Element Solutions Inc. Common Stock (ESI)

FairStock Score: 28/100 — RISKY

Key Financials

AI Analysis

AI-generated, general educational analysis — not personal investment advice.

I look for a durable business bought at a sensible price, and Element Solutions is a specialty chemicals technology company serving electronics and industrial markets. The filed record is mixed. Revenue has crept up: $2.3B in fiscal year ended 2023-12-31, $2.5B in fiscal year ended 2024-12-31, and $2.6B in fiscal year ended 2025-12-31. But profits have not followed smoothly: net income was $118.1M in fiscal year ended 2023-12-31, $244.2M in fiscal year ended 2024-12-31, then $190.8M in fiscal year ended 2025-12-31, with diluted EPS of $0.49, $1.01, and $0.79 respectively. In fiscal Q1 2026, the quarter ended 2026-03-31, revenue was $840.0M and net income $55.9M, or $0.23 per diluted share, versus fiscal Q1 2025, the quarter ended 2025-03-31, revenue of $593.7M and net income of $98.0M, or $0.40 per diluted share. So sales grew but profits fell. That is not the steady compounding I prefer. The FairStock calculations show why the price demands caution. At the 2026-10-13 close of $37.20, the P/E is 50.27, P/B 3.22, EV/EBITDA 21.51, FCF yield 1.5%, and Graham Number $13.86, a margin of safety of -168.4%. ROE is 6.54% and ROCE 4.65%—modest for a specialty chemical company. Debt/equity is 0.75 and Altman Z-Score 2.08, not distressing but not fortress-like. The Piotroski F-Score of 7/9 and PEG of 0.80 offer some encouragement, but the business is classified as cyclical: earnings follow the economic cycle. I see a fair-to-good operating business, not a wide-moat bargain at this quotation.

In plain English: Element Solutions makes specialty chemicals used in electronics and industrial products. Sales have grown over the last few filed years, but profits have bounced around and the company earns only modest returns on its assets. At the recent price, the stock looks expensive compared with current profits, assets, and cash generation.

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Data as of 2026-10-13 close · note generated 2026-10-15 · model deepseek-flash

Sources (SEC EDGAR): fiscal Q1 2026 10-Q (period ended 2026-03-31) · fiscal Q3 2025 10-Q (period ended 2025-09-30) · fiscal Q2 2025 10-Q (period ended 2025-06-30) · fiscal Q1 2025 10-Q (period ended 2025-03-31) · FY2025 10-K (period ended 2025-12-31) · FY2024 10-K (period ended 2024-12-31) · FY2023 10-K (period ended 2023-12-31)

Fundamentals from company filings and market-data providers; prices are end-of-day, not real-time. AI-generated analysis is general and educational — not personal investment advice. Scoring methodology · Score test · Disclaimer