Fuchs Petrolub SE

For the first half of 2026, FUCHS reported sales of EUR 2 billion, up 11% year over year, and EBIT of EUR 260 million, up EUR 51 million or 24% versus last year. Q2 sales were EUR 1.1 billion, up 14% from Q1 and 21% year over year, while Q2 EBIT was EUR 135 million, up 34% year over year and 8% quarter over quarter. Gross margin was 34.8%, versus 35.1% in Q1 and 34.7% a year ago, and H1 EBIT margin was 13% versus 11.6% last year. Free cash flow before acquisitions was EUR 61 million versus EUR 81 million a year ago, and net operating working capital increased to EUR 910 million; net liquidity fell to EUR 13 million from EUR 151 million at year-end 2025 after a EUR 160 million dividend and the Turkey acquisition. Full-year 2026 EBIT guidance was raised to EUR 460 million-EUR 480 million from around EUR 450 million previously; sales are still expected to be significantly above EUR 3.7 billion, and free cash flow before acquisitions is still expected to be significantly below EUR 270 million.

Stefan Fuchs framed the quarter as evidence that FUCHS is benefiting from its global footprint, broad sourcing network, and customer reliability in a difficult market. He repeatedly emphasized that the first-half strength should not be extrapolated because part of the demand came from pre-buying and customers switching from suppliers that could not deliver. His tone was confident but cautious, stressing that visibility remains limited and that the second half will matter for judging the underlying run rate.

Esma Saglik highlighted strong top-line leverage: sales up 11% to EUR 2 billion, EBIT up 24% to EUR 260 million, and EBIT margin up to 13% despite functional costs rising only 5% while sales rose 11%. She pointed to gross margin of 34.8%, slightly below Q1 but broadly stable year over year, and explained that working capital inflated to EUR 910 million mainly because of inflation, which helped push free cash flow before acquisitions down to EUR 61 million. On capital allocation, she noted CapEx remains in line with full-year guidance, net liquidity ended at EUR 13 million, and the company paid EUR 160 million in dividends in Q2 while also funding the Turkey deal.

Analysts focused on three issues: the Saudi Arabia plant fire, the sustainability of Americas' and Asia's strong EBIT growth, and how much of the Q2 volume surge came from pre-buying versus share gains. Management said the Saudi JV is a minority holding for FUCHS, the plant's output loss should not change guidance, and rebuilding large parts of the site will take a year plus, with no employees injured. On demand, they said pre-buying should unwind by year-end, some competitor-displacement business will stick, but it is too early to quantify how much; they also said July visibility is limited and they do not want to over-interpret short-term order trends.