High-Performance Healthcare Materials And Sustainable Polymers Will Create Value

Key Takeaways

• Expansion into high-value healthcare and sustainable materials, plus strong innovation, positions Avient for resilient growth, improved profit margins, and premium-product pricing.
  
• Operational efficiencies and strategic debt reduction increase free cash flow, lower risk, and support ongoing investment in innovation and long-term value creation.
  
• Secular declines in key markets, raw material volatility, regulatory and sustainability pressures, and over-reliance on select sectors threaten Avient's growth, profitability, and long-term valuation.

Catalysts

Operates as a formulator of material solutions in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, South America, and Asia.

• Accelerating demand for high-performance, specialty materials in healthcare devices, drug delivery, and equipment-driven by global healthcare expansion and innovative new product launches-positions Avient for resilient, long-term revenue growth and increased net margins due to higher-value, spec-in solutions.
  
• Continued shift in customer and regulatory preferences toward eco-friendly lightweight polymers and sustainable materials, along with Avient's portfolio transformation and innovation in low-energy, circular products, supports future revenue expansion and structural improvement in EBITDA margins.
  
• Enhanced R&D collaboration, evidenced by rising patent filings and successful proprietary product introductions, is expanding Avient's differentiated solutions pipeline-supporting higher gross profit and long-term earnings power as new products command premium pricing.
  
• Ongoing footprint optimization, Lean Six Sigma initiatives, and discretionary spending controls are structurally lowering operating costs and improving productivity-leading to sustained improvements in EBITDA margins and higher free cash flow generation.
  
• Strategic deleveraging of the balance sheet enables increased capacity for reinvestment in growth vectors like healthcare and sustainability, reducing financial risk and supporting stronger EPS growth and enterprise value over the long term.

Avient Future Earnings and Revenue Growth

Assumptions

• Analysts are assuming Avient's revenue will grow by 3.3% annually over the next 3 years.
• Analysts assume that profit margins will increase from 3.7% today to 8.6% in 3 years time.
• Analysts expect earnings to reach $309.5 million (and earnings per share of $2.76) by about September 2028, up from $118.9 million today.
• In order for the above numbers to justify the analysts price target, the company would need to trade at a PE ratio of 15.9x on those 2028 earnings, down from 28.5x today. This future PE is lower than the current PE for the US Chemicals industry at 25.9x.
• Analysts expect the number of shares outstanding to grow by 0.19% per year for the next 3 years.
• To value all of this in today's terms, we will use a discount rate of 8.5%, as per the Simply Wall St company report.

Avient Future Earnings Per Share Growth

Risks

• Sustained weakness and broad-based decline in consumer end-markets across all major geographies, with no near-term signs of improvement, could restrain top-line revenue growth and represent a structural risk if secular consumption patterns continue to shift away from traditional polymer-based goods.
  
• Exposure to volatility and inflation in the raw material basket, especially pigments and flame retardants (a significant portion sourced from China), may lead to persistent cost pressure; inability to fully pass through these increases to customers could compress net margins and earnings.
  
• Ongoing regulatory shifts, trade policy uncertainty, and potential supply constraints-particularly in China, where government-enforced consolidation and credit tightening disrupt supply chains-risk increasing input costs or reducing demand, jeopardizing revenue stability and profitability.
  
• Dependence on strong performance in high-growth sectors like healthcare, defense, and telecom to offset persistent weakness in core markets introduces concentration risk; any deceleration or regulatory headwind in these sectors could quickly erode overall earnings momentum.
  
• Continued broad investor, customer, and regulatory focus on sustainability might outpace Avient's innovation and portfolio transformation efforts; prolonged legacy exposure to non-sustainable or commodity polymers could limit contract wins and revenue scalability, raising the risk of long-term stagnation in net income and impairing valuation.

Valuation

• The analysts have a consensus price target of $42.0 for Avient based on their expectations of its future earnings growth, profit margins and other risk factors. However, there is a degree of disagreement amongst analysts, with the most bullish reporting a price target of $51.0, and the most bearish reporting a price target of just $37.0.
• In order for you to agree with the analyst's consensus, you'd need to believe that by 2028, revenues will be $3.6 billion, earnings will come to $309.5 million, and it would be trading on a PE ratio of 15.9x, assuming you use a discount rate of 8.5%.
• Given the current share price of $36.98, the analyst price target of $42.0 is 12.0% higher.
• We always encourage you to reach your own conclusions though. So sense check these analyst numbers against your own assumptions and expectations based on your understanding of the business and what you believe is probable.