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Specialty chemicals

The 36 companies in this industry listed on the NYSE and Nasdaq are worth $194 bn combined; the largest are Ecolab (ECL), International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) and Avantor (AVTR). For each one: what it does, revenue, margin, free cash flow over the last five years and a score from 0 to 10.

Data as of October 2026

Open contest
36 companies value 194 bn revenue 92 bn margin 1.7% free cash flow 6.5 bn avg. score 3.4
ECL holds 41.3% of the group's value, 3.5x the runner-up
Rank Ticker Company Share Value Revenue Margin FCF 5 years FCF/px Yield What it does · why it is here
1 ECL Ecolab
United States · score 5.5
 41% 80 bn 17 bn 12.6% 1.9 bn 2.3% 1.0% Hygiene, water and infection prevention for industry · Global leader in sanitation and industrial water treatment; recurring consumables model
2 IFF International Flavors & Fragrances
United States · score 3.9
 12% 23 bn 11 bn 2.6% 0.5 bn 2.3% 1.8% Flavors, fragrances and food ingredients · Global top 2 in flavors and fragrances
3 AVTR Avantor
United States · score 2.5
 6% 11 bn 6.6 bn -8.8% 0.5 bn 4.1% — Supplies and services for labs and biopharma · Ultrapure materials for labs and biopharma
4 ESI Element Solutions Inc
United States · score 4.9
 5% 8.7 bn 3.1 bn 5.7% 0.2 bn 2.3% 0.9% Specialty chemistry for electronics and circuit assembly · Florida — revenue of $3.2bn
5 NEU NEWMARKET CORP
United States · score 6.8
 4% 8.1 bn 2.7 bn 15.8% 0.5 bn 5.9% 1.4% Holding company for lubricant additives and chemicals · Virginia — revenue of $2.7bn
6 EMN Eastman Chemical
United States · score 6.0
 4% 7.1 bn 8.9 bn 5.0% 0.5 bn 7.5% 5.3% Specialty chemicals, fibers and plastics · Specialty chemicals and molecular plastics recycling
7 SXT SENSIENT TECHNOLOGIES CORP
United States · score 4.2
 3% 5.7 bn 1.7 bn 9.3% 0.0 bn 0.1% 1.2% Colors, flavors and fragrances for food and cosmetics · Wisconsin — revenue of $1.7bn
8 BCPC BALCHEM CORP
United States · score 6.7
 3% 5.4 bn 1.1 bn 15.1% 0.2 bn 4.0% 0.6% Nutrition ingredients, animal health and sterilization · New Jersey — revenue of $1.1bn
9 CE Celanese
United States · score 3.1
 3% 5.3 bn 9.7 bn -12.0% 0.7 bn 13.5% 0.3% Acetyls, engineered polymers and specialty materials · Leader in acetyls and engineered polymers
10 PRM Perimeter Solutions, Inc.
United States · score 2.7
 2% 4.3 bn 0.8 bn -44.9% 0.1 bn 2.3% — Mission-critical industrial products and services · Missouri — revenue of $757m
11 CBT CABOT CORP
United States · score 6.4
 2% 3.8 bn 3.6 bn 5.2% 0.3 bn 7.4% 2.6% Specialty chemicals and performance materials · Massachusetts — revenue of $3.6bn
12 AVNT AVIENT CORP
United States · score 5.7
 2% 3.6 bn 3.3 bn 5.1% 0.2 bn 5.3% 2.8% Specialty materials and polymer solutions · Ohio — revenue of $3.3bn
13 ASH ASHLAND INC.
United States · score 5.7
 2% 3.3 bn 1.8 bn 2.8% 0.3 bn 7.7% 2.3% Specialty additives and ingredients · Delaware — revenue of $1.8bn
14 KWR QUAKER CHEMICAL CORP
United States · score 4.7
 1% 2.7 bn 2.0 bn 4.9% 0.1 bn 2.8% 1.3% Global leader in industrial process fluids · Pennsylvania — revenue of $2bn
15 HWKN HAWKINS INC
United States · score 5.7
 1% 2.7 bn 1.1 bn 7.3% 0.1 bn 3.3% 0.6% Water treatment and specialty ingredients · Minnesota — revenue of $1.1bn
16 WDFC WD 40 CO
United States · score 6.3
 1% 2.7 bn 0.7 bn 13.2% 0.1 bn 2.9% 2.0% Maintenance and lubrication products, owner of the WD-40 brand · California — revenue of $675m
17 IOSP INNOSPEC INC.
United States · score 5.4
 1% 2.4 bn 1.8 bn 6.6% 0.1 bn 2.9% 1.8% Specialty chemicals for fuels, oilfield and personal care · Colorado — revenue of $1.8bn
18 NGVT Ingevity Corp
United States · score 5.6
 1% 2.4 bn 1.2 bn 4.7% 0.1 bn 6.4% — Purification and protection products and technologies · South Carolina — revenue of $1.2bn
19 ROG ROGERS CORP
United States · score 5.2
 1% 2.4 bn 0.8 bn 3.7% 0.1 bn 3.4% — Engineered materials and components for high-frequency electronics · Arizona — revenue of $835m
20 CC Chemours
United States · score 2.6
 1% 1.9 bn 5.8 bn -5.2% 0.2 bn 11.5% 2.8% Titanium dioxide, refrigerants and specialty chemicals · Titanium dioxide and fluorochemicals for refrigeration
21 MTX MINERALS TECHNOLOGIES INC
United States · score 3.9
 1% 1.9 bn 2.1 bn -3.1% 0.1 bn 6.2% 0.8% Specialty minerals and mineral-based products · New York — revenue of $2.1bn
22 SCL STEPAN CO
United States · score 2.7
 1% 1.4 bn 2.4 bn -0.1% 0.0 bn 2.6% 2.5% Surfactants and specialty chemicals · Illinois — revenue of $2.4bn
23 FTK FLOTEK INDUSTRIES INC/CN/
United States · score 3.0
 1% 0.9 bn 0.3 bn 13.0% 0.0 bn -0.2% — Specialty chemistry and measurement for oil wells · Texas — revenue of $293m
24 PCT PureCycle Technologies, Inc.
United States · score 0.0
 0% 0.6 bn 0.0 bn -16x -0.2 bn -36.2% — Polypropylene recycling by dissolution, with patented technology · Florida — revenue of $14m
25 LXFR LUXFER HOLDINGS PLC
United Kingdom · score 5.8
 0% 0.5 bn 0.4 bn 2.2% 0.0 bn 3.6% 3.0% High-performance materials and high-pressure gas containment · United Kingdom — revenue of $361m
26 ASPN ASPEN AEROGELS INC
United States · score 3.1
 0% 0.4 bn 0.2 bn -62.4% 0.0 bn 7.8% — Aerogel materials for energy, insulation and electric vehicles · Massachusetts — revenue of $202m
27 OEC Orion S.A.
United States · score 1.9
 0% 0.3 bn 1.8 bn -5.3% 0.0 bn 8.4% 1.5% Carbon black for tires, coatings and plastics · Texas — revenue of $1.8bn
28 ASPI ASP Isotopes Inc.
United States · score 0.0
 0% 0.3 bn 0.0 bn -380.3% -0.1 bn -26.5% — Isotope enrichment for nuclear medicine and semiconductors · Texas — revenue of $31m
29 ADUR ADURO CLEAN TECHNOLOGIES INC.
Canada · score 0.0
 0% 0.3 bn 0.0 bn -161x -0.0 bn -3.1% — Chemical conversion of plastic waste and heavy oil, from Canada · Canada
30 ARQ Arq, Inc.
United States · score 0.2
 0% 0.1 bn 0.1 bn -42.2% -0.0 bn -6.5% — Environmental technology for air, water and soil treatment · Colorado — revenue of $123m
31 ACNT ASCENT INDUSTRIES CO.
United States · score 0.6
 0% 0.1 bn 0.1 bn -5.3% -0.0 bn -6.9% — Specialty chemicals for oil and gas, cleaning, personal care and coatings · Illinois — revenue of $84m
32 FSI FLEXIBLE SOLUTIONS INTERNATIONAL INC
Canada · score 0.8
 0% 0.1 bn 0.0 bn -8.8% 0.0 bn -4.3% 1.6% Chemicals for water conservation and soil nitrogen retention · Canada — revenue of $36m
33 CITR CitroTech Inc.
United States · score 0.0
 0% 0.1 bn 0.0 bn -18x -0.0 bn -12.0% — Specialty chemicals: fire retardants for wildfires · Colorado — revenue of $1m
34 LOOP Loop Industries, Inc.
Canada · score 0.0
 0% 0.0 bn 0.0 bn -23x -0.0 bn -42.9% — Chemical recycling of PET and polyester · Canada
35 EXOZ EXOZYMES INC.
United States · score 0.0
 0% 0.0 bn — — -0.0 bn -19.2% — Engineerable, sustainable biosolutions · California
36 TOMZ TOMI Environmental Solutions, Inc.
United States · score 0.4
 — — 0.0 bn -49.8% 0.0 bn — — Air and surface disinfection and decontamination · Maryland — revenue of $7m

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What this is. A catalogue, not a guide. Every industry with stocks listed on the NYSE or NASDAQ, the companies contending for its leadership, what each one does according to its own annual report, and the balance sheet it filed with the SEC.

The score runs from 0 to 10 and compares each company with every other one in the almanac on cash generation, profitability, debt, dividends and consistency over the last five years. The higher it is, the better the company fares in that comparison. Curious how much each part weighs? Ask at the bottom of the page.

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