Ecovyst Q2 Earnings Call Highlights

Key Points

• Second-quarter performance improved: Ecovyst reported $250 million in sales and $53 million in adjusted EBITDA, up 27% year over year, driven by higher sulfuric acid volumes, favorable pricing and strong refinery utilization.
• Calabrian acquisition expands the sulfur portfolio: The newly acquired sulfur dioxide business was immediately accretive, with management targeting $3 million to $4 million in cost and revenue synergies and $10 million to $12 million of second-half adjusted EBITDA contribution.
• Full-year guidance was raised: Ecovyst now expects 2026 sales of $1.02 billion to $1.06 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $195 million to $207 million, while sulfur-cost pass-through is projected to add approximately $220 million to sales versus 2025.

Ecovyst NYSE: ECVT reported second-quarter 2026 sales of $250 million and adjusted EBITDA of $53 million, with the company citing higher sulfuric acid volumes, favorable net pricing and elevated refinery utilization. Adjusted EBITDA increased 27% from the second quarter of 2025 and fell within the company’s guidance range.

Chief Executive Officer Kurt Bitting said strong refinery activity and favorable alkylate economics supported sales volumes for regenerated sulfuric acid during the quarter. Virgin sulfuric acid volume also rose by a double-digit percentage from a year earlier, aided by demand and the contribution from the Waggaman facility acquired in May 2025.

“This volume growth, along with favorable net pricing, resulted in Adjusted EBITDA of $53 million,” Bitting said.

Calabrian acquisition expands sulfur portfolio

On June 30, Ecovyst closed its acquisition of the Calabrian sulfur dioxide and related derivatives business. Bitting described the deal as the company’s third bolt-on acquisition under its strategy of adding sulfur chemistries adjacent to its existing operations.

The acquisition follows Ecovyst’s 2021 purchase of Chem32, which provides ex situ catalyst activation using sulfur-based sulfiding technology, and the 2025 Waggaman acquisition, which added sulfuric acid capacity in the company’s Gulf Coast network.

According to Bitting, Calabrian broadens Ecovyst’s product offering by adding sulfur dioxide and derivative chemistries, while bringing overlap in customers and end markets. He said the business was accretive from its first day under Ecovyst ownership.

Management said integration was proceeding according to plan one month after closing, with no customer disruptions and retained leadership. Bitting said the company expects to generate both cost and revenue synergies of approximately $3 million to $4 million. He said those synergies would reduce the acquisition multiple from roughly eight times to about seven times.

Chief Financial Officer Mike Feehan said Calabrian is expected to be cash-flow positive, though Ecovyst will incur some upfront integration costs, capital spending, taxes and interest expense associated with acquisition financing. Feehan said the business is less capital-intensive than Ecovyst’s legacy acid operations and has a somewhat higher EBITDA margin percentage.

Sales growth included sulfur-cost pass-through

Feehan said second-quarter sales increased by $74 million from the prior-year quarter. The increase reflected approximately $55 million of sulfur-cost pass-through, as well as favorable net pricing and higher demand for regenerated and virgin sulfuric acid.

Excluding the sulfur pass-through, sales rose nearly 11%, according to the company. Higher volume, including the Waggaman facility’s contribution, accounted for nearly $7 million of adjusted EBITDA improvement. Favorable contractual pricing and the relationship between pricing and variable costs contributed another $9 million, Feehan said.

Those gains were partly offset by higher manufacturing costs, inflation and transportation expenses. The sulfur pass-through generally had no material impact on adjusted EBITDA, Feehan said.

For the first six months of 2026, Ecovyst generated $13 million of adjusted free cash flow. The company ended the quarter with $176 million in available liquidity, including $88 million of cash and $88 million available under its asset-based lending facility.

Ecovyst’s net debt leverage ratio was 2.0 times at quarter-end, compared with 1.2 times on March 31. Feehan attributed the increase primarily to the $100 million of debt used to help fund the Calabrian transaction, with no associated trailing 12-month EBITDA from the acquired business included in the leverage calculation. The company said it remains at the low end of its long-term 2.0-times to 2.5-times leverage target.

Outlook raised to include Calabrian contribution

Ecovyst raised its full-year 2026 outlook to incorporate expected results from Calabrian in the third and fourth quarters. The company now expects annual sales of $1.02 billion to $1.06 billion, compared with prior guidance of $890 million to $970 million that excluded Calabrian.

The company raised the lower end of its legacy-business adjusted EBITDA outlook to $185 million while maintaining the upper end at $195 million. Calabrian is expected to contribute $10 million to $12 million of adjusted EBITDA during the second half. As a result, Ecovyst now forecasts total 2026 adjusted EBITDA of $195 million to $207 million.

• Adjusted free cash flow: $45 million to $55 million, up from prior guidance of $40 million to $55 million.
• Capital expenditures: $85 million to $95 million, up from $80 million to $90 million.
• Interest expense: $18 million to $22 million, unchanged.
• Depreciation and amortization: $80 million to $84 million.
• Adjusted net income: $65 million to $85 million.
• Adjusted diluted net income per share: $0.58 to $0.72.

For the third quarter, Ecovyst expects regenerated sulfuric acid sales to increase from the prior-year period, while virgin sulfuric acid volumes are expected to be slightly lower because of fewer projected spot sales. The company forecast third-quarter adjusted EBITDA, including Calabrian, of $54 million to $59 million.

Fourth-quarter expectations similarly call for higher regenerated sulfuric acid volume and lower virgin sulfuric acid volume than in the year-earlier period. Ecovyst projected fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $48 million to $55 million, including Calabrian.

Sulfur pricing and demand trends

Management said sulfur prices continued to rise in the second quarter, and Ecovyst’s outlook assumes prices remain near current levels in the second half. The company now expects sulfur-cost pass-through to add approximately $220 million to 2026 sales compared with the prior year, up from its previous estimate of $155 million.

Bitting said domestic sulfur prices appear to have plateaued, though international prices remain elevated. He cited fertilizer-industry curtailments as a possible factor that could support future price moderation, while mining demand remains strong. The company does not anticipate a large decline in sulfur prices, he said.

Ecovyst expects regenerated sulfuric acid demand to benefit from high refinery utilization and favorable alkylate economics. It also expects continued mining-sector demand, including copper expansion projects tied to electrification and sulfur dioxide demand from Canadian gold mines operating at full capacity.

For nylon-related industrial demand, Bitting said Ecovyst’s Gulf Coast business has performed largely in line with its expectation for a relatively flat 2026. The company said it remains cautious that elevated sulfur prices could eventually affect demand in some industrial applications or lead customers to temporarily reduce inventory if they expect sulfur prices to fall.

About Ecovyst (NYSE:ECVT)

Ecovyst Inc is a global specialty chemicals company that develops, manufactures and markets performance-enhancing products for industrial applications. The company’s core offerings include catalysts, phosphorus-based additives and barium carbonate materials, all designed to improve process efficiency, product quality and environmental performance. Ecovyst serves a diverse customer base in the energy, refining, chemical, polymer, food and consumer goods industries.

The company’s Catalysts segment supplies fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) and hydroprocessing catalysts that help petroleum refiners maximize fuel yield, reduce sulfur emissions and meet increasingly stringent environmental standards.

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