Clariant AG (CLZNY)
Fair ValueFundamental
49
Price
$10.70
Market Cap
$3.55B
Part 1 · What the company is worth
Overview
Clariant makes specialty chemicals — ingredients and additives that go into other companies' products rather than finished goods sold directly to consumers. Its formulations end up in shampoos, detergents and cosmetics, in catalysts that refineries and chemical plants use to run reactions more efficiently, and in additives that keep plastics, coatings and other materials stable. Customers are industrial and consumer-goods manufacturers who need a specific chemical property, not a brand name.
How it makes money
Revenue comes from selling formulated chemicals by volume at prices that reflect both the cost of raw materials — often oil-derived — and the performance the formulation delivers, so pricing power varies a lot by product: a proprietary catalyst commands a different margin than a commodity-like additive. The business runs through three units — Care Chemicals, Catalysts, and Adsorbents & Additives — each selling into different end industries with different demand cycles.
What drives demand
Moderately cyclicalCare Chemicals sells mostly into personal care and household products, which hold up reasonably well in a downturn, while Catalysts and Adsorbents & Additives depend more on industrial output and energy-sector investment, which is more sensitive to the economic cycle. The mix of the three units softens, but does not eliminate, Clariant's exposure to industrial demand swings.
The case for
Buyers argue that specialty formulations command better margins than commodity chemicals, that the EBITDA margin has improved for three straight years even as reported sales declined, and that a more focused three-unit portfolio after years of divestitures lets management run the business more efficiently.
The case against
Sellers fear that flat-to-declining sales in local currency show weak underlying demand that margin gains from cost cutting cannot offset forever, that currency translation can erode reported results even when the underlying business is stable, and that Catalysts and Adsorbents & Additives remain exposed to industrial and energy cycles outside the company's control.
Written by the editors, published on August 18, 2026
Direct competitors
Who this company fights with for the same customers
Generated on September 18, 2026 with claude-haiku-4-5 — shared with all users
BASF is the only rival that meets Clariant in all three of its business units at once, selling personal- and home-care ingredients, process catalysts for syngas and petrochemicals, and adsorbents to the same industrial buyers.
Evonik's Consumer Specialties and Coatings & Additives units sell surfactants and care ingredients to the same cosmetics, detergent and coatings formulators that Clariant's Care Chemicals and Additives businesses supply.
Croda competes head-on with Clariant's Care Chemicals unit in surfactants and speciality ingredients for personal care and crop protection formulations.
Lanxess sells flame retardants, lubricant additives and preservatives for home and personal care into the same additive and consumer-protection markets as Clariant's Additives business.
Spun out of AkzoNobel and privately held, Nouryon supplies surfactants and speciality ingredients for cleaning, personal care and agriculture, bidding for the same formulator accounts as Clariant Care Chemicals.
Balance Sheet & Liquidity
Revenue
$3.77B
Trailing 12 months to the last reported quarter — estimated from per-share metrics
Net Income
$-31M
Trailing 12 months to the last reported quarter — estimated from per-share metrics
Free Cash Flow
$214M
Total Equity
$2.02B
Total Liabilities
$2.13B
Current Ratio
1.77
Interest Coverage
-
Debt/EBITDA
3.77
Earnings Per Share
Revenue & Net Income
Free Cash Flow
Income Breakdown
Historical statement
Margins over time
Debt over time
How heavy the debt is
Growth grid
Growth — Revenue
Fair Value Estimation
Fair Value
$9.86
Current Price
$10.70
Margin of Safety
-8.5%
Fair Value Range
$9.26 - $10.47
Spread across the valuation methods used, not a statistically calibrated confidence interval.
Estimation Methods
Valuation Metrics
P/E Ratio
-
ROE
-0.0%
P/B Ratio
1.74
P/FCF
16.53
Gross Margin
31.0%
ROIC
7.6%
Profitability Radar
Value Creation (Economic Moat)
ROIC
7.6%
WACC
6.6%
ROIC − WACC
+1.0 pp
ROIC exceeds the cost of capital — the company is creating value for shareholders.
Fundamental Analysis Criteria
Passed (10)
- ROIC 7.6%
- Gross Margin 31.0%
- P/FCF 16.53
- P/B Ratio 1.74
- Debt/Equity ratio
- Operating Margin 10.7%
- Positive Free Cash Flow
- Current Ratio
- Debt/EBITDA
- Analyst Consensus 59% Buy
Failed (8)
- Price CAGR -5.32%
- CapEx intensity
- DCF valuation (Fairly valued)
- ROE -1.5%
- Revenue Growth 5Y 0.3%
- Earnings Surprise avg -6.6%
- Net Margin Trend -1.9% vs 5.9%
- Piotroski F-Score 2/9
Unavailable (9)
- EPS data insufficient
- Dividend Payout NaN%
- Interest Coverage
- Return on Tangible Assets
- Low reliance on intangibles
- Price below Graham Number
- PEG Ratio (need PE > 0 and growth > 0)
- Earnings Quality (OCF/Net Income)
- Share Dilution (missing shares data)
Piotroski F-Score
Serious financial concerns
Earnings Quality
Low quality: investigate accounting
Share Dilution
Buying back shares. Shareholder friendly
Institutional Holdings
No institutional filings reported for this company.
Governance
Executive Team
| Name | Title | Age |
|---|---|---|
| Mr. Conrad Keijzer | Chief Executive Officer | 57 |
| Mr. Oliver Rittgen | Chief Financial Officer | - |
| Mr. Richard Haldimann Ph.D. | Chief Strategy & Technology Officer | - |
| Mr. Andreas Schwarzwaelder | Head of Investor Relations | - |
| Dr. Judith Bischoff | General Counsel & Head of Group Legal Services | 51 |
| Kai Rolker | Head of Group Communications | - |
| Priya Thaman | Chief Human Resources Officer | - |
| Mr. Joachim Krüger | Head of Corporate Sustainability & Regulatory Affairs | - |
| Monica Ferreira | Region Head of Latin America | - |
| Mr. Christian Vang | President of BU Care Chemicals & Americas Region | - |
Audit Risk
10
Board Risk
1
Compensation Risk
5
Shareholder Rights Risk
9
Part 2 · The price and when to enter
This part won't tell you whether the company is worth owning: it helps you choose when to buy it, once the fundamentals have convinced you. Inside: technical analysis, potential, historical drawdowns, gamma exposure.
Latest News
Recent headlines for CLZNY, sourced from Markets Gazette.