Stepan
SCL NYSE· Specialty Chemicals
Last close · Oct 26, 2026
$64.77
KIRA · Stoqly’s AI analyst, in plain words
- Stepan had $2.3B of revenue in fiscal 2025, up 7.0% on the year before. Over five years, revenue changed +4.5% a year on average.
- Its operating margin was 3.4%, up 0.1 pts: of every 100 in sales, about 3 is left after running the business.
- Stepan made $46.9M of net profit in fiscal 2025. From fiscal 2016 to 2025, diluted EPS grew −6.4% a year.
- Free cash flow was $25.4M in fiscal 2025, 1.1% of revenue.
- Stepan returned $35.0M to shareholders in fiscal 2025, 138% of free cash flow. The diluted share count fell 0.2%.
- Stepan owes $494M more than it holds in cash, about 2.4 years of operating profit.
Market cap
$1.5B
P/E
—
Revenue
$2.3B
Net income
$46.9M
Free cash flow
$25.4M
Operating margin
3.4%
Stepan in 30 seconds · fiscal 2025
Are sales growing?
+7.0%
Yes. Sales grew 7.0% last year.
Does it make a profit?
2.0%
A little. It keeps 2.0% of every sale as profit.
Does profit turn into cash?
1.1%
Partly. 1.1% of sales ends up as free cash.
Is debt under control?
2.4x
Keep an eye on it. Repaying its debt would take 2.4 years of operating profit.
How healthy are the accounts?
6 / 9
Mixed. It passes 6 of 9 health tests.
What Stepan does
No business description yet.
- Fiscal year ends
- December 31, 2025
- Latest annual report
- 10-K · Feb 26, 2026
- Legal name
- STEPAN COMPANY
- CIK
- 0000094049
Stepan · SCL
Results and finances
The last 5 fiscal years. Amounts in USD.
| Fiscal year | FY21 | FY22 | FY23 | FY24 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales and profit | |||||
| Revenue | $2.3B | $2.8B | $2.3B | $2.2B | $2.3B |
| Revenue growth | 25.5% | 18.2% | −16.1% | −6.3% | 7.0% |
| Gross margin | 16.9% | 15.4% | 11.9% | 12.5% | 11.6% |
| Operating margin | 7.3% | 7.5% | 2.5% | 3.2% | 3.4% |
| Net income | $138M | $147M | $40.2M | $50.4M | $46.9M |
| Net margin | 5.9% | 5.3% | 1.7% | 2.3% | 2.0% |
| Diluted EPS | $5.92 | $6.38 | $1.75 | $2.20 | $2.05 |
| Cash | |||||
| Cash from operations | $72.1M | $161M | $175M | $162M | $148M |
| Capital expenditure | $195M | $302M | $260M | $123M | $123M |
| Free cash flow | −$122M | −$141M | −$85.5M | $39.3M | $25.4M |
| FCF margin | −5.2% | −5.1% | −3.7% | 1.8% | 1.1% |
| Dividends paid | $28.1M | $30.6M | $32.9M | $33.9M | $35.0M |
| Share buybacks | $17.0M | $24.9M | $0.0M | $0.0M | $0.0M |
| Share count change | 0.1% | −1.0% | −0.5% | −0.1% | −0.2% |
| Debt and strength | |||||
| Cash and short-term investments | $159M | $174M | $130M | $99.7M | $133M |
| Debt incl. finance leases | $364M | $587M | $654M | $625M | $627M |
| Shareholders' equity | $1.1B | $1.2B | $1.2B | $1.2B | $1.2B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 0.8x | 1.4x | 3.2x | 2.9x | 2.4x |
| Current ratio | 1.8x | 1.6x | 1.4x | 1.2x | 1.3x |
| Interest coverage | 16.8x | 11.6x | 2.0x | 2.1x | 2.6x |
| Returns and quality | |||||
| Return on capital | 12.9% | 11.3% | 2.9% | 3.4% | 3.6% |
| Return on equity | 13.4% | 13.1% | 3.4% | 4.2% | 3.9% |
| Piotroski F-score | 3 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 6 |
| Altman Z'' | 4.8 | 4.2 | 3.7 | 3.5 | 3.7 |
Insiders bought, 12 months
$0.0M
0 insiders
Insiders sold, 12 months
$0.0M
0 insiders
Of sales under plans
—
$0.0M
How to read these numbers
- Revenue:
- Total sales reported in the income statement.
- Operating margin:
- Operating income as a share of revenue.
- Net income:
- Profit after all expenses, interest and tax.
- Free cash flow:
- Cash from operations minus capital spending.
- Net debt / EBITDA:
- Years of EBITDA needed to pay off net debt. Below zero means more cash than debt.
- Return on capital:
- After-tax operating income as a share of the money invested in the business: debt plus equity, minus cash.
Stepan · SCL
Charts and comparison
Ten years at a glance, and how it stacks up against similar companies.
Revenue
Net income
Margins, % of revenue
Cash vs debt (incl. leases)
Free cash flow
Dividends and buybacks
Similar companies
Each company’s latest fiscal year. Fiscal years end in different months, so periods don’t line up exactly.
| Company | Market cap | Growth | Op. margin | FCF margin | ROIC | P/E | F-score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stepan SCL | $1.5B | 7.0% | 3.4% | 1.1% | 3.6% | — | 6 |
| Element Solutions ESI | $8.2B | 3.8% | 13.4% | 8.9% | 6.5% | 39.5x | 7 |
| Minerals Technologies MTX | $1.9B | −2.2% | 2.3% | 4.2% | 1.6% | — | 4 |
| NewMarket NEU | $8.1B | −2.2% | 20.0% | 18.0% | 16.3% | 18.9x | 5 |
| Quaker Chemical KWR | $2.7B | 2.7% | 2.8% | 4.3% | 1.3% | 27.6x | 5 |
KIRA
At $64.77 a share, the company is worth $1.5B.
Stepan grew sales faster than 4 of its 4 similar companies.
Source: SEC EDGAR XBRL filings (CIK 0000094049). Data updated October 21, 2026. For information only — not investment advice. Check the original filings before relying on any figure.