International Flavors & Fragrances
Through the investors’ lenses
Each of these investors has said in public what they look at before buying. Click a name to see how this company measures up — a tick where it passes one of their tests, a cross where it does not.
Warren Buffett 2/4
| Measure | IFF | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner earnings | $9.00m | positive | ✓ |
| Return on equity | -2.5% | median 11.7% | ✗ |
| Debt to equity | 0.42x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
| Operating margin | -3.5% | median 15.0% | ✗ |
Passes 2 of 4. To be clear: Warren Buffett has never said anything about International Flavors & Fragrances. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Terry Smith 1/3
| Measure | IFF | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on capital employed | -1.9% | median 10.1% | ✗ |
| Cash conversion | — | median 1.78x | — |
| Operating margin | -3.5% | median 15.0% | ✗ |
| Debt to equity | 0.42x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
Passes 1 of 3. To be clear: Terry Smith has never said anything about International Flavors & Fragrances. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Charlie Munger 0/3
| Measure | IFF | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on capital employed | -1.9% | median 10.1% | ✗ |
| Return on equity | -2.5% | median 11.7% | ✗ |
| Operating margin | -3.5% | median 15.0% | ✗ |
Passes 0 of 3. To be clear: Charlie Munger has never said anything about International Flavors & Fragrances. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Chuck Akre 1/3
| Measure | IFF | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on equity | -2.5% | median 11.7% | ✗ |
| Debt to equity | 0.42x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
| Cash conversion | — | median 1.78x | — |
| Return on equity, sustained | 2 of 10 | 8 of 10 above median | ✗ |
Passes 1 of 3. To be clear: Chuck Akre has never said anything about International Flavors & Fragrances. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Philip Fisher 0/4
| Measure | IFF | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Operating margin | -3.5% | median 15.0% | ✗ |
| Net margin | -3.3% | median 10.2% | ✗ |
| Return on capital employed | -1.9% | median 10.1% | ✗ |
| Operating margin, held or improving | -3.5% | 10-yr median 6.7% | ✗ |
Passes 0 of 4. To be clear: Philip Fisher has never said anything about International Flavors & Fragrances. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Walter Schloss 2/2
| Measure | IFF | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current ratio | 1.42x | median 1.25x | ✓ |
| Debt to equity | 0.42x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
Passes 2 of 2. To be clear: Walter Schloss has never said anything about International Flavors & Fragrances. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Benjamin Graham 0/3
| Measure | IFF | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current ratio | 1.42x | 2.00x published | ✗ |
| Long-term debt to working capital | 2.85x | 1.00x published | ✗ |
| Positive earnings, ten years running | 0 yrs | 10 published | ✗ |
Passes 0 of 3. To be clear: Benjamin Graham has never said anything about International Flavors & Fragrances. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Joel Greenblatt 0/1
| Measure | IFF | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return on capital employed | -1.9% | median 10.1% | ✗ |
Passes 0 of 1. To be clear: Joel Greenblatt has never said anything about International Flavors & Fragrances. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
Peter Lynch 1/2
| Measure | IFF | Checked against | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debt to equity | 0.42x | median 0.79x | ✓ |
| Net margin | -3.3% | median 10.2% | ✗ |
Passes 1 of 2. To be clear: Peter Lynch has never said anything about International Flavors & Fragrances. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →
| Basis | Payout | Why |
|---|---|---|
| GAAP earnings | negative | whyLost $1.41 per share — no earnings to pay from. |
| Operating cash flow | 48.1% | whyBefore capital spending. |
| Free cash flow | 159.8% | whyNets out the capital spending producers cut in downturns — so it flatters a trough year. |
Spread between highest and lowest: 111.6 percentage points. Same filings, different denominators.
Coverage rating 8 / 100 — Not covered. ? Peer standing 3/50Direction 0/30Stability 5/20
Against its own history: 159.8% this year vs 67.8% median over the prior 5. A gap this size is usually a one-off — acquisition, settlement, cyclical trough — not a dividend that stopped being funded. The rating reads the latest year; the table shows the trend.
Free cash flow payout, last 6 years
| Fiscal year | Payout |
|---|---|
| 2025-12-31 | 159.8% |
| 2024-12-31 | 84.7% |
| 2023-12-31 | 86.8% |
| 2021-12-31 | 63.9% |
| 2020-12-31 | 61.9% |
| 2019-12-31 | 67.8% |
Coverage worsened sharply this year, 84.7% to 159.8%, after no clear trend before it. One year is not a trend, but it is worth knowing which direction the last one moved.
6% of the 36 materials here pay out more — at the demanding end.
The arithmetic
- GAAP earnings — dividends declared per share $1.60 ÷ diluted EPS $-1.41
- Operating cash flow — dividends paid $409m ÷ operating cash flow $850m
- Free cash flow — dividends paid $409m ÷ (operating cash flow $850m − capex $594m)
Where the figures came from
- 10-K filed 2026-02-27 · accession 0000051253-26-000006
All public at sec.gov — you should not have to take our word for it.
Computed straight from SEC XBRL. A number that looks wrong to you is more useful to us than agreement — tell us.
What the free cash flow payout ratio measures, and where every company here sits on it.
Also on: rated not covered · when it files.
When this changes
Every figure above is recomputed whenever International Flavors & Fragrances files. The monthly letter carries what filed, what moved, and one finding computed across every company here.