PPG Raises 2026 Adjusted EPS Midpoint After Record Quarter

The Tip Desk · November 8, 2026 · 3 min read

Third-quarter adjusted earnings were $2.25 a share as organic sales rose 5% and the company lifted full-year guidance to $7.90 to $8.10.

PPG Industries (PPG) reported record third-quarter earnings from continuing operations of $2.12 a share, up 8% from a year earlier, and adjusted earnings of $2.25 a share, up 6%, after a flat adjusted year-over-year result in the second quarter.

The Pittsburgh-based coatings maker raised the midpoint of its full-year 2026 adjusted EPS outlook and narrowed the range to $7.90 to $8.10 from the $7.70 to $8.10 band it had reaffirmed in July. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Tim Knavish said the improved outlook reflected growth momentum, realized pricing benefits, and execution of productivity programs.

Net sales were $4.35 billion, up 7% from $4.08 billion a year earlier. Organic sales increased 5%, the seventh consecutive quarter of growth, after a 4% increase in the second quarter. The company said it outpaced the industry by 300 basis points. Consolidated adjusted EBITDA margin held at 18.2%. Knavish said third-quarter commercial actions fully offset cost-of-goods-sold inflation, after covering about 90% of that inflation in the second quarter.

Performance Coatings was the quarter’s inflection. Segment organic sales grew 8% year over year, accelerating from 3% in the second quarter, on higher volumes and selling prices. Aerospace posted double-digit organic sales growth, with an order backlog near $300 million. Automotive refinish organic sales rose a mid-single-digit percentage on higher prices and volumes, reversing the second-quarter drag from weaker refinish demand. Protective and marine coatings organic sales increased a high single-digit percentage, the 14th consecutive quarter of volume growth. Segment EBITDA margin expanded 220 basis points to 23.9%, reversing the second-quarter year-over-year decline. Segment net sales were $1.55 billion.

Global Architectural Coatings organic sales growth held at 2%, but EBITDA margin expansion widened to 300 basis points, to 24.0%, from 100 basis points in the second quarter. Segment net sales were $1.06 billion. The company attributed the margin gain to selling-price realization and productivity actions, partially offset by cost inflation. Latin America organic sales rose a mid-single-digit percentage on higher prices and volume growth, including retail sales and improved project-related sales in Mexico. EMEA organic sales rose a low single-digit percentage.

Industrial Coatings selling prices rose 2% as lagging index pricing began to be realized, after a flat price contribution in the second quarter. Organic sales increased 4% and volumes 2%. Packaging coatings organic sales rose a double-digit percentage, with volumes up more than 20% on a two-year stacked basis. Industrial coatings organic sales improved a high single-digit percentage, the second consecutive quarter of growth. Automotive OEM organic sales declined a low single-digit percentage, with share gains still supporting volumes that outpaced global automotive production. Segment EBITDA margin contracted 260 basis points to 14.4% on cost inflation. Segment net sales were $1.74 billion.

Cash from operating activities was about $1.2 billion in the nine months to September 30, $100 million higher year over year. Share repurchases totaled about $150 million in the quarter and $320 million year to date. Cash and short-term investments were $1.6 billion at quarter end; net debt was $5.2 billion.

The company expects fourth-quarter organic sales growth of a low single-digit percentage, led by aerospace, architectural coatings in Latin America, and packaging coatings, with company adjusted EBITDA margin expected flat to up 100 basis points year over year.