AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX) executives said the company closed out 2025 with solid operational execution and improved fourth-quarter performance, even as end markets remained mixed and several key input costs began rising sharply heading into 2026.
On the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call, President and CEO Erin Kane credited the organization with “safely optimizing operational and commercial performance” in a year marked by cyclical trough conditions in nylon solutions, strong plant nutrient fundamentals, and softer chemical intermediates pricing driven by lower acetone net pricing.
Full-year results and 2025 highlights
The company invested $116 million in capital expenditures in 2025, funding growth and enterprise initiatives, including its sustained growth program. Kane also said AdvanSix progressed tax strategies by claiming additional 45Q carbon tax credits and received the final $26 million settlement proceeds in the first quarter of 2025 related to a 2019 supplier shutdown claim. She added that the company maintained its dividend while keeping conservative leverage and “ample liquidity.”
Looking to 2026, Kane characterized the environment as “mixed,” with expected strength in plant nutrients, acetone margins near cycle averages, and nylon “plateaued in its trough.” She also pointed to industry announcements suggesting capacity rationalization in the nylon chain and lower operating rates in China, which she said could improve supply-demand balance over time.
Fourth-quarter performance driven by higher volumes
Interim CFO Chris Grant reported fourth-quarter sales of $360 million, up about 9% from the prior year. Sales volume increased roughly 11%, primarily due to the prior-year impact of an extended planned turnaround in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Grant said market-based pricing improved about 2%, driven by continued strength in plant nutrients, partially offset by lower acetone prices. Raw material pass-through pricing declined 4% following lower benzene costs, which he described as a major input to cumene, the company’s largest raw material and key feedstock.
Adjusted EBITDA was $25 million, up $15 million year over year, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 6.9%. Grant attributed the improvement primarily to higher volumes and lower turnaround-related costs, partially offset by weaker chemical intermediates pricing net of raw material costs.
Sequentially versus the third quarter, Grant said earnings were roughly flat as stronger plant nutrient pricing was offset by higher sulfur and natural gas input costs, along with the impact of an unplanned Chesterfield electrical outage and a planned Hopewell turnaround.
Product line trends: plant nutrients strong; nylon demand soft
In Nylon Solutions, Grant said volumes declined sequentially as the company moderated caprolactam and resin production rates to manage inventory in a softer demand environment. Domestic market-based pricing was relatively steady, while raw material pass-through pricing declined with lower benzene input costs.
Plant nutrients continued to “perform exceptionally well,” with strength in volume, pricing, and mix. Grant said granular ammonium sulfate volumes increased year over year, supported by resilient sulfur nutrition demand and continued progress in the sustained growth program.
In chemical intermediates, pricing was stable sequentially but lower year over year, reflecting acetone pricing that moderated from multi-year highs experienced in 2024.
For the full year, Grant said sales were roughly flat year over year while adjusted EBITDA margin expanded 90 basis points to 10.3%, driven by strong plant nutrient pricing and volume that helped offset higher natural gas and sulfur costs, continued nylon trough conditions, and lower acetone pricing over raw materials.
Grant also provided utilization commentary across facilities:
- Hopewell: operating rates roughly flat year over year; record annual production in ammonia and sulfuric acid operations and continued optimization of granular ammonium sulfate output.
- Frankfurt phenol/acetone: utilization up year over year on improved performance.
- Chesterfield: operating rates down high single digits due to strategic production moderation, an electrical outage, and a fire.
Market outlook: sulfur cost surge and shifting fertilizer order patterns
Kane said agriculture and fertilizer remains the company’s largest end market. AdvanSix continues to see favorable ammonium sulfate supply and demand fundamentals, with sulfur nutrition demand growing about 3% to 4%. However, she noted caution around crop prices and declining farmer profitability, alongside higher sulfur input costs that are pressuring fertilizer margins.
Kane said sulfur prices settled at nearly $500 per long ton in the first quarter of 2026, compared with $165 per ton in the first quarter of 2025 and $310 per ton in the prior quarter. She said granular sales volume is up 10% in the first seven months of the fertilizer year, and the company is “on pace for another record year of sales growth.”
She also said weather-related delays have contributed to channel inventory building and a shift of first-half order books toward the second quarter. While that poses risk to first-quarter volumes, Kane said the company views it as an opportunity to place more tons in the second quarter, when in-season pricing is typically highest. She added that AdvanSix pursued a more limited pre-buy program this year and took a “more cautious and patient approach” to the order book, resulting in average order book pricing above last year and closer to current published prices.
In building construction, Kane said dynamics were largely unchanged, with expectations that latent demand could begin to recover through 2026 if interest rates moderate. She cited third-party estimates calling for about 3% commercial construction growth in 2026. In nylon, she said pricing has stabilized domestically and margins have been supported by lower benzene input costs, but demand remains muted across construction, automotive, packaging, and industrial applications.
In chemical intermediates, Kane said phenol demand remains weak, contributing to lower global operating rates and more balanced acetone conditions. While acetone margins have moderated, she said they remain near cycle averages, and downstream MMA demand is improving after downtime in the fourth quarter of 2025. She also noted that refinery-grade propylene pricing will be discontinued in 2026, with the industry shifting to a polymer-grade propylene minus pricing construct for cumene. Additionally, she said the Commerce Department and International Trade Commission renewed anti-dumping duties for acetone imports into the U.S. for another five years.
2026 priorities: lower CapEx, turnaround scoping, productivity savings
Management said the company expects 2026 capital spending of $75 million to $95 million, down from $116 million in 2025, reflecting a risk-based evaluation of base investments and enterprise programs while continuing progress on growth projects, including the sustained growth program. The company anticipates a similar range in 2027.
AdvanSix also refined its planned turnaround schedule. While 2026 includes an ammonia turnaround year at Hopewell, management said it reduced scope to focus on critical maintenance and compliance. The company expects the pre-tax income impact of plant turnarounds to be $20 million to $25 million, with most spend in the second quarter aligned with planned natural gas pipeline maintenance by vendors.
The company discussed a non-manpower fixed cost takeout initiative supported by ERP upgrades and enhanced analytics, targeting about $30 million of annual run-rate cost savings over multiple years. Management said it expects its cash tax rate to be below 10% in 2026 and anticipates “meaningful improvement” in free cash flow, with typical seasonality including first-half cash use and second-half cash generation.
In Q&A, executives said a recent winter storm led to natural gas restrictions, additional maintenance costs, and moderated operating rates. They estimated an $8 million to $10 million unfavorable earnings impact in the first quarter, which they intend to fully offset over the year. They also discussed elevated sulfur and natural gas costs as a sequential headwind, with management estimating overall sequential margin challenges in the $10 million to $15 million range.
On 45Q credits, management said the endangerment finding discussed in the question does not impact 45Q, which is based in tax law. The company said it expects an approximate $18 million impact in 2026, subject to Department of Energy approval of a life cycle assessment, and noted it is still working through IRS audits before receiving refunds for credits already recorded in the P&L.
About AdvanSix (NYSE:ASIX)
AdvanSix, Inc (NYSE: ASIX) is an integrated chemical manufacturer specializing in the production of nylon 6 intermediates and related co‐products. Established as a publicly traded spin‐off from Honeywell Specialty Chemicals in June 2016, the company is headquartered in Parsippany, New Jersey.
The company’s principal product is caprolactam, the key building block for nylon 6 resin, used in fibers and engineering plastics across industries. In addition to caprolactam and nylon 6 resin, AdvanSix produces ammonium sulfate fertilizer and industrial chemicals such as phenol and acetone.
