COMP <GO>

ASH vs MA // EV/EBITDA & P/E VALUATION

Ashland Inc. (NYSE) VS. Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE) • 15-METRIC TALLY: ASH 1 — MA 5

■ METRIC PARITY

LAST: $74.38 (+2.35%) • MKT CAP: $3.41B

valuation

—

LAST: $635.70 (+4.16%) • MKT CAP: $556.88B

valuation

29.2x

15-METRIC INSTITUTIONAL SIDE-BY-SIDE SCORECARD (ASH VS. MA) EMERALD CELL = QUANTITATIVE EDGE

INSTITUTIONAL METRIC	ASH	MA	SPREAD (A - B)	ADVANTAGE	DEDICATED URL
Gross Profit Margin	30.10%	—	—	TIE	/gross-margins <GO>
Return on Invested Capital (ROIC)	-20.70%	33.50%	-54.20	MA	/roic <GO>
EV/EBITDA & P/E Valuation ACTIVE	—	29.2x	—	TIE	/valuation <GO>
Free Cash Flow Yield	—	3.08%	—	TIE	/fcf-yield <GO>
Operating Margin	-42.50%	57.60%	-100.10	MA	/operating-margins <GO>
Net Profit Margin	—	45.60%	—	TIE	/net-margins <GO>
Revenue Growth (YoY)	-13.70%	16.40%	-30.10	MA	/revenue-growth <GO>
Dividend Yield & FCF Payout Safety	2.23%	0.49%	+1.74	ASH	/dividend-safety <GO>
Altman Z-Score & Debt/Equity	—	11.17	—	TIE	/balance-sheet <GO>
Piotroski F-Score Quality	—	8/9	—	TIE	/piotroski-score <GO>
Options Implied Move & Put/Call Skew	—	—	—	TIE	/options-implied-move <GO>
RSI-14 & 200D SMA Momentum	66.2	68.8	-2.60	MA	/rsi-technicals <GO>
10Y Yield & FRED Macro Beta	—	0.90	—	TIE	/macro-sensitivity <GO>
Forward P/E Multiple	—	31.2x	—	TIE	/forward-pe <GO>
Enterprise Scale & Market Cap	$3.41B	$556.88B	-$553.47B	MA	/market-cap <GO>

5-YEAR HISTORICAL XBRL REVENUE & MARGIN TRAJECTORY SEC FORM 10-K FY

FISCAL YEAR	ASH REV	MA REV	ASH GROSS %	MA GROSS %	ASH FCF	MA FCF
FY 2025	$1.82B	$32.79B	30.1%	—	—	$17.16B
FY 2024	$2.11B	$28.17B	29.2%	—	—	$14.31B
FY 2023	$2.19B	$25.10B	—	—	—	$10.85B

FRED MACRO REGIME CORRELATION COMPARISON PEARSON r

ASH // BETA —

MA // BETA 0.90