NewMarket Q4 2025 Earnings Report

NewMarket EPS Results

• Actual EPS: $8.65
• Consensus EPS: N/A
• Beat/Miss: N/A
• One Year Ago EPS: N/A

NewMarket Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $635.40 million
• Expected Revenue: N/A
• Beat/Miss: N/A
• YoY Revenue Growth: N/A

NewMarket Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q4 2025
• Date: 2/11/2026
• Time: After Market Closes
• Conference Call Date: Thursday, February 12, 2026
• Conference Call Time: 3:00PM ET

NewMarket (NYSE:NEU) is a specialty chemicals and lubricants company headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. Through its Valvoline business, the company markets a broad portfolio of automotive aftermarket products, including engine oils, transmission fluids, greases and vehicle care solutions. Valvoline products are distributed through retail and commercial channels as well as a network of quick-lube service centers that provide oil changes, preventive maintenance and related services.

In its chemical additives segment, NewMarket develops, manufactures and sells performance additives for fuels, lubricants and industrial fluids. These additives are engineered to improve fuel economy, reduce emissions, extend equipment life and enhance engine cleanliness across on-road, off-road and marine applications. The division serves customers in transportation, energy, manufacturing and other heavy-duty industrial markets worldwide.

Founded in 1919, NewMarket has expanded its global footprint through strategic acquisitions and internal growth. The company operates manufacturing and technical centers in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America to support local market needs and regulatory requirements. NewMarket’s leadership team emphasizes investment in research and development to advance formulation technologies that meet evolving environmental standards and performance expectations.

NewMarket Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Negative Sentiment: Net income and EPS declined in 2025 largely due to a higher effective tax rate — full-year net income was $419M ($44.44/share) versus $462M ($48.22/share) in 2024, while pre-tax income fell only modestly.
• Negative Sentiment: Petroleum Additives weakness — Q4 shipments were down ~6% (full-year down 4.9%) and operating profit fell to $520M from $592M as market softness, lower selling prices, tariffs, inflation, and reduced plant volumes pressured margins.
• Positive Sentiment: Specialty Materials expansion — sales and operating profit rose (2025: $182M sales, $47M op profit) helped by AMPAC and the Oct 1 Calca acquisition, and management has committed about $1 billion to grow this segment.
• Positive Sentiment: Solid cash generation and capital returns — the company returned $183M to shareholders ($77M buybacks, $106M dividends), reduced total debt by $88M, and finished 2025 with net debt/EBITDA of 1.1x.
• Neutral Sentiment: Management expects continued strength and is focused on long-term priorities (technology, supply chain, portfolio optimization) but did not provide specific forward guidance on revenues or margins.

Presentation

[Operator]

Greetings. Welcome to the NewMarket Corporation conference call and webcast to review our fourth quarter and full year 2025 financial results. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. Please note, this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to your host, Tim Fitzgerald, CFO at NewMarket. You may begin.

[Tim Fitzgerald, CFO at NewMarket]

Thank you, and thanks to everyone for joining me this afternoon. As a reminder, some of the statements made during this conference call may be forward-looking. Relevant factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those forward-looking statements are contained in our earnings release and in our SEC filings, including our most recent Form 10-K. During this call, we will also discuss the non-GAAP financial measures included in our earnings release. The earnings release, which can be found on our website, includes a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures to the closest comparable GAAP financial measures. Today, I will be referring to the data that was included in last night's press release. However, our 2025 10-K contains significantly more details on the operations and performance of our company.

[Tim Fitzgerald, CFO at NewMarket]

Pre-tax income for the fourth quarter of 2025 was $113 million, compared to $134 million for the fourth quarter of 2024. For the full year, pre-tax income was $561 million in 2025, compared to $584 million for 2024, a decline of only 4%. While we don't normally call out pre-tax income, it's notable now due to the significantly higher income taxes booked throughout the year, impacting our net income and EPS. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2025 was $81 million, or $8.65 per share, compared to net income of $111 million, or $11.56 per share for the fourth quarter of 2024.

[Tim Fitzgerald, CFO at NewMarket]

Net income for the full year of 2025 was $419 million, or $44.44 per share, compared to our net income of $462 million, or $48.22 per share for 2024. One of the primary drivers of the decline in net income was a higher effective tax rate in 2025 compared to 2024. The factors driving the increase in our effective tax rate are outlined in the 10-K. Petroleum additive sales for the fourth quarter of 2025 were $585 million, compared to $626 million for the same period in 2024.

[Tim Fitzgerald, CFO at NewMarket]

Petroleum Additives operating profit for the fourth quarter of 2025 was $107 million, compared to $136 million for the fourth quarter of 2024, which was a record fourth quarter for the segment. The decrease in operating profit compared to prior year was driven by a decline in shipments of 6%, mainly due to market softness, as well as a decline in selling prices. In addition, to manage inventory levels, operating profit in the fourth quarter was impacted by higher unit costs resulting from lower production volumes at our plants. For the full year of 2025, sales for the Petroleum Additives segment were $2.5 billion, compared to $2.6 billion for 2024.

[Tim Fitzgerald, CFO at NewMarket]

Petroleum Additives operating profit for 2025 was $520 million, compared to $592 million in 2024. The drivers for the decrease in operating profit were consistent with those affecting the fourth quarter comparison. Shipments were down by 4.9% compared to last year, as we saw market softness throughout 2025, combined with our strategic decision to manage the profitability of our portfolio by reducing low-margin business. We are very pleased with the performance of our petroleum additives business in 2025, compared to our record performance in 2024. However, we remain challenged by the ongoing inflationary environment and the impact of tariffs, as well as softness in the market impacting shipments.

[Tim Fitzgerald, CFO at NewMarket]

We continue to focus on investing in technology to meet customer needs, becoming more efficient in our operating costs, optimizing our inventory levels, and improving our portfolio profitability. We report the financial results of our AMPAC business and our newly acquired Calca Solutions business in our Specialty Materials segment. Specialty Materials sales for the fourth quarter of 2025 were $49 million, compared to $27 million for the same period in 2024. The increase in sales was mainly due to higher volume at AMPAC and the inclusion of the Calca business, which was acquired on October 1, 2025. Specialty Materials operating profit for the fourth quarter of 2025 was $7 million, compared to about $2 million for the fourth quarter of 2024.

[Tim Fitzgerald, CFO at NewMarket]

As previously stated, we will see substantial variation in quarterly results for the specialty materials segment on an ongoing basis due to the nature of the business. For the full year of 2025, sales for the specialty materials segment were $182 million, compared to $141 million for 2024. Specialty Materials operating profit for 2025 was $47 million, compared to $17 million for 2024. The increase in operating profit was mainly driven by an increase in volume demand at Ampac. As previously announced, through our acquisitions of Ampac and Calca, and our investments to expand capacity at both operations, we have committed approximately $1 billion to this resilient, high-technology specialty materials segment.

[Tim Fitzgerald, CFO at NewMarket]

Our company generated solid cash flows throughout the year in 2025, which allowed us to return $183 million to our shareholders through share repurchases of $77 million and dividends of $106 million. We also reduced our total debt by $88 million compared to 2024, which includes the borrowing for the Calca acquisition. As of December 31, 2025, our net debt to EBITDA ratio was 1.1 times, slightly down from 1.2 at the end of 2024. This strong cash flow performance enables us to continue to provide value to our shareholders through reinvestment of capital into our businesses for growth and efficiency, acquisitions, share repurchases, and dividends. We anticipate continued strength in our petroleum additives and specialty materials segments.

[Tim Fitzgerald, CFO at NewMarket]

We are committed to making decisions that promote long-term value for our shareholders and customers while staying focused on our long-term objectives. We believe that the core principles guiding our business, a long-term perspective, a safety-first culture, customer-focused solutions, technology-driven products, and a world-class supply chain, will continue to benefit all of our stakeholders. That concludes our planned comments. We are available for questions via email or by phone, so please feel free to contact me directly. Thank you all again, and we will talk to you next quarter.

[Operator]

Thank you. This does conclude today's conference, and you may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

Participants

Executives

• Tim Fitzgerald, CFO