Ecovyst Inc.

Third-quarter sales were $309 million, up $104 million, or 51%, year over year. Adjusted EBITDA was $61 million, up over 6% from the prior-year quarter, and adjusted EBITDA margin was 19.8% versus 28.1% in the year-ago quarter. Management said third-quarter adjusted EBITDA would have been about 550 basis points higher excluding the pass-through effect of roughly $67 million of higher sulfur costs on sales. For 2026, the company raised sales guidance to $1.05 billion-$1.07 billion from $1.02 billion-$1.06 billion, adjusted EBITDA guidance to $208 million-$212 million from $195 million-$207 million, adjusted free cash flow guidance to $50 million-$60 million from $45 million-$55 million, adjusted diluted EPS guidance to $0.63-$0.77 from $0.58-$0.72, capex guidance to $90 million-$95 million from $85 million-$95 million, and interest expense guidance to $19 million-$21 million. Fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA is expected to be $54 million-$58 million.

Kurt Bitting said the company’s momentum continued from the first half into Q3 and that demand trends remain favorable into year-end and beyond. He emphasized high refinery utilization, stable gasoline demand, and strong refining margins as supportive for regenerated sulfuric acid, while also pointing to healthy demand in mining and industrial uses for virgin sulfuric acid and sulfur dioxide. He framed the raised guidance as evidence of both operating performance and confidence in the outlook, and said Calabrian integration remains on track, with some areas ahead of schedule.

Laurie Bergman highlighted the quarter’s stronger volume, pricing, and Calabrian contribution, while noting higher manufacturing, inflation, transportation, and turnaround costs weighed on margins. She said year-to-date adjusted free cash flow was $32.4 million, liquidity was $167 million at September 30, including $71 million of cash and $96 million of ABL availability, and net debt leverage was 2.1x. She also said the company still expects about $220 million of full-year sulfur cost pass-through on sales and cited the raised guidance for sales, EBITDA, free cash flow, capex, D&A, and adjusted EPS.

Analysts focused on next-year refinery utilization, turnaround schedules, cost inflation, merchant sulfuric acid supply-demand, contract renewals, and inventory risk. Management said the regeneration business is tied to refining throughput and alkylate demand, which it expects to remain strong, and noted 2027 customer turnarounds should be slightly higher than 2026 but below 2025 levels. On costs and pricing, management said inflation, transportation, and manufacturing costs are being offset by contract structures and pricing power, and that virgin sulfuric acid contract renewals have so far been at positive outcomes.