Which Is a Better Investment, Ashland Inc or Huntsman Corporation Stock?

By Cynthia McLaughlin
September 02, 2026
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Sifting through countless of stocks in the Chemicals industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Huntsman Corporation or Ashland Inc. because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Huntsman Corporation and Ashland Inc. compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Huntsman Corporation and Ashland Inc.

Huntsman Corporation manufactures and sells diversified organic chemical products worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Polyurethanes, Performance Products, and Advanced Materials. The Polyurethanes segment offers polyurethane chemicals, including methyl diphenyl diisocyanate, polyether and polyester polyols, and thermoplastic polyurethane; and aniline, benzene, nitrobenzene and other co-products. The Performance Products segment manufactures amines, such as polyetheramines, ethyleneamines, DGA Agent, JEFFCAT catalysts, and E-GRADE specialty amines and carbonates. The Advanced Materials segment offers epoxy, phenoxy, acrylic, polyurethane, and acrylonitrile-butadiene-based polymer formulations; and thermoset resins, curing and toughening agents, and carbon nanomaterials. The company provides pre-and post-sales technical service support to customers. Its products are used in a range of applications, including adhesives, aerospace, automotive, construction products, durable and non-durable consumer products, electronics, insulation, packaging, coatings and construction, power generation, and refining, as well as serves the elastomers, insulation, footwear, furniture, industrial, oil and gas, liquid natural gas transport, printed circuit boards, consumer, appliances, electrical power transmission and distribution, recreational sports equipment, food and beverage packaging, and medical appliances markets. It sells its products through a network of distributors and agents. The company was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas.

Ashland Inc. provides additives and specialty ingredients in the North and Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through Life Sciences, Personal Care, Specialty Additives, and Intermediates segments. The Life Sciences segment offers pharmaceutical solutions, including controlled release polymers, disintegrants, tablet coatings, thickeners, solubilizers, and tablet binders; and nutrition solutions, such as thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers, and additives; agricultural chemicals; diagnostic films; and fine chemicals. Its Personal Care segment provides a range of natural, nature-derived, biodegradable, and performance ingredients; solutions for toothpastes, mouth washes and rinses, denture cleaning, and care for teeth; and household supplies nature-derived rheology ingredients, biodegradable surface wetting agents, performance encapsulates, and specialty polymers. The Specialty Additives segment offers rheology modifiers, foam control agents, surfactants and wetting agents, pH neutralizers, advanced ceramics used in catalytic converters, environmental filters, ingredients for the manufacturing of ceramic capacitors, plasma display panels and solar cells, ingredients for textile printing, thermoplastic metals, and alloys for welding. Its Intermediates segment produces 1,4 butanediol and related derivatives, including n-methylpyrrolidone. It offers its products to customers in a range of consumer and industrial markets, such as architectural coatings, construction, energy, food and beverage, personal care, and pharmaceutical. The company was formerly known as Ashland Global Holdings Inc. and changed its name to Ashland Inc. in August 2022. Ashland Inc. was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware.

Latest Chemicals and Huntsman Corporation, Ashland Inc. Stock News

As of September 1, 2026, Huntsman Corporation had a $1.6 billion market capitalization, compared to the Chemicals median of $4.2 million. Huntsman Corporation’s stock is down 2.2% in 2026, up 1.6% in the previous five trading days and down 15.86% in the past year.

Currently, Huntsman Corporation does not have a price-earnings ratio. Huntsman Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $5.9 billion with a -3.1% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 14.1%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $-0.237 per share for the current fiscal year. Huntsman Corporation currently has a 3.7% dividend yield.

As of September 1, 2026, Ashland Inc. had a $3.5 billion market cap, putting it in the 62nd percentile of all stocks. Ashland Inc.’s stock is up 28.3% in 2026, up 1.3% in the previous five trading days and up 34.71% in the past year.

Currently, Ashland Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 45.6. Ashland Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $1.8 billion with a 2.8% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 7.3%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $3.528 per share for the current fiscal year. Ashland Inc. currently has a 2.2% dividend yield.

How We Compare Huntsman Corporation and Ashland Inc. Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Huntsman Corporation and Ashland Inc.’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Huntsman Corporation and Ashland Inc. Growth Grades

Company Ticker Growth
Huntsman Corporation HUN C
Ashland Inc. ASH F

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

Huntsman Corporation has a Growth Score of 43, which is Average. Ashland Inc. has a Growth Score of 8, which is Very Weak.

The Growth Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Huntsman Corporation or Ashland Inc. has a high enough Growth Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Huntsman Corporation or Ashland Inc. is the better investment when it comes to sustainable growth.

Huntsman Corporation and Ashland Inc.’s Quality Grades

Company Ticker Quality
Huntsman Corporation HUN D
Ashland Inc. ASH B

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Huntsman Corporation has a Quality Score of 35, which is Weak. Ashland Inc. has a Quality Score of 70, which is Strong.

The Quality Grade Winner: Ashland Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Quality Grade breakdown above, Ashland Inc. has a better overall quality grade than Huntsman Corporation. For investors who are looking for companies with higher quality than others in the same industry, Ashland Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolios. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Huntsman Corporation and Ashland Inc.’s Momentum Grades

Company Ticker Momentum
Huntsman Corporation HUN F
Ashland Inc. ASH A

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

Huntsman Corporation has a Momentum Score of 20, which is Very Weak. Ashland Inc. has a Momentum Score of 82, which is Very Strong.

The Momentum Grade Winner: Ashland Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Momentum Grade breakdown above, Ashland Inc. is considered to have stronger momentum compared to Huntsman Corporation. For those specifically looking for companies that have stronger momentum compared to other companies in the same industry, Ashland Inc. could be a good stock to invest in. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Don’t Forget Your Free Special Report on How A+ Grades Can Help You Make Investment Decisions

Other Huntsman Corporation and Ashland Inc. Grades

In addition to Quality, Growth and Momentum, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Estimate Revisions.

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Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Huntsman Corporation and Ashland Inc. pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Huntsman Corporation or Ashland Inc. Stock?

Overall, Huntsman Corporation stock has a Growth Score of 43, Momentum Score of 20 and Quality Score of 35.

Ashland Inc. stock has a Growth Score of 8, Momentum Score of 82 and Quality Score of 70.

Comparing Huntsman Corporation and Ashland Inc.’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

Learn More About A+ Investor

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.



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