On August 4, The Chemours Company (NYSE:CC) reported second-quarter results that read like two different companies fused. Net sales barely moved, adjusted profit shrank, and yet cash generation surged, and the loss on the bottom line narrowed sharply. For a stock trading under $40, that split personality is exactly what makes this quarter worth a closer look.
Cash Flow Finally Turns Higher
Chemours’ net loss attributable to the company came in at $274 million, or $1.81 per diluted share, an improvement from a $380 million loss, or $2.53 per share, in the same quarter last year. Free cash flow jumped 128% year over year, with free cash flow conversion reaching 46% and net leverage falling to 4.4 times EBITDA, a step toward the company’s long-term target of under 3 times. Operating cash flows climbed to $158 million from $93 million a year earlier, reflecting better working capital management. During the quarter, Chemours paid down 230 million euros of its B-3 euro-denominated term loan due August 2028, funded in part by proceeds from the Kuan Yin land sale.
Pricing also did its part. An additional global TiO2 price increase took effect June 1, 2026, helping push year-to-date TiO2 prices up roughly 5%. In Titanium Technologies, adjusted EBITDA margin held steady while sequential net sales rose 18%. Advanced Performance Materials’ Performance Solutions business, which serves data center and semiconductor customers, grew net sales 8% year over year, a rare pocket of volume growth in an otherwise soft quarter. Thermal & Specialized Solutions adjusted EBITDA margin ticked up to 36% from 35%, showing pricing gains sticking even as volumes slipped.
Volumes Still Refuse To Cooperate
The headline numbers hide a business still losing ground on volume. Net sales were roughly flat at $1.6 billion, but that included a 4% drop in volumes, offset only by a 2% price increase and a 1% currency tailwind. The weakness traced back largely to Thermal & Specialized Solutions, where Opteon’s aftermarket refrigerant sales fell versus an unusually strong prior-year quarter, when demand was inflated by channel fill tied to the US AIM Act’s stationary AC transition.
Adjusted EBITDA fell 5% year over year to $247 million, and adjusted net income dropped 30% to $64 million, partly due to additional income tax impacts tied to the Kuan Yin property sale. Advanced Performance Materials had the roughest quarter of the three segments: net sales fell 6%, and adjusted EBITDA collapsed 48% to $26 million, hurt by the closure of the SPS Capstone line and higher costs from an outage at the Washington Works site. The current quarter’s loss also reflects legal and environmental reserves tied to the EPA and West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection settlement, on top of ongoing litigation. Looking ahead, Chemours expects third quarter net sales to fall 5% to flat sequentially, with Thermal & Specialized Solutions sales sliding mid-teens to 20% as refrigerant demand cools further.
Wall Street Can’t Agree Either
Hedge fund ownership rose to 40 funds from 38 the prior quarter, a modest sign of accumulating interest. Short interest sits at 13.81% of float, a level that points to real skepticism still weighing on the stock. Chemours trades at a forward P/E of just 7.11 times, as of September 15, a multiple that assumes very little earnings growth ahead. That combination suggests that the market remains split on whether the balance sheet progress outweighs the volume problem.
The Real Test Comes Next
Chemours enters the second half of 2026 with a smaller loss, faster cash generation, and a debt load headed toward a 3.8 times leverage target by year-end. But the volume declines in Thermal & Specialized Solutions are not done yet, and the third-quarter guidance says as much. Whether this turns into a real turnaround likely comes down to a single question: can the pricing and cash flow gains keep compounding faster than refrigerant demand and Advanced Performance Materials profits keep shrinking? Investors watching this one have a clear scoreboard to check each quarter.
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