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International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (IFF)

Basic Materials Balanced

International Flavors & Fragrances creates the scents and tastes found in everything from your morning coffee to your favourite perfume and cleaning products.

$79.22

Is International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. a good stock for a UK beginner?

The honest version: There's no rating here and nothing for sale. In its favour: Essential business model with products in everyday items. Worth weighing: Recent decline in year-over-year revenue. Below, we lay out what it does, what its numbers mean, and the honest risks, so you can decide for yourself.

No rating · no target price · nothing for sale here
Price-19.9%
= past earnings-report date
Priced in USD - as a UK investor your £ return also moves with the pound-to-dollar exchange rate, on top of the share price itself.
52-week range+0% past year
$79.22
Low $59.14High $84.45
Where today's price sits versus its past year - context, not a signal.
If you had put $1,000 into International Flavors & Fragrances Inc.
$801-20%

Over about 2 years to 2026-07-31. This is the share price only - reinvesting the dividends would add to it. And it's the USD return - as a UK investor your actual £ return also moves with the exchange rate. Past performance is not a guide to the future, and it could just as easily have fallen.

How much has International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. actually fallen?

−44%

Over the last 2 years of daily prices, International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. fell as much as −44% from a high to a later low. Drops of this size are a normal part of owning a share - worth knowing in advance, so a dip doesn't come as a shock.

Worst peak-to-trough fall in the daily closing price over the period we hold. Past falls are not a forecast - it can fall further, or recover.

Market cap: The company's total value on the stock market - share price times the number of shares. Big = 'large-cap', small = 'small-cap'.
$20.23B
Avg volume: How many shares change hands on a typical day. Higher means it's easy to buy or exit without moving the price.
2.06M
Day range: The lowest and highest price the shares traded at during the latest day.
$78.13 – $79.75
52-week range: The lowest and highest the shares have traded over the past year - a sense of how wide the swings have been.
$59.14 – $84.45
P/E ratio: Price-to-earnings: the share price divided by yearly profit per share. Lower can mean cheaper; higher often means investors expect fast growth.
24.5
Dividend yield: The yearly dividend as a percentage of the share price - roughly the income you'd earn from dividends alone.
2.0%
Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down.
0.94
How bumpy is it?Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down. 0.94
Calm
Wild
Roughly in step with the market

Based on beta - how much the price swings versus the whole market. Bumpier isn't bad; it just means a rougher ride, which matters more the sooner you might need the money.

Why has it been moving?▼ -1% past week · ▲ +0% past year

Prices move on results, news and the mood of the whole market - no single headline explains a day, and a quiet week is usually just noise, not a signal.

The bull case

Market leadership leads to strong cash flow generation

The bear case

Loss of market share to cheaper competitors

What does International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. do?

IFF is a behind-the-scenes giant that supplies the essential ingredients for food, drinks, beauty products, and household goods. Big consumer brands that need their products to smell or taste a certain way pay for these proprietary formulas. Much depends on how they manage their debt and rebuild profit margins after a stretch of slowing sales.

VQGMI
Factor profile

On our factor screen it looks strongest on value and momentum, and weakest on growth.

Value: How cheap the stock looks versus profits, sales and assets (higher = cheaper). 66Quality: How profitable and financially healthy the company is (higher = stronger). 39Growth: How fast revenue and earnings are growing (higher = faster). 7Momentum: How the share price has been trending recently (higher = stronger recent run). 65Income: The dividend income on offer and how sustainable it looks (higher = more/steadier). 53
Quick checks
What's strong
  • Essential business model with products in everyday items
  • Strong market position in the global fragrance and taste industry
  • Consistent dividend payments to shareholders
What to watch
  • Growth screens low (7/100)
  • Fluctuations in the cost of raw ingredients
  • High levels of debt impacting financial flexibility
  • Changes in consumer preferences for natural or synthetic ingredients

What do International Flavors & Fragrances Inc.'s numbers mean?

P/E
23.3
This shows how much you are paying for every pound of the company's current annual profit.
Around the middle of the 27 Basic Materials shares we cover
Forward P/E
15.6
This is a similar measure but uses analysts' expectations for next year's profits, suggesting they expect earnings to improve.
Around the middle of the 34 Basic Materials shares we cover
Gross margin
36.3%
This tells us how much money is left over from sales after paying for the raw materials used to make their products.
Around the middle of the 34 Basic Materials shares we cover
Dividend yield
2.1%
This is the annual cash payout to shareholders as a percentage of the share price.
Around the middle of the 34 Basic Materials shares we cover

How much money does International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. make?

Revenue and profit by quarter, and how much of each sale turns into profit.

RevenueNet income
$0$710.75M$1.42B$2.13B$2.84BQ1 25Q2 25Q3 25Q4 25Q1 26
Gross margin
36.3%
Net margin
7.7%
Return on equity
6.1%

Does International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. pay a dividend?

Yes - International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. currently pays a dividend of about 2.0% a year (the yearly payout as a share of the price). A dividend is a slice of profit handed to shareholders; the yield moves as the price moves, and a company can cut or stop it.

What do the numbers say about International Flavors & Fragrances Inc.'s dividend?

There's no rating here, and we don't judge whether the dividend will continue - that would be advice. Here are the figures income investors usually look at, and what each one means, so you can weigh it up yourself.

Dividend yield2.0%The yearly dividend as a percentage of today's price. A very high figure often means the price has fallen because the market expects a cut, so a big yield is a question to look into, not a prize.
Payout ratio50%The share of profit paid out as dividends. A lower figure leaves headroom; near or above 100% means most or all of the profit is going out as dividends.
Dividend cover2.0×Profit divided by the dividend (the payout ratio the other way up). As a rough convention many income investors like around 2× or more; below 1× means the company paid out more than it earned that year.

Figures are from the latest available data and can be distorted by one-off results. Past payments don't predict future ones, and a dividend can be cut at any time. This lays out the numbers to help you understand them - it is not a view on what will happen.

When does International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. report earnings, and how did recent quarters go?

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. is next scheduled to report on about 2026-08-04 - dates can move, and we don't predict results; this just tells you when to look.

Each quarter a company reports its results against what analysts expected. ‘Beating’ or ‘missing’ is about that expectation, not whether the business is doing well in absolute terms.

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc.: reported versus expected earnings per share, recent quarters
ReportedExpected EPS: The earnings per share analysts expected for the quarter - the average of their forecasts. 'Beating' or 'missing' is measured against this number.Actual EPSvs expected
2026-05-05$1.07$1.25Beat +17%
2026-02-11$0.83$0.80Missed -4%
2025-11-04$1.02$1.05Beat +3%
2025-08-05$1.12$1.15Beat +3%
2025-05-06$1.14$1.20Beat +6%
2025-02-18$0.82$0.97Beat +18%

Across the last 6 quarters here, International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. came in ahead of what analysts expected 5 times. One quarter is noise, not a trend.

See who else reports over the next two weeks →

Reported vs expected earnings per share (EPS) from published results; the expectation is the analyst consensus, not our view. Report dates are estimates that can move.

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What are the scenarios for International Flavors & Fragrances Inc.?

An illustrative range for the year ahead, with the assumption behind each case — not a prediction or a price target.

$89$79$59today · $79▲ Bull · $85• Base · $79▼ Bear · $73in 1 yearILLUSTRATIVE · NOT A PREDICTION OR PRICE TARGET
Bull
+5% to +10%Successful cost-cutting boosts short-term profits
Base
-2% to +2%Steady demand for consumer staples keeps revenue flat
Bear
-5% to -10%Rising raw material costs squeeze margins further

What are the pros and cons of International Flavors & Fragrances Inc.?

3bull points
6bear points

How many points the write-up makes each way — a balance check, not a score or verdict.

The bull case3
  • Essential business model with products in everyday items
  • Strong market position in the global fragrance and taste industry
  • Consistent dividend payments to shareholders
The catch3
  • Recent decline in year-over-year revenue
  • Relatively low return on equity: How much profit the company makes for each £1 shareholders have put in. Higher usually means a more efficient business. compared to some peers
  • Complex business structure following large acquisitions
Key risks3
  • Fluctuations in the cost of raw ingredients
  • High levels of debt impacting financial flexibility
  • Changes in consumer preferences for natural or synthetic ingredients
What would flip the thesis

The write-up's own warning lights — if these start happening, the case above changes.

Confidence: medium · data: USD · flags: earnings_growth · Charts by TradingView Lightweight Charts™
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Built from public filings & market prices, checked for an education-only tone, and never a price target. How we make these →

This plain-English summary was auto-generated on 2026-08-02 from public data and checked for an education-only, no-advice tone (the figures above carry their own, usually fresher, 'as of' date). It's information, never a recommendation.

Figures as of 2026-08-02. Prices may be delayed and numbers can go stale - always double-check before acting.