Sensient Technologies : First Quarter 2026 Earnings Release and Conference Call Presentation

Published: 2026-04-24 10:52:10 ET SXT

Published on 04/24/2026 at 10:52 am EDT

April 24, 2026

Within this document, the Company reports certain non-GAAP financial measures, including: (1) adjusted operating income, adjusted net earnings, and adjusted diluted earnings per share, which exclude restructuring and other costs, including the Portfolio Optimization Plan costs, (2) percentage changes in revenue, operating income, and diluted earnings per share on an adjusted local currency basis, which eliminate the effects that result from translating its international operations into U.S. dollars and restructuring and other costs, including the Portfolio Optimization Plan costs, and (3) adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA Margin (which exclude Portfolio Optimization Plan costs and non-cash share based compensation expense). The Company has included each of these non-GAAP measures in order to provide additional information regarding our underlying operating results and comparable year-over-year performance. Such information is supplemental to information presented in accordance with GAAP and is not intended to represent a presentation in accordance with GAAP. These non-GAAP measures should not be considered in isolation. Rather, they should be considered together with GAAP measures and the rest of the information included in this report. Management internally reviews each of these non-GAAP measures to evaluate performance on a comparative period-to-period basis and to gain additional insight into underlying operating and performance trends, and the Company believes the information can be beneficial to investors for the same purposes. These non-GAAP measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies.

This presentation contains statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Federal securities laws including under "2026 Financial Outlook" and "Consolidated Full Year 2026 Outlook". Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors concerning the Company's operations and business environment. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those suggested by these forward-looking statements and that could adversely affect the Company's future financial performance include the following: the Company's ability to manage general business, economic, and capital market conditions, including actions taken by customers in response to such market conditions, and the impact of recessions and economic downturns; the impact of macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility, including inflation and shortages impacting the availability and cost of raw materials, energy, and other supplies, disruptions and delays in the Company's supply chain, and the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and in the Middle East; industry, regulatory, legal, and economic factors related to the Company's domestic and international business; the effects of tariffs, trade barriers, and disputes; the availability and cost of labor, logistics, and transportation; the pace and nature of new product introductions by the Company and the Company's customers; the Company's ability to anticipate and respond to changing consumer preferences, changing technologies, and changing regulations; the Company's ability to successfully implement its growth strategies; the outcome of the Company's various productivity-improvement and cost-reduction efforts, acquisition and divestiture activities, and Portfolio Optimization Plan; growth in markets for products in which the Company competes; industry and customer acceptance of price increases; actions by competitors; the Company's ability to enhance its innovation efforts and drive cost efficiencies; currency exchange rate fluctuations; and other factors included in "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025, and in other documents that the Company files with the SEC. The risks and uncertainties identified above are not the only risks the Company faces. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to the Company or that it currently believes to be immaterial also may adversely affect the Company. Should any known or unknown risks and uncertainties develop into actual events, these developments could have material adverse effects on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. This presentation contains time-sensitive information that reflects management's best analysis only as of the date of this presentation. Except to the extent required by applicable laws, the Company does not undertake to publicly update or revise its forward-looking statements even if experience or future changes make it clear that any projected results expressed or implied herein will not be realized.

Local Currency1 Results Commentary

Revenue

Strong growth in the quarter driven by new sales wins and favorable pricing across the Group

Operating Results

Strong operating leverage in the quarter primarily due to volume growth in the Food and Pharmaceutical product lines and favorable pricing

Adjusted EBITDA Margin1 for the Group was 24.4% in Q1 2026, flat to Q1 2025, even with increased investments in natural colors

Local Currency1 Results Commentary

Revenue

Growth in the quarter due to new and defensible flavor wins and favorable pricing

Operating Results

Favorable operating leverage in the quarter primarily due to favorable pricing and volume growth in the Flavors, Extracts, and Flavor Ingredients product line

Adjusted EBITDA Margin1 for the Group was

17.2% in Q1 2026, up 30 bps from Q1 2025

Local Currency1 Results Commentary

Revenue

Growth in the quarter driven by favorable prices and new sales wins across the Group

Operating Results

Strong operating leverage in the quarter due to favorable prices and volume growth across the Group

Adjusted EBITDA Margin1 for the Group was

26.1% in Q1 2026, up 220 bps from Q1 2025

Consolidated Full Year 2026 Outlook

Local Currency Revenue2

Growth rate of high single to double-digits

Local Currency Adjusted EBITDA2

Growth rate of high single to double-digits

Local Currency Adjusted EPS2

Growth rate of high single to double-digits

Represents outlook as of our earnings release provided on April 24, 2026, and does not constitute an update or reissuance as of any later date.

This is a non-GAAP financial measure. We are not able to provide a reconciliation of this forward-looking measure as certain information required for such reconciliation, such as the impact of translating our international operations into U.S. Dollars, is not available without unreasonable efforts and we are not able to determine the probable significance of such items.

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Consolidated Commentary

Local currency revenue1 increased 7.2%

Q1 2025 results included $2.9 million of Portfolio Optimization Plan costs (approximately 5 cents per share)

Adjusted EBITDA Margin1 increased 70 bps in the quarter due to strong volume growth

(dollars in thousands) Q1 2025 Q1 2026

Local Currency Growth1

Revenue

$ 392,325

$435,834

+7.2%

Operating Income (GAAP)

Operating Margin

$ 53,530

13.6%

$ 66,728

15.3%

Adjusted Operating Income1

$ 56,394

$ 66,728

+12.2%

Adjusted Operating Margin1

14.4%

15.3%

Diluted EPS (GAAP)

$ 0.81

$ 1.04

Adjusted Diluted EPS1

$ 0.86

$ 1.04

+14.0%

Adjusted EBITDA1

$ 74,368

$ 86,042

+10.4%

Adjusted EBITDA Margin1

19.0%

19.7%

Commentary

Cash flow used in operating activities was $13.6 million in Q1 2026 compared to $9.0 million in Q1 2025 primarily due to higher use of cash for working capital

Net debt to credit adjusted EBITDA1 was 2.4x in Q1 2026, down from 2.5x in Q1 2025

Q1 2025 YTD

Q1 2026 YTD

Cash Flow from Operations

($ 9.0 million)

($ 13.6 million)

Capital Expenditures

$ 16.9 million

$ 28.7 million

Total Debt

$ 701.8 million

$ 767.8 million

Net debt to credit adjusted EBITDA1 2.5x 2.4x

Metric Current Guidance Prior Guidance

Local Currency Revenue2

High single to double-digit growth

Mid-single to double-digit growth

Local Currency Adjusted EBITDA2

High single to double-digit growth

Mid-single to double-digit growth

Diluted EPS (GAAP) 3

$3.70 to $3.90

$3.60 to $3.80

Local Currency Adjusted Diluted EPS2

High single to double-digit growth

Mid- to high single-digit growth

Capital Expenditures

$150 to $170 million

Adjusted Effective Tax Rate

~ 25%

Interest Expense4

~ $36 million

Represents outlook as of our earnings release provided on April 24, 2026, and does not constitute an update or reissuance as of any later date.

The impact of foreign exchange rates is expected to be immaterial for 2026.

Interest expense assumes no USD borrowing rate reductions for 2026.

(1) Amounts in thousands, except percentages and per share amounts.

Three Months Ended March 31,

2026

2025

% Change

Operating income (GAAP)

$ 66,728

$ 53,530

24.7%

Portfolio Optimization Plan costs - Cost of products sold Portfolio Optimization Plan costs - Selling and administrative

expenses

1,814

1,050

Adjusted operating income

$ 66,728

$ 56,394

18.3%

Net earnings (GAAP)

$ 44,170

$ 34,462

28.2%

Portfolio Optimization Plan costs, before tax

2,864

Tax impact of Portfolio Optimization Plan costs(1)

(702)

Adjusted net earnings

$ 44,170

$ 36,624

20.6%

Diluted earnings per share (GAAP)

$ 1.04

$ 0.81

28.4%

Portfolio Optimization Plan costs, net of tax

0.05

Adjusted diluted earnings per share

$ 1.04

$ 0.86

20.9%

Note: Earnings per share calculations may not foot due to rounding differences.

(1) Tax impact adjustments were determined based on the nature of the underlying non-GAAP adjustments and their relevant jurisdictional tax rates.

Three Months Ended March 31, 2026

Revenue

Total

Foreign Exchange

Rates

Adjustments(1)

Local Currency

Adjusted

Flavors & Extracts

4.2%

2.5%

N/A

1.7%

Color

18.1%

5.8%

N/A

12.3%

Asia Pacific

8.0%

3.3%

N/A

4.7%

Total Revenue

11.1%

3.9%

N/A

7.2%

Operating Income

Flavors & Extracts

7.0%

1.9%

0.0%

5.1%

Color

20.7%

7.5%

0.0%

13.2%

Asia Pacific

18.4%

3.9%

0.0%

14.5%

Corporate & Other

(15.8%)

0.0%

(18.7%)

2.9%

Total Operating Income

24.7%

6.5%

6.0%

12.2%

Diluted Earnings Per Share

28.4%

7.4%

7.0%

14.0%

Adjusted EBITDA

15.7%

5.3%

N/A

10.4%

(1) Adjustments consist of Portfolio Optimization Plan costs.

Three Months Ended March 31, 2026

Revenue

Total

Foreign Exchange

Rates

Local Currency

Flavors, Extracts, and Flavor Ingredients

6.4%

3.7%

2.7%

Agricultural Ingredients

(0.4%)

0.0%

(0.4%)

Flavors & Extracts Group

4.2%

2.5%

1.7%

Food and Pharmaceutical

21.4%

5.6%

15.8%

Personal Care

8.7%

6.5%

2.2%

Color Group

18.1%

5.8%

12.3%

Asia Pacific Group

8.0%

3.3%

4.7%

Total revenue

11.1%

3.9%

7.2%

Results by Segment Three Months Ended March 31,

Adjusted

Operating Income

2026

Adjustments(1)

2026

2025

Adjustments(1)

2025

Flavors & Extracts

$ 26,750

$ -

$ 26,750

$ 24,989

$ -

$ 24,989

Color

42,065

34,852

Asia Pacific

11,180

9,442

Corporate & Other

(13,267)

(15,753)

2,864

(12,889)

Consolidated

$ 66,728

$ -

$ 66,728

$ 53,530

$ 2,864

$ 56,394

(1) Adjustments consist of Portfolio Optimization Plan costs.

Disclaimer

Sensient Technologies Corporation published this content on April 24, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on April 24, 2026 at 14:51 UTC.