Innospec vs Sensient Technologies
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The short version
- Innospec is the larger business, with $1.8B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $1.6B for Sensient Technologies.
- Sensient Technologies grew revenue faster (3.5%, against −3.7%).
- Sensient Technologies kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (12.9% operating margin, against 7.3%).
- Innospec turned more of its sales into free cash flow (5.0% FCF margin, against 2.4%).
- Innospec earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (11.1%, against 8.9%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Sensient Technologies’s earnings: a P/E of 35.8x against 20.1x for Innospec.
| Latest fiscal year | IOSP · FY25 | SXT · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $2.4B | $5.7B |
| Revenue | $1.8B | $1.6B |
| Free cash flow | $88.0M | $38.4M |
| Net income | $117M | $135M |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | −3.7% | 3.5% |
| 5-year growth | 8.3% | 3.9% |
| Share count change | −0.5% | 0.5% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | 27.7% | 33.5% |
| Operating margin | 7.3% | 12.9% |
| Net margin | 6.6% | 8.3% |
| FCF margin | 5.0% | 2.4% |
| Return on capital | 11.1% | 8.9% |
| Return on equity | 9.2% | 11.9% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$293M | $673M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −1.7x | 2.5x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $66.3M | $69.6M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 20.1x | 35.8x |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
IOSP $883M
SXT $1.4B
FY17
IOSP $1.3B
SXT $1.4B
FY18
IOSP $1.5B
SXT $1.4B
FY19
IOSP $1.5B
SXT $1.3B
FY20
IOSP $1.2B
SXT $1.3B
FY21
IOSP $1.5B
SXT $1.4B
FY22
IOSP $2.0B
SXT $1.4B
FY23
IOSP $1.9B
SXT $1.5B
FY24
IOSP $1.8B
SXT $1.6B
FY25
IOSP $1.8B
SXT $1.6B
IOSP
SXT
Operating margin
FY16
IOSP 11.1%
SXT 13.1%
FY17
IOSP 9.6%
SXT 12.0%
FY18
IOSP 9.0%
SXT 14.7%
FY19
IOSP 9.9%
SXT 9.2%
FY20
IOSP 2.8%
SXT 11.5%
FY21
IOSP 8.9%
SXT 12.3%
FY22
IOSP 9.5%
SXT 13.7%
FY23
IOSP 8.3%
SXT 10.6%
FY24
IOSP 9.6%
SXT 12.3%
FY25
IOSP 7.3%
SXT 12.9%
IOSP
SXT
Free cash flow
FY16
IOSP $89.0M
SXT $102M
FY17
IOSP $59.4M
SXT −$20.0M
FY18
IOSP $76.0M
SXT $32.8M
FY19
IOSP $132M
SXT $138M
FY20
IOSP $116M
SXT $167M
FY21
IOSP $54.1M
SXT $84.4M
FY22
IOSP $42.1M
SXT −$67.3M
FY23
IOSP $145M
SXT $81.8M
FY24
IOSP $143M
SXT $97.9M
FY25
IOSP $88.0M
SXT $38.4M
IOSP
SXT
Return on capital
FY16
IOSP 10.9%
SXT 9.5%
FY17
IOSP 7.2%
SXT 7.1%
FY18
IOSP 9.4%
SXT 11.8%
FY19
IOSP 12.3%
SXT 6.5%
FY20
IOSP 2.8%
SXT 8.3%
FY21
IOSP 10.6%
SXT 8.9%
FY22
IOSP 15.1%
SXT 10.0%
FY23
IOSP 14.0%
SXT 6.8%
FY24
IOSP 16.4%
SXT 8.8%
FY25
IOSP 11.1%
SXT 8.9%
IOSP
SXT
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.