Start here if you're new
what it is
NewMarket sells the chemicals that make engine oils, fuels, and industrial lubricants work better and last longer.
how it gets paid
Last year Newmarket made $2.7B in revenue. engine oil additives was the main engine at $1.08B, or 40% of sales.
why growth slowed
Revenue fell 2.2% last year. The 27.4% EPS miss mattered most because it showed how quickly a steady-looking additives business can still disappoint when demand softens.
what just happened
The last quarter missed badly, with EPS at $8.62 versus an $11.88 estimate.
At a glance
B++ balance sheet — above average — nothing keeping you up at night
65/100 earnings predictability — reasonably predictable
15.0x trailing p/e — the market's not buying it — or you found a deal
1.8% dividend yield — cash in your pocket every quarter
12.5% return on capital — nothing to write home about
xvary composite: 65/100 — average
What they do
NewMarket sells the chemicals that make engine oils, fuels, and industrial lubricants work better and last longer.
If your engine oil formula already works, you do not casually swap additive suppliers. NewMarket gets paid for being embedded in customer recipes, approvals, and testing cycles that take time and money to redo. That shows up in a 23.5% operating margin (operating margin → profit after running the business → this niche has pricing power) on a business where 95% of revenue comes from petroleum additives.
How they make money
$2.7B
annual revenue · their business grew -2.2% last year
engine oil additives
$1.08B
2.2%
fuel additives
$0.59B
2.2%
driveline additives
$0.43B
2.2%
industrial additives
$0.46B
2.2%
specialty materials
$0.14B
up
The products that matter
manufactures fuel and lubricant additives
Petroleum Additives
$2.7B revenue · 100% of disclosed sales
it's the whole $2.7B revenue base shown on this snapshot, and it grew 30.4% last year. when one segment is the company, you do not get the luxury of ignoring it.
entire story
chemicals for aerospace and defense
Specialty Materials
mentioned as a growth offset · no revenue figure shown here
recent commentary says this business helped offset weakness elsewhere, but this page has no segment revenue number for it. that makes it a real watch item, not a proven second engine.
proof needed
mix inside the additives franchise
Lubricant and Fuel Additives
86% lubricant additives · 14% fuel additives
that 86 / 14 split shows where the economic center of gravity sits. NEU is much more exposed to lubricants than fuel chemistry, and both still live in the internal combustion world.
86 / 14 split
Key numbers
95%
core concentration
95% of 2024 revenue came from Petroleum Additives. Plain English: one business line drives almost everything, so your thesis lives or dies there.
23.5%
operating margin
Operating margin → profit after running the business → NewMarket keeps about $0.24 from each sales dollar before interest and taxes.
15.0x
trailing p/e
P/E → price divided by earnings → you are paying 15 times past profits for a business with projected 5.5% earnings growth.
0.8
beta
Beta → how jumpy a stock is versus the market → NEU has been less volatile than the S&P 500.
Financial health
B++
strength
- balance sheet grade B++ — above average financial health
- risk rank 2 — safer than 80% of stocks
- price stability 85 / 100
- long-term debt $783M (10% of capital)
- net profit margin 16.7% — keeps 17 cents of every dollar in revenue
- return on equity 23% — $0.23 profit for every $1 investors have put in
B++ with risk rank and net profit margin standing out. your money faces less risk here than at most public companies.
Total return vs. market
You invested $10,000 in NEU 3 years ago → it's now worth $21,780.
The index would have given you $13,880.
source: institutional data · total return
What just happened
missed estimates
The last quarter missed badly, with EPS at $8.62 versus an $11.88 estimate.
Q4 2025 revenue was about $635.4M and the miss was 27.4% on EPS. That lines up with the view that Specialty Materials is helping, but not enough to hide slower core additives demand.
$635.4M
revenue
$8.62
eps
31.9%
gross margin
the number that mattered
The 27.4% EPS miss mattered most because it showed how quickly a steady-looking additives business can still disappoint when demand softens.
-
the sales growth is thanks to the expansion of the fledgling specialty materials (sm) segment (9% of sales and 18% of operating income).this sector provides chemicals to the higher-margin aerospace and defense industries, which have been growing in recent quarters.
-
expansion was supplemented by the ampac and calca solutions acquisitions.
-
sales at the sm division should have more than offset a gradual decline in the company’s core petroleum additives (pa) business (91% of sales and 82% of operating income).
-
the decline in the company’s flagship pa operation is probably the reason for the stock price drop since our latenovember report.
-
this unit comprises lubricant additives (86% of pa sales) and fuel additives (14%).the operation depends on the global growth of internal combustion engines, which is negligible, as electrification of the auto industry increases. in addition, internal combustion engines have become increasingly efficient, requiring fewer lubricant and additive changes. newmarket has a significant portion of this market, as only five other companies make these additives (basf, clariant, dow chemical, oronite, and lubrizol).
source: company earnings report, 2026
Get this snapshot in your inbox
This page, delivered free — plus weekly updates when the numbers change. plain english, no spam.
weekly updates
earnings alerts
plain english
no spam
What could go wrong
the top risk is internal combustion exposure inside the petroleum additives franchise.
med
petroleum additives are tied to internal combustion demand
The core segment depends on lubricant and fuel additive demand, and the company itself points to vehicle electrification as pressure on the underlying engine market. That is not a side issue. It is the central business-model risk.
With disclosed sales concentrated in one $2.7B operation, a slower combustion-engine market hits the revenue base directly instead of trimming one small division.
med
specialty materials may be too small to offset core softness
Recent commentary leans on specialty materials as an offset, but this snapshot does not include a segment revenue figure. When the growth argument lacks scale disclosure, you should assume the legacy business still dominates the outcome.
If petroleum additives softens and the newer business stays small, NEU can keep looking inexpensive while earnings stop compounding.
med
input costs and supply friction can squeeze a good margin fast
This is a global chemical business. Tariffs, shipping disruptions, or raw-material tightness can pressure spread economics even when customer demand holds up.
The bull case leans on a 16.9% net margin staying healthy. If costs rise faster than pricing, that advantage narrows in a hurry.
med
more emissions disclosure brings scrutiny even if the cash hit stays small
A shareholder proposal asked NewMarket to publish greenhouse-gas emissions and set reduction targets. This page does not quantify the direct profit impact, so the honest answer is that the governance pressure is clearer than the dollar cost.
More reporting and compliance costs would not break a $2.7B business, but they could chip away at the consistency investors are paying for.
NEU's risk picture is concentrated: the disclosed business is one $2.7B additives operation, and 86% of that petroleum additives mix sits in lubricant additives.
source: institutional data · regulatory filings · risk analysis
Pay attention to
earnings
whether the next quarter shows real EPS stabilization
After a quarter with EPS down 23% from a year ago, you want the next report to show the slide has stopped instead of merely becoming less bad.
trend
whether specialty materials keeps carrying more of the growth load
Management commentary says this newer business is helping offset weakness elsewhere. If that keeps happening, the story improves. If it fades, you are back to a one-engine company.
metric
the path from $2.7B revenue to the $3B estimate
That $3B figure is the market's quiet assumption. Miss it, and 15.0x earnings stops looking as conservative as it does today.
risk
whether petroleum additives weakens faster than the newer businesses grow
The main business still funds the story. If additives lose relevance faster than specialty materials scales, the diversification case is smaller than the market wants it to be.
Analyst rankings
short-term outlook
average
Momentum score 3. in human-speak, analysts do not see a strong short-term edge here.
risk profile
safer than average
Stability score 2 means NEU has behaved better than roughly 80% of stocks when markets get messy.
chart momentum
average
Technical score 3 says the chart is not sending a loud message either way.
earnings predictability
65 / 100
That is decent, not pristine. You can model the business, but you should still expect the occasional quarter that reminds you chemicals are not software.
source: institutional data
Institutional activity
institutions have been net buying for 3 consecutive quarters — 231 buyers vs. 124 sellers in 3q2025. total institutional holdings: 6.2M shares. net buying for 3 quarters.
source: institutional data
Price targets
3-5 year target range
$575
$973
$714
current price
$774
target midpoint · +8% from current · 3-5yr high: $910 (+25% · 8% ann'l return)
Want the deeper analysis?
The full deep dive: dcf model, scenario analysis, competitive moat breakdown, and quarterly tracking — everything on this page, taken further.
see plans from $5/moThe deep dive