Mativ Holdings, Inc.

Net sales were $480 million, nearly flat year over year on an organic basis and down about 1% as reported. Q1 adjusted EBITDA was $47.5 million, up 28% year over year, and adjusted EBITDA margin was 9.9%, up 220 basis points. By segment, FAM net sales were $188 million, up more than 2% organically, with adjusted EBITDA of $27 million up 41% and margin of 14.6% (+430 bps). SAS net sales were $291 million, down 2%, with adjusted EBITDA of roughly $31 million up about 16% and margin of 10.5% (+160 bps). Free cash flow was a use of $7 million, improving by more than $22 million year over year; net debt was approximately $954 million, liquidity was roughly $499 million, and net leverage was 4.1x. For Q2, adjusted EBITDA is expected to be down a mid-single-digit percentage versus a strong prior-year period, mainly from lower healthcare volumes. Full-year, management expects pricing actions to fully offset the revised $40 million to $50 million of raw material inflation in 2026, and expects material progress toward leverage of 2.5x to 3.5x over 2026.

Shruti Singhal framed the quarter as evidence that Mativ’s turnaround is taking hold, emphasizing a cultural and operational shift toward controlling what it can: pricing, cost discipline, cash flow and portfolio choices. He highlighted the company’s first full year of CEO-led transformation, including plant closure, SKU rationalization, R&D reprioritization and a new strategic blueprint focused on being the preferred global partner for performance-critical material solutions. His tone was confident but cautious, acknowledging mixed demand and geopolitical volatility while stressing that the company is acting proactively rather than waiting on market conditions.

Scott Minder said the quarter benefited from a favorable price-to-input-cost ratio, lower manufacturing expenses, favorable currency and lower SG&A, which drove the 28% EBITDA increase and 9.9% margin. He detailed corporate items including roughly $11 million of unallocated expense, about $2 million of other income, roughly $18 million of interest expense, and a negative tax rate driven by geographic mix and valuation allowances. He also outlined the April refinancing, which simplified the capital structure, reduced debt tranches and bank group participants, right-sized the revolver to $305 million, and set annual interest expense at about $76 million going forward. On cash, he noted Q1 free cash flow of negative $7 million, net debt of approximately $954 million, leverage at 4.1x, and expectations for strong cash generation in Q2 and Q3 despite planning an additional $10 million of working capital and $5 million of CapEx for 2026.

Analysts focused on three main issues: the healthcare slowdown, the durability of pricing if costs keep rising, and whether the aerospace specialty films win could be quantified. Management said healthcare was hit by customer destocking and a temporary Knoxville outage that is now fully resolved, and expects improvement in the back half of the year, though it would not give a precise timeline. On pricing, Scott said inflation looks sticky because of logistics, insurance and risk premiums tied to the Middle East conflict, and that Mativ would take further pricing action if costs rise again rather than quickly rolling prices back if costs fall. On the aerospace win, Shruti said the relationship starts in Q2 with shipments later in the quarter, but declined to disclose revenue or timing specifics due to customer confidentiality. Scott also said Q1 cash flow seasonality should normalize with strongest cash in Q2 and Q3 and that 2026 cash generation should still be significant.