Ashland Global vs Koppers

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KIRA’s take AI analyst

I put Ashland Global and Koppers side by side, using each one’s latest annual report. Here is what stands out:

Koppers is the larger business, with $1.9B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $1.8B for Ashland Global.
Koppers grew revenue faster (−10.2%, against −13.7%).
Koppers kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (8.9% operating margin, against −42.5%).
Koppers turned more of its sales into free cash flow (3.6% FCF margin, against 2.0%).
Koppers earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (8.1%, against −17.5%).

Who comes out ahead

Of the 10 measures where higher (or lower) is clearly better, how many each company leads.

Ashland Global

ASH

2/10

Gross marginShare count change

Koppers

KOP

8/10

Revenue growth5-year growthOperating marginNet marginFCF marginReturn on capitalReturn on equityPiotroski F-score

Side by side

Best in the row

Latest fiscal year	ASH FY25	KOP FY25
Size
Market cap	$3.3B	$761M
Revenue	$1.8B	$1.9B
Free cash flow	$36.0M	$67.5M
Net income	−$845M	$56.0M
Growth
Revenue growth	−13.7%	−10.2%
5-year growth	−2.0%	2.4%
Share count change	−8.0%	−4.2%
Profitability
Gross margin	30.1%	23.8%
Operating margin	−42.5%	8.9%
Net margin	−46.3%	3.0%
FCF margin	2.0%	3.6%
Return on capital	−17.5%	8.1%
Return on equity	−35.4%	10.5%
Balance sheet
Net debt	$1.2B	$890M
Net debt / EBITDA	—	3.7x
Dividends and buybacks	$176M	$44.6M
Valuation & quality
P/E	68.9x	—
Piotroski F-score	5	8

Ten years

Revenue

FY16

ASH $3.0B

KOP $1.4B

FY17

ASH $2.3B

KOP $1.5B

FY18

ASH $2.6B

KOP $1.6B

FY19

ASH $2.1B

KOP $1.6B

FY20

ASH $2.0B

KOP $1.7B

FY21

ASH $2.1B

KOP $1.7B

FY22

ASH $2.4B

KOP $2.0B

FY23

ASH $2.2B

KOP $2.2B

FY24

ASH $2.1B

KOP $2.1B

FY25

ASH $1.8B

KOP $1.9B

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

ASH KOP

Operating margin

FY16

ASH −1.7%

KOP 6.6%

FY17

ASH 2.1%

KOP 8.4%

FY18

ASH 3.9%

KOP 5.4%

FY19

ASH 4.0%

KOP 7.6%

FY20

ASH −22.9%

KOP 9.4%

FY21

ASH 9.1%

KOP 9.3%

FY22

ASH 13.9%

KOP 7.0%

FY23

ASH 7.9%

KOP 9.1%

FY24

ASH −1.2%

KOP 7.1%

FY25

ASH −42.5%

KOP 8.9%

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

ASH KOP

Free cash flow

FY16

ASH $154M

KOP $69.6M

FY17

ASH $6.0M

KOP $34.3M

FY18

ASH $84.0M

KOP −$31.4M

FY19

ASH −$7.0M

KOP $78.1M

FY20

ASH $94.0M

KOP $57.3M

FY21

ASH $361M

KOP −$22.0M

FY22

ASH $80.0M

KOP −$3.0M

FY23

ASH $124M

KOP $25.6M

FY24

ASH $325M

KOP $42.0M

FY25

ASH $36.0M

KOP $67.5M

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

ASH KOP

Return on capital

FY16

ASH −0.8%

KOP 9.5%

FY17

ASH 0.8%

KOP 9.0%

FY18

ASH 1.8%

KOP 4.8%

FY19

ASH 1.3%

KOP 12.1%

FY20

ASH −7.7%

KOP 11.9%

FY21

ASH 4.3%

KOP 9.9%

FY22

ASH 7.0%

KOP 7.8%

FY23

ASH 4.4%

KOP 11.3%

FY24

ASH −0.5%

KOP 7.8%

FY25

ASH −17.5%

KOP 8.1%

FY16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25

ASH KOP

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.