International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF)
The desk's stance
On our research list, not on the slate.
What the company does
One of the big ingredient-and-scent houses supplying the industry — the fragrances, actives, and textures inside everyone's formulas.
In short: Flavors, fragrances, bioscience ingredients. Category: Specialty Ingredients & Chemicals Giant. Sector: Basic Materials, Specialty Chemicals.
G-Street Value and Score
G-Street Value: $78.55, computed Oct 18, 2026 (confidence: low).
How we got there: 70% analyst leg $93.15 (4 analyst targets, credibility- and freshness-weighted, after 8% optimism discount) + 30% GainStreet factor value $44.49 (11.31× fwd EPS anchored to materials multiples) — analyst and factor views diverge >50%, confidence reduced.
G-Street Score: 40 out of 100 (Weak).
- Top-line growth & guidance: 7 of 32
- Margin power: 4 of 15
- Revenue visibility & quality: 6 of 11
- Profitability & balance sheet: 13 of 24
- Capital allocation & governance: 5 of 6
- Valuation, sentiment & momentum: 5 of 12
Our current thesis
Updated Oct 18, 2026
The thesis
- Portfolio pruning sharpens core focus on high-margin, defensive Scent and Taste business lines.
- Asset sale proceeds accelerate debt reduction alongside an authorized $2.5B share repurchase program.
- Deep formulation integration creates substantial switching costs across global consumer packaged goods leaders.
Risks
- Q2 adjusted EPS missed consensus by 26.6%, exposing continuing-operations margin execution headwinds.
- Divestitures reduce absolute revenue scale while packaged goods volume demand remains sluggish.
- Elevated leverage with $6.28B total debt leaves limited buffer against operational missteps.
What we're watching
- Q3 2026 earnings release and continuing-operations margins on November 3, 2026.
- Deployment pace of the $500M accelerated buyback tranche and net debt paydown.
- Price action around the $91.88 52-week high resistance versus $85.00 support.
Latest
IFF trades at $90.68, testing its 52-week high of $91.88 after a +34.6% YTD rally driven by strategic portfolio divestitures and debt deleveraging. Fundamental execution faces friction after Q2 2026 adjusted EPS of $0.82 missed consensus by 26.6%, reducing top-line run rate to $1.95B ahead of Q3 earnings on November 3, 2026. Management continues applying asset sale proceeds to pay down debt alongside executing an enhanced $2.5B share repurchase authorization.
Key numbers
As of Oct 16, 2026: market cap $23.1B · revenue growth +1.8% year over year · gross margin 36.6% · net margin 2.6% · forward P/E 23.0 · next earnings Nov 3, 2026.
Analyst price targets
Published analyst targets we could trace to a named source.
- Barclays, Overweight: $105 target (October 2026). Source: marketbeat.com
- Citigroup, Buy: $100 target (October 2026). Source: www.marketbeat.com
- Morgan Stanley, Overweight: $100 target (October 2026). Source: stockanalysis.com
- Wells Fargo, Buy: $100 target (October 2026). Source: stockanalysis.com
On the Gainz Lab maps
Who it does business with
- International Flavors & Fragrances supplies Estée Lauder — Fragrance & ingredients. The scent-and-actives layer under the whole industry — prestige houses lean hardest on the big ingredient labs.