Huntsman Corporation (HUN): BCG Matrix [Dec-2025 Updated]

You're looking for a clear-eyed view of Huntsman Corporation's portfolio, and honestly, the BCG Matrix is the perfect tool to map out where the company is generating cash versus where it needs to invest or divest. As we look at late 2025, the picture is sharp: the Polyurethanes segment is a solid cash generator, while the Performance Products unit is cleary struggling, seeing revenue drop 12% year-over-year. We need to see if the high-growth Advanced Materials unit can keep its momentum, and critically, whether those big bets in China and new EV tech-the Question Marks-will start paying off that $170 million to $180 million in capital spending. Let's break down where Huntsman Corporation is positioned right now.

Background of Huntsman Corporation (HUN)

You're looking at Huntsman Corporation (HUN) as of late 2025, a global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated and specialty chemicals. Honestly, the company's profile right now is defined by navigating a tough cycle while aggressively managing costs. Huntsman Corporation operates across three main segments: Polyurethanes, Performance Products, and Advanced Materials, serving a wide array of consumer and industrial markets globally, with operations spanning about 60 facilities in roughly 25 countries.

Looking at the most recent figures, the third quarter of 2025 showed revenues of $1,460 million, which was a 5% dip compared to the same period last year. The company posted a net loss of $25 million for the quarter, an improvement from the $33 million loss seen in Q3 2024, but the adjusted EBITDA came in at $94 million, down from $131 million the year prior. Still, management has been laser-focused on cash; free cash flow from continuing operations was quite strong at $157 million in Q3 2025, a good jump from $93 million in Q3 2024.

Digging into the segments gives you a clearer picture of where the pressure points are. The Polyurethanes segment, the largest, saw revenues drop 5% to $956 million in Q3 2025, largely due to lower average selling prices, even though volumes managed to tick up. Performance Products faced a tougher time, with revenues falling 12% to $246 million, driven by lower prices and volumes, partly because they closed that maleic anhydride facility in Moers, Germany.

On a brighter note, the Advanced Materials segment showed some resilience, with revenues up 2% to $265 million, primarily thanks to higher average selling prices. This segment seems to be holding up better in the current environment. Overall, Huntsman Corporation's strategy right now centers on aggressive cost control-they're pushing restructuring programs expected to save over $100 million by 2026-and preserving cash flexibility, which is why they reset the regular quarterly dividend by a significant 65% down to $0.0875 per share. Management sees 2025 as a transitional year, aiming to minimize costs and optimize assets while pushing for margin expansion.

Huntsman Corporation (HUN) - BCG Matrix: Stars

The Advanced Materials segment is positioned as a Star within the Huntsman Corporation portfolio, characterized by its presence in a high-growth market. You see this reflected in the projection that the US segment is expected to grow at a 6.5% CAGR.

For the third quarter of 2025, the segment's reported revenue was up 2% to $265 million, which clearly demonstrates pricing power in the current environment. This revenue performance is supported by the fact that the overall global Advanced Materials market is projected to grow at an 8.2% CAGR from 2024 to 2030, reaching USD 582.3 billion by 2030.

The segment's operational strength comes from specific end-markets. Strong performance in power and industrial markets is currently offsetting cyclical weakness observed in the aerospace and coatings sectors. The segment's focus on differentiated, high-value-add products is defintely the right strategy for a Star, as it aims to capture premium value in that growth market.

To give you a clearer picture of the segment's recent financial standing, here are some key figures:

The strategic focus areas that support this Star positioning include:

• Focus on differentiated, high-value-add products.
• Positive momentum in the power business due to global grid investment.
• Aerospace segment showing quarter-over-quarter growth, despite year-over-year decline.
• Continued investment in organic projects like MIRALON® technology.

The segment is actively managing its portfolio, as evidenced by the fact that its Q3 2025 Adjusted EBITDA was $94 million compared to $131 million in the third quarter of 2024, with the decrease primarily due to unfavorable impacts from inventory reductions. Still, the management team remains positive about the long-term prospects for Advanced Materials.

Huntsman Corporation (HUN) - BCG Matrix: Cash Cows

You're looking at the core engine of Huntsman Corporation's cash generation, the segment that funds the rest of the portfolio moves. For Huntsman Corporation, the Polyurethanes division fits squarely into the Cash Cow quadrant.

This segment is the largest component of the company's earnings power, generating 38% of Last Twelve Months (LTM) Q3 2025 Adjusted EBITDA. It represents Huntsman Corporation's leading global position in MDI-based polyurethanes, a market characterized by maturity. The broader global polyurethane market is projected to expand at a moderate compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.10% from 2025 to 2034.

The scale and integration within the Polyurethanes segment are what secure its market standing, helping it convert sales into tangible cash flow, even when pricing is tough. For the nine months ended September 30, 2025, this segment brought in $2,800 million in revenue. In the challenging third quarter of 2025, the segment posted an Adjusted EBITDA of $48 million against the corporation's total Adjusted EBITDA of $94 million for that period.

Here's a quick look at some key segment metrics as of the third quarter of 2025:

Because this business unit is a market leader in a mature space, the focus shifts from aggressive growth spending to efficiency and cash extraction. You see this reflected in the overall corporate results; Huntsman Corporation reported free cash flow from continuing operations of $157 million in Q3 2025, a figure largely underpinned by the reliable performance of this segment. The company is actively managing costs here, with restructuring programs expected to yield over $100 million in savings by 2026.

The Cash Cow status means you want to maintain its productivity with minimal investment, focusing capital on infrastructure that improves efficiency, which in turn boosts cash flow. The current strategy emphasizes cash preservation, which is evident in the dividend reset. The regular quarterly dividend was reset to $0.0875 per share, a 65% reduction, freeing up about $115 million in cash annually. This action preserves financial flexibility while the company navigates the cyclical trough.

The operational reality for the Polyurethanes division in Q3 2025 included:

• Lower average selling prices due to less favorable supply/demand dynamics.
• Sales volume increases primarily in the Americas and Asia regions.
• Decreased segment Adjusted EBITDA due to pricing impacts and inventory reductions.
• Capital expenditures for the full year 2025 are expected to be between $170 million to $180 million.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Huntsman Corporation (HUN) - BCG Matrix: Dogs

The Dogs quadrant in the Boston Consulting Group Matrix represents business units operating in low-growth markets with a low relative market share. For Huntsman Corporation (HUN), the Performance Products division fits this profile, characterized by weak financial returns and ongoing strategic rationalization.

Performance Products is the smallest segment, contributing only 26% of LTM Q3 2025 Adjusted EBITDA. This low contribution, coupled with the segment's operational challenges, clearly positions it as a cash consumer or, at best, a break-even unit that ties up capital that could be better deployed elsewhere. The Q3 2025 performance underscores this weakness, with Adjusted EBITDA at $29 million against the total company Adjusted EBITDA of $94 million for the quarter.

You see the immediate impact in the top-line results. Revenue fell sharply by 12% year-over-year to $246 million in Q3 2025 due to lower volumes and prices. This decline was driven by competitive pressures and softening market conditions across the board for this division. Honestly, when a segment revenue drops by double digits year-over-year, management needs to take decisive action, which they are doing.

The company is actively rationalizing this business, evidenced by the closure of the Moers, Germany maleic anhydride facility. This specific action is a direct response to unprofitability; the European Maleic Anhydride business recorded an adjusted EBITDA loss of approximately $10 million in 2024. The closure, which was expected to be finalized by the end of Q2 2025, resulted in a one-time, non-cash asset impairment charge of roughly $75 million. This kind of move signals a clear intent to divest or shrink non-core, underperforming assets.

The broader cost-cutting theme at Huntsman Corporation supports the view that Performance Products is a target for minimization. Ongoing restructuring efforts, including a planned 10% global workforce reduction, are focused on cutting costs in these underperforming areas. These company-wide actions are designed to pull resources away from units like Performance Products and shore up the balance sheet, as evidenced by the dividend reset to preserve financial flexibility.

Here's a quick look at how Performance Products stacked up against the other segments in Q3 2025, showing its relative weakness:

The data shows that while Advanced Materials managed positive revenue growth, and Polyurethanes, despite pricing pressure, still generated more than the Performance Products segment, this division saw the steepest revenue decline at 12%. Dogs are units or products with a low market share and low growth rates; they frequently break even, neither earning nor consuming much cash, but they are prime candidates for divestiture.

The strategic implications for the Performance Products unit include:

• Focus on cost containment, aligning with the company's overall goal to realize restructuring savings likely exceeding $100 million by 2026.
• Minimizing capital allocation to this segment to support cash generation initiatives.
• Potential for further streamlining or outright sale, given the closure of the Moers site.
• The segment's Q3 2025 Adjusted EBITDA of $29 million is significantly lower than the Polyurethanes segment's $48 million, despite the latter facing its own MDI pricing headwinds.

Expensive turn-around plans usually do not help Dogs, so you should expect Huntsman Corporation to continue prioritizing cost cuts and asset rationalization over major investment here.

Huntsman Corporation (HUN) - BCG Matrix: Question Marks

You're looking at the new, high-potential areas of Huntsman Corporation (HUN) that are currently burning cash to secure future market share. These are the Question Marks, units in fast-growing markets but where Huntsman hasn't yet established a dominant position.

The Chinese PO/MTBE joint venture is a prime example of a high-risk, high-reward asset that is currently a drag. For the three months ended June 30, 2025, the equity earnings from this minority-owned joint venture caused a $20 million year-over-year reduction in adjusted EBITDA. Furthermore, the Q2 2025 result included a slight adjusted EBITDA loss from the venture. Management noted that the venture's recent performance will have a negative year-over-year impact on the cash dividends expected to be received in 2025. The outlook for the third quarter of 2025 also factored in the continued weak performance from this specific joint venture.

New product lines targeting future growth are also firmly in this quadrant. Consider the SHOKLESS polyurethane foam systems for EV battery protection, which target the high-growth automotive niche of electric vehicle battery safety and thermal management. While these new solutions offer robust mechanical properties, such as very good compression and tensile performance with high elongation to failure, and stable elastic performance between -35°C to 80°C, they are new market entries requiring customer adoption and scale to generate significant returns.

Similarly, Huntsman Corporation's investments in new catalyst and semiconductor-related projects represent significant future potential that is still ramping up. The construction phase for these capital growth projects is now complete, and the company expects both investments to contribute to profitability over the coming years. This implies that, as of the third quarter of 2025, these units are still in the investment/ramp-up phase, consuming cash before delivering substantial returns.

These differentiated, high-tech applications and the need to build market share in the EV space require substantial capital commitment. For the full year 2025, Huntsman Corporation projects capital expenditures to be between $170 million to $180 million. To give you a sense of the current spend rate, capital expenditures from continuing operations for the second quarter of 2025 were $37 million, followed by $43 million in the third quarter of 2025. You need to decide where to place the bets to turn these Question Marks into Stars.

Here's a quick look at the cash deployment and recent performance indicators for the areas that fit this high-growth, low-share profile:

The strategy here is clear: you must invest heavily to quickly gain market share in the EV and advanced materials segments, or you risk these units becoming Dogs. The current cash generation, with Q3 2025 Free Cash Flow from continuing operations at $157 million, needs to be carefully allocated to support these high-potential areas.

• Invest heavily to gain share in EV battery protection.
• Aggressively manage the Chinese PO/MTBE venture's cash drain.
• Monitor the ramp-up of catalyst and semiconductor projects.
• Ensure CapEx of $170 million to $180 million is focused on high-return growth drivers.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.