Avient Corporation, the materials solutions innovator, has reported a sharp drop in GAAP earnings for 2025 but highlighted strong adjusted results and a confident outlook for 2026.
The company posted fourth-quarter and full-year GAAP EPS of $0.18 and $0.89, down from $0.52 and $1.84 a year earlier. Full-year GAAP results included special items of $1.27 per share and $0.66 of intangible amortization expense. On an adjusted basis, however, EPS rose to $2.82 from $2.66 in 2024.
"I am pleased with our team's strong execution, which helped us deliver 14% year-over-year growth in adjusted EPS for the fourth quarter. Our focus on driving profitable mix and productivity helped expand adjusted EBITDA margins in the quarter by 80 basis points to 15.5%," said Ashish Khandpur, Chairman, President and CEO of Avient.
Reflecting on the full-year results, Khandpur added, "We delivered adjusted EPS of $2.82, within the initial range of $2.70 and $2.94 projected at the beginning of the year amid an ongoing volatile macroeconomic backdrop in 2025. Our team remained steadfast in its focus on delivering value for our customers while reducing costs through productivity measures, and on preserving and prioritizing the use of cash.
"We also bolstered our innovation pipeline and continued to invest surgically in our prioritized growth areas, in alignment with our strategy. All these measures enabled 50 basis points of adjusted EBITDA margin expansion for the full year, strengthened our balance sheet through debt reduction, and advanced our company strategy."
Looking ahead to 2026, Avient expects mixed demand conditions but sees growth potential from its ongoing initiatives.
"Demand conditions are expected to remain mixed as we start 2026, and while we are optimistic for improving macro trends, we are not relying on it to deliver earnings growth. We expect the carryover impact of our 2025 initiatives and continued focus on productivity and cash preservation to enable earnings growth in 2026, should the demand environment not improve," said Jamie Beggs, Senior Vice President and CFO.
Beggs projected first-quarter adjusted EPS of $0.81, a 7% increase over the same quarter last year. She also forecasted full-year 2026 adjusted EBITDA of $555 million to $585 million, a 2% to 7% rise, and adjusted EPS of $2.93 to $3.17, up 4% to 12%.
"We also expect to deliver free cash flow in excess of $200 million in 2026. This free cash flow, combined with our strong balance sheet cash position, will provide us with greater flexibility for cash deployment in the future," she said.
Khandpur concluded, "As I close out my second full year with Avient, I'm very pleased with the progress our team has made to execute our strategy. We have now delivered two consecutive years of adjusted EPS growth and adjusted EBITDA margin expansion, while consistently improving our balance sheet leverage.
"Continued momentum and investments in our prioritized high profit portfolios, a much richer and differentiated innovation pipeline, focus on productivity, along with a relatively optimistic demand outlook, provide us with confidence to continue our earnings and margin growth trajectory into 2026."
