Symrise AG
5-year stock timeline
Symrise (SY1.XETRA) has traveled a long way in five years—from a premium "quality growth" name trading near all-time highs to a still-respected but derated defensive compounder. The journey includes notable drawdowns in 2022 and mid-2025, with the stock now at 76.5 as of March 2, 2026.
2020–mid 2021: Covid resilience, quality growth
Symrise showed real resilience through the pandemic. Earnings grew around 7–8% annually and revenues about 8%, which beat a chemicals sector that was flat to negative. The stock benefited from a "Covid-defensive" narrative—exposure to food, beverages, and personal care made it feel like a high-quality compounder worth a premium multiple. Technically, it advanced strongly, posting +15.6% in 2020 and +20.2% in 2021, moving into sustained uptrend and printing new multi-year highs in the €120–130 range.
Late 2021–2022: Inflation squeeze and derating
Raw materials and energy inflation hit hard in 2021–2022, squeezing margins. Revenues still grew, but the market narrative flipped from pure "quality growth" to concern about margin pressure and valuation. The share price fell about 22% in 2022 despite continued top-line growth. On the chart, after peaking around €130, SY1 rolled over into a pronounced downtrend, breaking support above €110 and trading in a lower band around €90–110.
2023: Range-bound, from derating to defensive compounder
Symrise grew revenues and restored profit growth in 2023, but modestly. Net profit was higher than 2022, yet the market remained cautious and the stock finished roughly flat to slightly down. Investor perception shifted to "quiet compounder" rather than high-flying growth story: steady earnings, increased dividend, but less multiple expansion and more focus on valuation and balance-sheet discipline. Technically, 2023 was sideways—the stock oscillated between the high €80s and around €115 with multiple failed attempts to sustain moves back to prior highs.
2024: Earnings acceleration, modest re-rating
Trailing-twelve-month revenue climbed to just under €5.0 billion and earnings to roughly €0.48–0.50 billion, with net margin rising to around 10% from about 8% the prior year. Preliminary 2024 figures in January 2025 highlighted continued organic growth and an EBITDA margin target around 21%, supporting a narrative of gradual margin recovery and disciplined growth. The company proposed raising the dividend for the 15th consecutive year to €1.20. The share price reflected improved fundamentals with a positive full-year move of about +3% in 2024, but remained well below the earlier peak.
2025–early 2026: Volatile derating, then stabilization around 76.5
In early 2025 Symrise continued posting solid growth with H1 2025 revenue near €5.0 billion and earnings above €0.5 billion on a run-rate basis. Commentary around efficiency programs and digitalization/AI-driven cost savings reinforced the "steady compounder with self-help" narrative. Sentiment turned sharply in mid-2025: on June 30, 2025, shares dropped about 6.7% in a single day to €89.14 after negative broker comment, contributing to a year-to-date decline of roughly 13% and a one-year performance of about −22%. From June to August 2025 the stock remained volatile, swinging between ~€78 and just above €100, with a sharp 9% single-day fall on July 30, 2025, after earnings and then partial rebounds. This marked a clear technical downtrend from the ~€100+ area and established the high-€80s as a new, fragile support zone.
Narrative and technical phases in late 2025–2026
By late 2025 the five-year performance was slightly negative (around −14% over five years despite strong fundamental growth), cementing a perception of Symrise as a solid but valuation-sensitive defensive name rather than a momentum stock. Commentary in early 2026 continued to frame it as a "quiet compounder" or "sleeper" quality stock: investors recognized consistent earnings growth and dividend increases, but focused on whether the current multiple fairly reflected that profile after the mid-2025 derating. Moving from the volatile €80–100 band in 2025 down to the current 76.5 level by early March 2026 represents an extension of the prior downtrend and a test of the lower end of the five-year range, with the stock now trading near multi-year support and well below its historical highs above €130.
Key risks and downside factors
Symrise AG is a global supplier of fragrances, flavors, and cosmetic and functional ingredients operating in a concentrated market dominated by large, R&D-intensive competitors. These peers compete primarily on innovation, global reach, sustainability credentials, and the ability to offer integrated solutions across food, beverage, personal care, home care, and pet food. The competitive landscape is notably intense—overlapping product portfolios and shared global key accounts create sustained pressure on both pricing and innovation across Symrise's core segments. The company's risk profile reflects several structural factors: sensitivity to consumer demand cycles, exposure to raw material cost volatility, evolving regulatory and ESG requirements, and the execution demands inherent in portfolio expansion and geographic growth.
- The company faces intense competition from larger global players in flavors, fragrances, taste, and nutrition who compete aggressively on innovation, scale, and sustainability credentials.
- The company faces exposure to volatility in natural and specialty raw materials—botanicals, citrus, and other agricultural inputs—where price swings and supply constraints can pressure margins or create disruptions unless carefully hedged and diversified across sources.[11][20]
- Regulatory, ESG, and consumer preference shifts around ingredient safety, traceability, and sustainability create ongoing compliance demands across food, beverage, personal care, and home care categories. These pressures typically necessitate continued reformulation work and investment.[1][20][21]
- Execution and integration risks stem from portfolio expansion and global growth initiatives. The company must maintain product quality and innovation pace while managing cost discipline across a large, diversified product base serving many end markets and regions.
Competitive landscape
Symrise AG is a leading German supplier of flavors, fragrances, and cosmetic ingredients with a genuinely global reach. The competitive field is concentrated—a handful of large specialty ingredient players dominate, though nimble regional competitors still carve out their own terrain. What matters most in this business is how fast you innovate, how broad your portfolio sits, and whether you can actually service the multinational consumer-goods companies that need ingredients across food, beverages, personal care, and household products. Symrise competes against both the usual listed suspects and some sharp privately held shops that have built real strength in customized solutions and niche applications. The business carries real cyclical exposure through its end markets, sits exposed to raw material swings, and operates under the regulatory weight that comes with food and cosmetic ingredients.
| Company | Ticker |
|---|---|
| Symrise AG | SY1.XETRA |
| Givaudan SA | GIVN.SIX |
| International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. | IFF.NYSE |
| Sensient Technologies Corporation | SXT.NYSE |
Private competitors
- V. Mane Fils (MANE)
- Takasago International Corporation
- Robertet Group
- T. Hasegawa Co.
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Start Free TrialPerformance Figures of Symrise AG
Relative Performance vs Benchmarks
| Period | Symrise AG | vs DAX | vs S&P 500 (SPY) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1M | +7.66% | +7.26% | +8.47% |
| 3M | +10.10% | +6.19% | +9.09% |
| 6M | -8.32% | -12.74% | -15.56% |
| 1Y | -20.32% | -29.57% | -37.20% |
| 3Y | -18.81% | -76.96% | -95.47% |
| 5Y | -17.33% | -92.32% | -110.11% |
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Start Free TrialHistorical valuation trends
How the company’s key valuation ratios (P/E, P/S, P/B and P/CF) have evolved over time compared to today.
| Period | P/E Ratio | P/S Ratio | P/B Ratio | P/CF Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current | 21.1 | 2.1 | 2.9 | 11.9 |
| 1Y ago | 28.4 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 15.2 |
| 3Y ago | 34.4 | 2.4 | 3.8 | 36.2 |
| 5Y ago | 30.5 | 2.7 | 6.1 | 15.3 |
Key Metrics
Valuation Metrics
Profitability Metrics
Growth Metrics
Dividend history
Long-term record of paid dividends (amount per share and dividend yield at the time of payment).
| Year | Dividend | Yield at payment | Avg. yield |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1.20 EUR | 1.14% | 1.32% |
| 2024 | 1.10 EUR | 1.08% | |
| 2023 | 1.05 EUR | 0.97% | |
| 2022 | 1.02 EUR | 0.93% | |
| 2021 | 0.97 EUR | 0.89% | |
| 2020 | 0.95 EUR | 0.98% | |
| 2020 | 0.95 EUR | 1.02% | |
| 2019 | 0.90 EUR | 1.04% | |
| 2018 | 0.88 EUR | 1.23% | |
| 2017 | 0.85 EUR | 1.34% | |
| 2016 | 0.80 EUR | 1.40% | |
| 2015 | 0.75 EUR | 1.32% | |
| 2014 | 0.70 EUR | 1.84% | |
| 2013 | 0.65 EUR | 1.99% | |
| 2012 | 0.62 EUR | 2.70% |
Earnings history & estimates
Historical earnings performance shows how consistently the company meets or exceeds analyst expectations. Forward estimates provide insight into expected profitability and growth trajectory.
Historical earnings performance
Upcoming earnings report
Analyst estimates for upcoming periods
Key financial figures
Selected income statement, balance sheet and cash flow figures. Annual and quarterly, based on reported IFRS/GAAP financials.
| 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 5.00B | 4.73B | 4.62B | 3.83B | 3.52B |
| Operating income (EBIT) | 717.80M | 559.36M | 503.98M | 558.96M | 487.51M |
| Net income | 478.20M | 340.47M | 280.01M | 374.92M | 306.87M |
| Free cash flow | 667.49M | 449.31M | 109.94M | 347.40M | 491.64M |
| Total assets | 8.32B | 7.85B | 7.78B | 6.64B | 5.94B |
| Equity | 3.98B | 3.63B | 3.55B | 3.19B | 2.30B |
| Net debt | 1.84B | 2.17B | 2.23B | 1.35B | 1.35B |
PWP Leeway UG (haftungsbeschränkt)
