Dec 2021.
How steady is it?Uneven
Yearly sales growth has ranged from −8.5% to +29% over the last 5 years, with sales falling in 1 of them.
Are shares being diluted?Stable
The share count fell 1.7% in 4.8 years, and pay in shares costs 2.4% of sales.
All the numbers
Filed figures from the company's 10-K and 10-Q, read 2026-10-22. Fiscal years end in December.
| Dec 2021 | Dec 2022 | Dec 2023 | Dec 2024 | Dec 2025 | 12 mo to Sep 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Size and growth | ||||||
| Sales | $2.40B | $2.55B | $2.33B | $2.46B | $2.55B | $3.49B |
| Sales growth | +29% | +6.2% | −8.5% | +5.3% | +3.8% | +40% |
| Profit | ||||||
| Gross margin | 40% | 37% | 39% | 42% | 42% | 37% |
| Operating margin | 12% | 13% | 7.4% | 14% | 13% | 12% |
| Net margin | - | 7.3% | 5.1% | 9.9% | 7.5% | 5.9% |
| What growth costs, per sales dollar | ||||||
| Research and development | 2.1% | 1.9% | 2.9% | 2.6% | 2.6% | 2.3% |
| Selling, general and admin | 25% | 23% | 26% | 26% | 26% | 23% |
| Pay in shares | 1.7% | 0.7% | 0.4% | 0.6% | 2.3% | 2.4% |
| Capital spending | 1.9% | 1.9% | 2.3% | 2.8% | 2.4% | 2.9% |
| Cash | ||||||
| Cash from operations | $326M | $296M | $334M | $362M | $290M | - |
| Free cash flow | $280M | $248M | $281M | $294M | $228M | - |
| Balance sheet | ||||||
| Cash and short-term investments | $330M | $266M | $289M | $359M | $626M | $225M |
| Debt | $1.91B | $1.90B | $1.93B | $1.82B | $1.63B | $2.08B |
| Net cash | −$1.58B | −$1.63B | −$1.64B | −$1.46B | −$999M | −$1.86B |
| Returns and shares | ||||||
| Return on capital | 5.9% | 5.2% | 3.7% | 6.9% | 5.8% | 5.8% |
| Shares (diluted) | 248M | 246M | 242M | 243M | 242M | 244M |
What growth costs
Growing has not made Element Solutions more profitable. Research and overhead costs have taken about the same share of each sales dollar for years, so profit margins have barely moved. Sales look bigger lately mostly because the precious metals it passes through at cost became more expensive, not because costs fell behind.
The evidence under this - 2 claims
C48facthigh confidence
Per sales dollar, research and development ran between 1.9 and 2.9 cents in every year from 2020 to 2025 and 2.4 over the four quarters to June 2026, selling, technical, general and administrative costs between 22.7 and 27.2 cents and then 23.5, and capital spending rose from 1.6 to 2.7 cents; operating margin stayed between 12.5% and 14.0% in every year but 2023, when an $80.0 million goodwill impairment cut it to 7.4%.
sourceForm 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025primaryForm 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022primaryForm 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2026primary
against this
- Pass-through metals were roughly a third of second-quarter 2026 sales against a fifth a year earlier (C03), so the lower overhead share in the latest four quarters comes largely from a larger denominator, not from costs growing more slowly than the business.
- Stock pay was under 2 cents per sales dollar in every year but 2025, when the $37.1 million December share grant (C52) took it to 2.3 cents, so one year's figure is a one-off rather than a trend.
C03facthigh confidence
Pass-through metals were $317.4 million of the $977.9 million of second-quarter 2026 net sales, against $113.4 million of $625.2 million a year earlier - roughly a third of reported revenue against roughly a fifth.
The last report (27 Jul)
Quarter ended June 2026, filed figures.
56%
Sales growth
against the same quarter a year earlier
16.4%
Growth from the quarter before
against 24.2% the quarter before that
12¢
Operating profit
per dollar of sales
Third-quarter sales were $995M, up 52% reported but 13% without acquisitions and dearer metal. Electronics, the AI-fed part, grew 18% that way; the smaller Specialties business grew 1%. Profit before interest, tax and write-downs was $191M, a margin of 28.2% on sales excluding metal, and the full-year forecast rose to about $720M.
On the call the chief executive said growth came 'primarily' from volume, not metal price, but gave no percentage; the fourth quarter is guided about $15M lower, the same seasonal dip as past years.
What it did to the thesisThe call did not give the volume share the test asked for, so the volume question is still open. It also gave no reason to doubt the quarter, so the view stays Neutral.
The quarter in detail
Sales growth from the previous quarter, filed figures.
Earnings per share $0.47 against $0.43 expected; $0.32 as filed, the gap being what the company adds back.
The evidence under this - 6 claims
C55facthigh confidence
Third-quarter 2026 net sales were $995.3 million, up 52% reported and 13% organic; Electronics was $779.6 million, up 68% reported and 18% organic, and Specialties $216 million, up 13% reported and 1% organic.
C56facthigh confidence
Third-quarter 2026 adjusted EBITDA was $191 million against $147 million a year earlier, a margin of 28.2% on net sales excluding pass-through metals ($676.8 million), up 50 basis points; Electronics contributed $148 million and Specialties $43 million.
C11facthigh confidence
The company raised full-year 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance to $690-710 million in July from $650-670 million, then to approximately $720 million on 21 October 2026 after a third quarter of $191 million against the roughly $180 million it had guided.
sourceSecond quarter 2026 results release, Exhibit 99.1 to Form 8-KprimaryFull year 2025 results release, Exhibit 99.1 to Form 8-KprimaryThird quarter 2026 results release, Exhibit 99.1 to Form 8-Kprimary
- 2026-10-21editedthird-quarter release raised the 2026 adjusted EBITDA guide again to about $720 million and the quarter beat its own roughly $180 million guide
- 2026-10-22editedthird-quarter call read: the implied fourth quarter is stated, searched note extended
C10management claimmedium confidence
About two-thirds of the semiconductor business's second-quarter organic growth was volume and about a third was precious metal price, because the company does not strip metals out of organic growth in its semiconductor and industrial businesses.
against this
- This materially qualifies the headline organic growth rate, and it exists only as a spoken answer to an analyst - no filing states which businesses are inside the metals adjustment and which are outside it, so the proportion of the 15% consolidated organic figure that is metal price cannot be computed from any document.
- Management gave two slightly different splits in the same call, 'call it, 60% to two-thirds' volume in one answer and 'about two-thirds is volume and one-third is metal price inflation' in another, so the figure is approximate even as stated.
- 2026-10-22editedthird-quarter call did not restate the two-thirds split (C58 carries what was said); evidence for the second quarter remains the only quantified split, so its review date moves to the fourth-quarter results
C58management claimmedium confidence
On the third-quarter 2026 call the chief executive said that, apart from metal price volatility, growth in all businesses came 'from volume primarily', with Micromax rising in higher-value volume while lower-value automotive volume fell; the semiconductor business's growth was described as 'magnified' by higher precious metal prices, and no volume-to-price percentage was given for the quarter.
against this
- The statement is spoken, qualitative and unquantified: it does not repeat the two-thirds volume and one-third metal price split given for the second quarter (C10), so the volume share of the semiconductor business's 24% organic growth is still not a number in any document.
- The chief financial officer said the semiconductor growth was 'magnified' by the year-over-year rise in precious metal prices, which is the metal effect the thesis is worried about, and Micromax, where roughly two-thirds of $140 million of quarterly sales relates to metals, is expressly outside the 'volume' description.
C59management claimmedium confidence
The chief financial officer said that excluding the above-target incentive pay accruals, which cost more than 100 basis points of margin year over year, third-quarter incremental margins were in the mid-40s per cent for the whole business and about 50% for Electronics, against the 30% to 40% target range, and that the upper end of that range should continue into 2027; the guidance of about $720 million implies a fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $175 to $176 million, down about $15 million from the third, which he attributed to holiday operating days and 'a little bit of conservatism'.
against this
- An incremental margin 'ex incentive pay' removes a cost that exists because the company beat its plan; the reported incremental margin is lower, and the chief financial officer gave no reported figure.
- A fourth quarter $15 million below the third is the same size as the seasonal drop of the last two years, so the guide neither raises nor lowers the underlying trend, and an analyst's 'around $183 million' consensus figure for the quarter sits above it.
What management did with the money
It borrowed to buy: EFC for about $367M in January and Micromax for about $494M in February. Debt rose to $2.12B against $189.6M of cash. In July it agreed to sell itself to Solstice, then called it off in August after its own shareholders objected.
Insiders in 2026Q2: 13 purchases and 7 sales, from their Form 4 filings.
The evidence under this - 4 claims
C19facthigh confidence
The company bought EFC Gases & Advanced Materials for about $367 million on 2 January 2026 and Micromax for about $494 million on 2 February 2026, funding Micromax with $450 million of incremental term loans and revolver borrowings.
C20facthigh confidence
Total debt was $2,119.4 million against cash of $189.6 million at 30 June 2026, having been $1,625.9 million against $626.5 million at the end of 2025.
C25facthigh confidence
The company agreed on 6 July 2026 to be acquired by Solstice Advanced Materials for 0.5 Solstice shares plus $10.00 in cash per share, and the two mutually terminated the agreement on 27 August 2026 with neither party owing the other any payment.
C26management claimmedium confidence
Management attributes the termination to its own shareholders, saying the boards concluded both companies would serve shareholders better standalone and that the termination is a direct response to shareholder feedback.
against this
- This is the parties' own account of why a deal they had signed seven weeks earlier collapsed, and a mutual termination with no fee is also what a transaction failing for other reasons would look like if both sides preferred not to say so.
- The chief executive had described the stock's reaction to the announcement as 'disappointing' on the July call while defending the deal's logic, so the account is at least consistent with the observable price reaction; the shares nonetheless fell 4.4% in the session after the termination was announced, which is not obviously the reaction of a shareholder base that got what it wanted.
The price, and where we disagree
In short. Full. Fair if you count only the company's adjusted profit, dear on the profit it reports, and the gap is a real cost of growing by buying other companies.
Share price
$35.71
close,
Company value for each $1 of operating profit
26.9
rivals' middle 28.2
The AI build-out is feeding it. TSMC's high-performance computing sales grew 48% in 2025, and management says customers across Asia are adding capacity rather than stocking up.
The third quarter passed most of the test and the call reported no loss of demand; the fourth quarter, due by mid-February, shows whether growth is volume rather than metal price.
The evidence under this - 4 claims
C15facthigh confidence
TSMC reports high performance computing revenue grew 48% in 2025 to 58% of its net revenue, from 43% in 2023, and that its 2025 capital expenditure was NT$1,272,411 million against NT$956,007 million in 2024.
C45management claimmedium confidence
Management describes customers across semiconductor fabs, circuit board fabs and device assemblers adding capacity in Taiwan, Korea, China and outside China, and says the improvement in the organic outlook over the quarter came from those capacity additions rather than from channel inventory.
against this
- This is the company's own read of its customers' intentions, and it made a similar statement about pull-forward concerns a year earlier - which management itself raised on the call as evidence the pattern held, but which is equally an admission that the same reassurance has been given before.
- It sits against a consumer electronics backdrop management calls weak, a smartphone market it says is down in units, and its own decision not to assume the normal third-quarter seasonal ramp, so the capacity narrative is not corroborated by the end demand the capacity is being built for.
C08facthigh confidence
Organic net sales grew 15% in the second quarter of 2026, with Electronics up 20% and Specialties up 3%, the third consecutive quarter of double-digit organic growth.
C62management claimmedium confidence
Management said the market for circuit boards is forecast to grow over 10% in 2026, up from about 6% in December, with all the acceleration from data centres while consumer electronics is soft; that its Circuitry business has outgrown that market by more than 500 basis points year to date and its data-centre board applications by more than 20%; that Q4 'is off to a solid start' with no erosion of demand; that its outlook is firm 'well into 2027'; and that it would not speak for 2028.
against this
- Demand visibility rests on customers' capital plans and forecasts, not contracts: the chief executive said order forecasts 'change' and 'we have seen that change in the past', and the company has minimal backlog (the thesis's own risk).
- The 'north of 20%' growth in data-centre boards is the chief executive's extrapolation from Circuitry's 16% growth and falling consumer volumes, not a reported figure, and the long-term target he repeated is only a point or two of outperformance.
How we read the multiple
Buyers pay about 49 times last year's reported earnings, but only about 15 times the adjusted profit the company promises this year. The gap is roughly $120M a year of write-downs on businesses it bought, plus the cost of buying them.
The adjusted figure leaves those out, but a company that keeps buying keeps paying them. Call that cost unreal and the price is fair; call it real and the shares are dear.
Against its own history. Dearer than its own past on every measure, most of all on profit. Faster growth earns some of that; the rest is a bet that it lasts.
The evidence under this - 3 claims
C36estimatemedium confidence
At the current price the shares trade near forty-nine times trailing reported earnings and about fifteen times the midpoint of the company's own raised 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance, and the distance between those two is roughly $120 million a year of acquired-intangible amortisation plus recurring acquisition and integration expense that the adjusted measure removes and a serial acquirer keeps incurring.
derivedTrailing price to earnings and enterprise value come from the frozen research pack. The forward multiple is that enterprise value divided by the $690-710 million guidance midpoint from the results release. The amortisation run rate annualises the $29.5 million charged in the second quarter; acquisition, integration and transaction expense was $30.7 million in the first half and $11.6 million in the comparable half of 2025, and has appeared in every period examined.
against this
- Amortisation of acquired intangibles is genuinely non-cash, and a buyer of this business is buying cash flow rather than book earnings, so the trailing GAAP multiple overstates what the equity costs on the measure that matters most.
- But the trailing figure is also depressed by only two quarters of ownership of businesses the forward guide includes for a full year, so neither multiple describes the same company and the truth sits between them - which is the reason the frame below is struck on operating profit after amortisation rather than on either.
- 2026-09-26editedRe-struck at the 25 September 2026 close in the refreshed pack: trailing price to reported earnings 48.6 (was 49.0) and enterprise value $10.63B over the $700M guidance midpoint about 15.2 times; the wording holds.
C37factmedium confidence
On enterprise value against operating profit struck after amortisation of what was acquired, the shares sit near the median of the two competitors their own annual report names and whose filings confirm the same product, between the two of them and just above the cheaper.
- 2026-09-26editedRe-struck on the refreshed pack's cohort at the 25 September 2026 close: EV/EBIT 26.9 against Qnity 26.8 and MKS 29.6, median 28.2 (was 27.1 against a 27.75 median), so it now sits just above the cheaper of the two rather than essentially at the median.
C23facthigh confidence
Amortisation of acquired intangibles was $29.5 million in the second quarter of 2026 and $57.5 million in the half, and the company's adjusted earnings per share measure eliminates all of it.
Priced against its rivals
The competitors its own annual report names, each confirmed against the rival's filing. Measured on company value for each $1 of operating profit, cheapest first:
| Ticker | Company | company value for each $1 of operating profit |
|---|---|---|
| Q | Qnity Electronics | 26.8× |
| ESI | Element Solutions | 26.9× |
| MKSI | MKS | 29.6× |
The middle of the other 2 is 28.2. Element Solutions Inc is 2nd cheapest of 3.
Rivals' figures come from a data provider, so read the spread of the group rather than any single pair.
Between its two listed rivals on profit after acquisition write-downs, so the price is the group's, not one set apart for this company.
Private or foreign rivals that cannot be priced: Henkel Corporation, Senju Metal Industry Co., Ltd., Uyemura International, Castrol.
Where we disagree with the market
The market believes
Analysts are split, 16 buy, 12 hold and 7 sell, and shareholders just refused a takeover to keep the company independent.
We believe
The growth is real and better than the headline shows, but the price is dearer than it looks. Both come from the same metal.
The metal cuts both ways, and most readers correct for only one side. Taking it out makes the margin look healthy, and also removes the reason the shares screen cheap: every measure on which they look cheap is struck on sales, on assets, or on profit before the write-down of what was bought; every one on which they look dear, on profit or cash after it.
The evidence against us would be growth near 15% lasting through 2027, with the margin reaching 30%.
What analysts say, and the evidence
Analysts positive
91%
of 11, 1 Sep
Four months earlier
90%
of 10, 1 May
The evidence under this - 5 claims
C07inferencehigh confidence
The company's headline adjusted EBITDA margin is struck on net sales excluding pass-through metals, not on reported net sales, so the margin it publishes and the revenue it publishes have different denominators.
derivedAdjusted EBITDA of $183.5 million divided by reported net sales of $977.9 million is 18.8%, but divided by the release's ex-metals net sales of $660.5 million it is 27.8%, which is the figure the release headlines. The prior-year pair reproduces the same way, $136.0 million over $511.8 million giving the 26.6% stated. Both segment margins reproduce on the same basis. The release also states the margin improved '120 basis points' and the prepared remarks describe it as margin 'excluding the impact of pass-through metals'.
against this
- The company does label the measure as excluding pass-through metals in the prepared remarks and in the non-GAAP section, so this is disclosed rather than concealed - the finding is that the headline revenue growth and the headline margin are computed on different bases within the same release, not that either is misstated.
- A reader taking the 27.8% margin and applying it to reported revenue would overstate adjusted EBITDA by roughly a third, which is the practical consequence and the reason it is worth stating.
C38inferencemedium confidence
Every valuation measure on which the shares look cheaper than that cohort is struck on revenue, on book value, or on profit before amortisation of what was acquired, and every measure on which they look dearer is struck on profit or cash flow after it.
derivedIn the refreshed pack's cohort at the 25 September 2026 close the subject ranks cheapest of three on enterprise value to sales, price to sales, price to book and enterprise value to EBITDA, dearest of three on price to earnings and price to free cash flow, and between the two members on enterprise value to operating profit. The revenue denominator carries a third of reported sales in pass-through metal the competitors do not carry to the same degree, which mechanically depresses every revenue multiple and every margin; the book denominator carries goodwill from acquisitions the competitors have less of; and EBITDA adds back the roughly $120 million a year of acquired-intangible amortisation (C36) that operating profit charges. All three distortions run the same way.
against this
- Qnity's own MD&A refers to price 'including metals pass-through', so at least one cohort member also carries metal in its revenue and the distortion is a difference of degree rather than a clean separation - neither company discloses its metal content in a way that would let the multiples be restated on a common basis.
- Both peers sell competing chemistry out of one segment of a larger company, at 44% and 34% of revenue, so their whole-company multiples price a great deal that is not this activity, and the comparison characterises the group rather than pricing the subject.
- 2026-09-26editedCorrected against the pack: the original basis omitted enterprise value to EBITDA, on which the subject ranked cheapest of three in the 6 September pack (19.2 against a 20.45 median) and still does (19.0 against 19.8 and 21.8), so 'every cheap measure is revenue or book' was false as written. The exception is the amortisation add-back the thesis already argues about, so the claim now names it; the argument is unchanged.
C03facthigh confidence
Pass-through metals were $317.4 million of the $977.9 million of second-quarter 2026 net sales, against $113.4 million of $625.2 million a year earlier - roughly a third of reported revenue against roughly a fifth.
C25facthigh confidence
The company agreed on 6 July 2026 to be acquired by Solstice Advanced Materials for 0.5 Solstice shares plus $10.00 in cash per share, and the two mutually terminated the agreement on 27 August 2026 with neither party owing the other any payment.
C26management claimmedium confidence
Management attributes the termination to its own shareholders, saying the boards concluded both companies would serve shareholders better standalone and that the termination is a direct response to shareholder feedback.
against this
- This is the parties' own account of why a deal they had signed seven weeks earlier collapsed, and a mutual termination with no fee is also what a transaction failing for other reasons would look like if both sides preferred not to say so.
- The chief executive had described the stock's reaction to the announcement as 'disappointing' on the July call while defending the deal's logic, so the account is at least consistent with the observable price reaction; the shares nonetheless fell 4.4% in the session after the termination was announced, which is not obviously the reaction of a shareholder base that got what it wanted.
What could go wrong, and how we would know
The risks
- Nothing is contracted. Backlog is minimal, so growth needs customers to keep adding capacity; a slowdown would show at once.
- Debt from buying. Debt reached $2.12B after two acquisitions; management expects it to fall to 2.5 times a year's profit by the end of 2026.
- Assets that are mostly purchase price. What it paid for its acquisitions exceeds shareholders' equity; excluding it, the company owes about $730M more than it owns.
- Metal prices turning. The forecast assumes stable metal prices, and the first half carried one-time gains on metal hedges.
The evidence under this - 6 claims
C18facthigh confidence
No customer represented ten per cent or more of consolidated net sales in 2025, 2024 or 2023, and order backlog levels are minimal because of short cycle times in most of the businesses.
C45management claimmedium confidence
Management describes customers across semiconductor fabs, circuit board fabs and device assemblers adding capacity in Taiwan, Korea, China and outside China, and says the improvement in the organic outlook over the quarter came from those capacity additions rather than from channel inventory.
against this
- This is the company's own read of its customers' intentions, and it made a similar statement about pull-forward concerns a year earlier - which management itself raised on the call as evidence the pattern held, but which is equally an admission that the same reassurance has been given before.
- It sits against a consumer electronics backdrop management calls weak, a smartphone market it says is down in units, and its own decision not to assume the normal third-quarter seasonal ramp, so the capacity narrative is not corroborated by the end demand the capacity is being built for.
C20facthigh confidence
Total debt was $2,119.4 million against cash of $189.6 million at 30 June 2026, having been $1,625.9 million against $626.5 million at the end of 2025.
C21management claimmedium confidence
Management put net leverage at 2.9 times on a pro forma basis at the end of the second quarter and expects roughly 2.5 times by the end of 2026.
against this
- The figure is pro forma for a full year of Micromax and EFC earnings the company did not own for a full year, so reported leverage on trailing owned earnings is higher than 2.9 times.
- Reaching 2.5 times depends on the second-half cash generation management describes as typically weighted to the second half and explicitly conditional on metal prices staying at current levels - the same metal prices whose rise consumed working capital in the first half.
C22inferencehigh confidence
Goodwill of $2,537.4 million and net intangibles of $1,004.9 million together exceed total stockholders' equity of $2,812.7 million, so tangible equity is negative by roughly $730 million.
derivedThe three figures are taken from the condensed consolidated balance sheet at 30 June 2026 in the results release; the subtraction is arithmetic on them. It is the ordinary shape of a company assembled by acquisition, and the research pack's cohort finds the same condition at both named competitors, neither of which has a usable price to tangible book either.
against this
- Negative tangible equity is not by itself a solvency signal for a business with low capital intensity and no asset-backed borrowing - the term loans and notes are cash-flow lending, not secured on tangible assets, and the company's capital expenditure runs under three per cent of sales.
- It does mean any goodwill impairment falls straight through equity, and Quaker Houghton, a company named as a competitor in Specialties, took an $88.8 million goodwill impairment in 2025, so the risk is live in this industry rather than theoretical.
C39facthigh confidence
The 2026 guidance is stated as assuming stable exchange rates and metal prices, and management said the first half carried one-time metal hedge gains whose associated costs had been recorded in the second half of 2025.
What we still do not know
- How much growth is volume. July said two-thirds in chips; October said 'volume primarily', no number, and no filing splits it.
- Whether Kuprion, a copper paste for power chips, earns real revenue by 2027. Two customers finished testing it; nothing is sized.
The evidence under this - 4 claims
C10management claimmedium confidence
About two-thirds of the semiconductor business's second-quarter organic growth was volume and about a third was precious metal price, because the company does not strip metals out of organic growth in its semiconductor and industrial businesses.
against this
- This materially qualifies the headline organic growth rate, and it exists only as a spoken answer to an analyst - no filing states which businesses are inside the metals adjustment and which are outside it, so the proportion of the 15% consolidated organic figure that is metal price cannot be computed from any document.
- Management gave two slightly different splits in the same call, 'call it, 60% to two-thirds' volume in one answer and 'about two-thirds is volume and one-third is metal price inflation' in another, so the figure is approximate even as stated.
- 2026-10-22editedthird-quarter call did not restate the two-thirds split (C58 carries what was said); evidence for the second quarter remains the only quantified split, so its review date moves to the fourth-quarter results
C34management claimlow confidence
Kuprion is a copper-nanoparticle sintering paste that forms a bulk copper joint at solder reflow temperatures which then remains stable far above them, aimed at power semiconductor die attach and thermal applications where silver sintering is the incumbent.
sourceMacDermid Alpha product literature for Kuprion ActiveCopper…primarySecond quarter 2026 earnings call transcript, held 28 July…primary
against this
- The technical description rests on the company's own product literature and its earnings call. The granted patent behind it, USPTO 11929341, was located but its full text could not be opened, so no independent specification of the mechanism was read.
- Management declined to size the 2027 revenue, saying it is 'dangerous to size these things' because the second plant's timing decides the figure, and the product is at sampling and qualification rather than in production - which is precisely the stage at which the qualification barrier that protects the rest of the portfolio works against a new entrant.
- 2026-10-22editedthird-quarter call reported two customer qualifications for high-volume manufacturing (C61); the mechanism and the immaterial revenue today are unchanged, so the wording stands
C58management claimmedium confidence
On the third-quarter 2026 call the chief executive said that, apart from metal price volatility, growth in all businesses came 'from volume primarily', with Micromax rising in higher-value volume while lower-value automotive volume fell; the semiconductor business's growth was described as 'magnified' by higher precious metal prices, and no volume-to-price percentage was given for the quarter.
against this
- The statement is spoken, qualitative and unquantified: it does not repeat the two-thirds volume and one-third metal price split given for the second quarter (C10), so the volume share of the semiconductor business's 24% organic growth is still not a number in any document.
- The chief financial officer said the semiconductor growth was 'magnified' by the year-over-year rise in precious metal prices, which is the metal effect the thesis is worried about, and Micromax, where roughly two-thirds of $140 million of quarterly sales relates to metals, is expressly outside the 'volume' description.
C61management claimlow confidence
Management said two leading data-centre technology customers completed qualification of Kuprion ActiveCopper for high-volume manufacturing in the third quarter, that revenue ramps in 2027 from a first site in Fremont, a second in Connecticut and a third being planned, that capacity for multiple customers arrives in late 2027 or early 2028, and that the product will contribute 'material EBITDA' in 2028.
against this
- No customer is named and no revenue, volume or date is given for 2027; the chief executive described the supply chain as 'not quite caught up', so plant timing, not demand, still decides the figure, as it did when management declined to size 2027 on the second-quarter call (C34).
- A customer qualification is the entry ticket for a product with a long incumbency, not an order; the reconsider path and the invalidation criterion on Kuprion revenue through 2027 stand untouched.
What would change our view
- Neutral→AttractiveOrganic growth proves out, at a lower multiple
It needs all of:
- ○Growth without acquisitions or metal stays above 5%, with adjusted profit above 26% of sales excluding metal, for a full year.checked at the next results, due by 16 Feb
- ○The shares fall to about 30 times reported earnings, so the case works whether or not the acquisition write-downs are real costs.about $22.04 today, 38% below the last close
- Neutral→UnattractiveThe organic line or the leverage turns
It needs any of:
- ○Debt rises above 3.5 times a year's adjusted profit, with no acquisition to explain it.checked at the next results, due by 16 Feb
- ○Electronics grows slower than rival Qnity's for three quarters running, or its new copper paste, Kuprion, still earns almost nothing at the end of 2027.checked at the next results, due by 16 Feb
We would also be wrong if
- Growth without acquisitions or metal falls below 5% for two quarters in a row.
- Adjusted profit falls below 26% of sales excluding metal, for a full year.
What is coming
- 27 October 2026 Third quarter 2026 results: Electronics organic growth against 15%, adjusted EBITDA against the guided about $180 million, and whether semiconductor growth is credited to volume or metal price.
Every dated event ahead
- 27 October 2026 Third quarter 2026 results: Electronics organic growth against 15%, adjusted EBITDA against the guided about $180 million, and whether semiconductor growth is credited to volume or metal price.
- 10 December 2026 First third of the December 2025 executive share grant unlocks: Whether executives sell freed shares at once; the chief executive already sold 170,000 shares in February 2026 and no insider has bought in the open market.
- February 2027 Full-year 2026 results and the 2026 10-K: Adjusted EBITDA against the $690-710 million guide, net leverage against the promised 2.5 times, and whether cash goes to buybacks or toward the 2028 notes.
- May 2027 2027 annual meeting and say-on-pay vote: Whether shareholders who rejected the 2026 pay vote and forced the Solstice deal off accept the board's response, or press it again.
Since we wrote this
Written
6 Sep
Price the thesis read
$35.71
25 Sep
- 22 OctEarningsThe call called growth volume-led but gave no numberManagement said volume drove growth, apart from metal, and confirmed strong margins and a Kuprion qualification, but the volume share is still unquantified, so the view held.
- 21 OctEarningsThird quarter beat our test; guide raised, view heldElectronics grew 18% without acquisitions at a 28.2% margin and 2026 profit guidance rose, but the volume-versus-metal split awaits the call.
- 5 OctThesis reviewThe long case now sits under the verdictAfter the five-name pilot, the owner asked for the long case on every thesis.
- 4 OctThesis reviewOwner's checklist: revenue streams, cost of growth, management, catalystsThe owner's checklist found the method silent on who runs the company, what growth costs, where the money comes from and what is dated ahead; this pass fills those four blocks from the proxy and filings.
- 26 SepThesis reviewPrice measures re-checked on June's filed figures; view heldThe data now carries the June quarter. The shares still cost near 49 times reported earnings and sit between their two listed rivals on profit after acquisition write-downs, so nothing in the case moved.
- 6 SepThesis writtenNeutral, medium convictionWritten days after a sale to Solstice collapsed, when Element Solutions' own shareholders objected.
Sources 18
Where this came from
Sources - 18
Every claim above cites one of these, or states the reasoning that derived it. The quote is frozen at the date it was read: a link can rot, and an agent fetch returns a reading of a page rather than the page. Backs counts the whole claim ledger, so it can name a claim this page does not surface.
- S01primarycompany filing2026-02-18Item 1 business and product descriptions, the named competitor lists, the segment and business-line revenue mix, the customer-concentration and backlog disclosures, the metal content of Assembly Solutions, the tax note's jurisdictional split, and the acquisition and divestiture historybacksC01C18C29C33C43C44C48C52C53
- S02primarycompany filing2026-07-27the income statement and balance sheet, the ex-metals net sales table, the organic growth reconciliation, the adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS reconciliations, and the raised full-year guidancebacksC03C05C08C11C20C23C24C25C27C30C39
- S03primarycompany filing2026-07-28the debt note with maturities and rates, the acquisition purchase prices and their funding, and the segment notebacksC02C19C20C28C47C48C53
- S04primarytranscript2026-07-28Second quarter 2026 earnings call transcript, held 28 July 2026management's prepared remarks on business-line organic growth, Kuprion's plant plan, leverage and capital expenditure; and eight analysts' questions, which produced the admissions that organic growth is not adjusted for metals in the semiconductor and industrial businesses, that share gains partly reflect competitors' inability to finance metal, and that Micromax's disclosed contribution excludes parent-level costs
And for the most part, we don't realize margins on metals.
backsC04C09C10C13C21C30C34C39C41C42C45C46 - S05primarycompany filing2026-02-172025 adjusted EBITDA of $548 million and the original 2026 guidance of $650-670 million, against which the July raise is measuredbacksC11
- S06primarycompany filing2026-08-28the termination itself, the absence of any payment between the parties, and both the chairman's and the chief executive's stated reasonbacksC25C26
- S07primarycompany filing2026-02-24a competitor's own statement that customers require lengthy qualification periods before placing volume orders with a new supplier, its Materials Solutions Division description and $1,323 million of segment revenue, and its naming of Element Solutions as a chemistry competitorbacksC12C16C17
- S08primarycompany filing2026-02-26the Advanced Circuit & Packaging description confirming the same plating and final-finish chemistry sold to the same buyers, $2,112 million of Interconnect Solutions net sales, its naming of Element Solutions as a competitor, and its own reference to price including metals pass-throughbacksC16C17
- S09primarycompany filing2026-04-16TSMC-SoIC and CoWoS as commercially offered advanced packaging services, capital expenditure being spent to expand advanced packaging capacity, and the high performance computing revenue and capital expenditure series behind the driver ratebacksC14C15
- S10primaryvendor data2026-09-26Research pack frozen at content/ESI/research-pack.jsonprice, market capitalisation and enterprise value, the trailing multiples against their six-year medians, the filed competitor cohort's metrics and ranks, short interest from FINRA, the analyst split, insider filings, and the earnings history carrying the adjusted actual beside the filed GAAP figurebacksC02C24C37C40
- S11primaryother2026-09-06MacDermid Alpha product literature for Kuprion ActiveCopper sintering materials Element Solutionsthe product description behind Kuprion, recorded as the company's own marketing because the granted patent behind it could not be opened
excellent alternatives to lead- and lead-free solders, AuSn solder and nanostructured silver for high-power semiconductor applications
backsC34 - S12primarycompany filing2026-08-28the operative terms of the termination - mutual releases, and a filing-fees clause leaving Solstice responsible for the antitrust filing fees, with no break fee or expense reimbursement either way, which is what confirms the release's costless-termination languagebacksC25
- S13primarycompany filing2026-03-23executive officers and tenures, beneficial ownership at March 9, 2026, the 2025 bonus and long-term award metrics, the cancelled 2022 stretch awards and the December 2025 share awards, the Mariposa Capital services fee, the 2024 say-on-pay resultbacksC49C50C51C52
- S14primarycompany filing2026-05-05votes for and against each director and the advisory vote on executive paybacksC49C54
- S15primarycompany filing2026-03-23the executive chairman's retirement from the board at the 2026 annual meeting and the board's reduction to sevenbacksC49
- S16primarycompany filing2023-02-22the 2020 to 2022 income statements and cash flow statements: cost lines, buybacks and dividends, read through the frozen numbers card (content/ESI/financials.json)backsC48C53
- S17primarycompany filing2026-10-21third-quarter sales, organic growth by business, adjusted EBITDA and its margin on ex-metals net sales, free cash flow, debt and cash at 30 September, and the raised 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidancebacksC11C55C56C57
- S18primarytranscript2026-10-22management's prepared remarks on Electronics growth by business, margins, cash flow and leverage, the new organisational structure, Kuprion qualifications and the raised guidance; and ten analysts' questions, which produced the volume statement, the incentive-pay-adjusted incremental margins, the implied fourth quarter and the demand outlook into 2027
the growth has come from volume primarily, and with the exception also of Micromax, where we're seeing an uplift in higher value volume
backsC58C59C60C61C62