SCL
Stepan Company
SCL's fundamentals are mixed, but it looks expensive: trading at 349x earnings, about 16 times its usual 22x. Analysts expect strong earnings growth, though they disagree widely on how much.
SCL Fundamentals
| Metric | Status |
|---|---|
| Healthy | |
| Stable | |
| Under pressure | |
| Under pressure |
SCL's revenue is currently healthy, and its profitability is stable, but its cash flow and balance sheet are under pressure.
SCL PE Valuation
| Level | PE | Price | Vs current |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cheap | 17x | $3.26 | -95% |
| Forward | 21x | $66.31 | — |
| Fair | 22x | $4.18 | -94% |
| Expensive | 36x | $6.80 | -90% |
| Current | 349x | $66.31 | — |
Historical ranges are pointers, not guarantees.
SCL's PE is in its expensive range at 349x. If earnings grow as analysts expect, today's price would be 21x next year's earnings, in its fair range.
SCL Forward outlook
| Metric | Outlook |
|---|---|
| Strongly improving | |
| Strong growth | |
| Growth | |
| Improving | |
| Limited | |
| Low |
Analysts expect earnings and revenue growth for SCL, with profitability improving. However, they disagree widely on these estimates.
SCL Earnings Per Share
| Quarter | TTM EPS | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Forward | $3.22 | +1592% |
| Q3 2026 | $0.19 | -90% |
| Q2 2026 | -$0.12 | -105% |
| Q1 2026 | -$0.62 | -125% |
| Q4 2025 | $2.05 | -6.8% |
| Q3 2025 | $1.97 | -2% |
| Q2 2025 | $2.53 | +65% |
| Q1 2025 | $2.45 | +48% |
| Q4 2024 | $2.20 | +26% |
SCL's earnings per share have fallen from their peak: $0.19 over the past year, against $6.64 in late 2022.
SCL Quarterly Revenue
| Quarter | Revenue | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $692.2M | +17% |
| Q2 2026 | $684.1M | +15% |
| Q1 2026 | $604.5M | +1.9% |
| Q4 2025 | $553.9M | +5.4% |
| Q3 2025 | $590.3M | +7.9% |
| Q2 2025 | $594.7M | +6.9% |
| Q1 2025 | $593.3M | +7.6% |
| Q4 2024 | $525.6M | -1.2% |
SCL's revenue has grown year over year for seven quarters in a row: $692M last quarter, up 17% from the same quarter a year ago.
| Quarter | Margin | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 3.8% | +0.1 points |
| Q2 2026 | 5.4% | +2.4 points |
| Q1 2026 | -8.2% | -13 points |
| Q4 2025 | 1.9% | +0.4 points |
| Q3 2025 | 3.7% | -0.7 points |
| Q2 2025 | 3% | -0.3 points |
| Q1 2025 | 4.8% | +1.1 points |
| Q4 2024 | 1.5% | +1.4 points |
SCL's operating margin was 3.8% last quarter, about level with the same quarter a year ago.
SCL Free Cash Flow
| Quarter | Free cash flow | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | $8.2M | -80% |
| Q2 2026 | -$15M | -$637K |
| Q1 2026 | -$14M | +$11.9M |
| Q4 2025 | $25.4M | -21% |
| Q3 2025 | $40.2M | +$44.2M |
| Q2 2025 | -$14.4M | -$14.2M |
| Q1 2025 | -$25.8M | -326% |
| Q4 2024 | $32.1M | +44% |
SCL still generates free cash flow, though less than at its 2020 peak: $5M over the past year.
SCL Total Shares
| Period | Change % | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterly | +0.2% | +54K shares |
| 1 year | +0.4% | +85K shares |
| 3 years | +0.2% | +48K shares |
| 5 years | -1% | -241K shares |
| Available history | -1.4% | -338K shares |
SCL has 23M diluted shares, about the same as a year ago.
| Quarter | Spent |
|---|---|
| Q4 2022 | $2.7M |
| Q3 2022 | $5.3M |
| Q2 2022 | $7M |
| Q1 2022 | $9.9M |
| Q4 2021 | — |
| Q3 2021 | $6.1M |
| Q2 2021 | $9.9M |
| Q1 2021 | $989,000 |
SCL Net Leverage
| Quarter | Net Leverage | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2026 | 3.5x | Elevated |
| Q2 2026 | 3.6x | Elevated |
| Q1 2026 | 3.9x | Elevated |
| Q4 2025 | 2.4x | Moderate |
| Q3 2025 | 2.7x | Moderate |
| Q2 2025 | 2.9x | Moderate |
| Q1 2025 | 2.9x | Moderate |
| Q4 2024 | 2.9x | Moderate |
SCL's net debt is about 3.5 years of its operating earnings (EBITDA), up from 2.7 years a year ago.
SCL Weekly Momentum
| Metric | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| RSI | 60.4 | Neutral |
| Stochastic | 67.2 | Neutral |
SCL's weekly RSI is 60 (neutral) and its Stochastic is 67 (neutral).
SCL PE vs Basic Materials Sector
| Metric | SCL | Sector median | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| PE | 349x | 19x | 1,775% above |
| PE % | 100 | 40 | 60 pts above |
SCL is trading at 349x earnings, a 1775% premium to the Basic Materials sector's median of 19x.
SCL Weekly Moving Averages
| Moving average | MA price | Relative |
|---|---|---|
| 8 week MA | $64.7 | 2.5% above |
| 20 week MA | $62.7 | 5.7% above |
| 50 week MA | $56.5 | 17% above |
| 100 week MA | $55.1 | 20% above |
| 200 week MA | $71.1 | 6.8% below |
SCL has bounced recently, but its long-term trend is still down: it's above its 8-, 20-, 50- and 100-week averages, but 6.8% below its 200-week average.
SCL Yearly ROI
| Year | Start price | End price | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | $99.9 | $117.7 | +18% |
| 2021 | $117.7 | $119.8 | +1.8% |
| 2022 | $119.8 | $108.5 | -9.5% |
| 2023 | $108.5 | $94.6 | -13% |
| 2024 | $94.6 | $65.3 | -31% |
| 2025 | $65.3 | $47.1 | -28% |
| 2026 YTD | $47.1 | $66.3 | +41% |
SCL has finished four years in a row lower, and it's up 41% so far in 2026.