With a market cap of $19.6 billion, International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (IFF) is a global leader in high-value ingredients and solutions for the food, beverage, home and personal care, and health & wellness industries. The company operates through four key business segments: Nourish, Health & Biosciences, Scent, and Pharma Solutions.
Companies valued at more than $10 billion are generally considered “large-cap” stocks, and International Flavors & Fragrances fits this criterion perfectly. IFF’s portfolio includes plant-based proteins, flavor compounds, food protection ingredients, enzymes, probiotics, fragrance solutions, and pharmaceutical excipients.
Shares of the New York-based company have declined 28.1% from its 52-week high of $106.77. Over the past three months, its shares have decreased 3.7%, underperforming the broader Dow Jones Industrials Average's ($DOWI) 2.5% rise during the same period.
Longer term, IFF stock is down 9.2% on a YTD basis, a steeper drop than DOWI's marginal decline. Moreover, shares of the ingredients producer have dipped 18.8% over the past 52 weeks, compared to DOWI’s 10.2% increase over the same time frame.
The stock has been in a bearish trend, consistently trading below its 200-day moving average since early November last year.
Despite beating Q1 2025 estimates with adjusted EPS of $1.20 and revenue of $2.8 billion on May 6, IFF shares fell 7.1% the next day. The company reported a steep GAAP loss of $3.98 per share due to one-time items, and Food Ingredients, a key unit of the newly split Nourish segment, saw a 7% sales decline. Additionally, the Health & Biosciences segment delivered flat EBITDA at $138 million, missing the expectation, and the Scent segment saw a 14.3% drop in EBITDA.
IFF stock has performed weaker than its rival, Linde plc (LIN). LIN stock has returned nearly 11% YTD and 5.5% over the past 52 weeks.
Despite the stock’s underperformance, analysts remain moderately optimistic about its prospects. The stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from 19 analysts in coverage, and as of writing, IFF is trading below the mean price target of $90.31.
