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Croda International Plc (CRDA.L)

Basic Materials Balanced

Croda is a British chemical company that creates the clever, invisible ingredients found in everything from your shampoo to life-saving vaccines.

£32.05

Is Croda International Plc a good stock for a UK beginner?

The honest version: Croda is a British chemical company that creates the clever, invisible ingredients found in everything from your shampoo to life-saving vaccines.

No rating · no target price · nothing for sale here
Price-20.7%
52-week range+2% past year
£32.05
Low £24.27High £33.38
Where today's price sits versus its past year - context, not a signal.
If you had put £1,000 into Croda International Plc
£793-21%

Over about 2 years to 2026-07-31. This is the share price only - reinvesting the dividends would add to it. Past performance is not a guide to the future, and it could just as easily have fallen.

Market cap: The company's total value on the stock market - share price times the number of shares. Big = 'large-cap', small = 'small-cap'.
£4.47B
Avg volume: How many shares change hands on a typical day. Higher means it's easy to buy or exit without moving the price.
364.44K
Day range: The lowest and highest price the shares traded at during the latest day.
£32.05 – £33.38
52-week range: The lowest and highest the shares have traded over the past year - a sense of how wide the swings have been.
£24.27 – £33.38
P/E ratio: Price-to-earnings: the share price divided by yearly profit per share. Lower can mean cheaper; higher often means investors expect fast growth.
56.2
Dividend yield: The yearly dividend as a percentage of the share price - roughly the income you'd earn from dividends alone.
3.4%
Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down.
0.92
How bumpy is it?Beta: How bumpy the share price is versus the whole market. Above 1 swings more than the market; below 1 is calmer. It's about the ride, not whether it goes up or down. 0.92
Calm
Wild
Roughly in step with the market

Based on beta - how much the price swings versus the whole market. Bumpier isn't bad; it just means a rougher ride, which matters more the sooner you might need the money.

Why has it been moving?▲ +0% past week · ▲ +2% past year

Prices move on results, news and the mood of the whole market - no single headline explains a day, and a quiet week is usually just noise, not a signal.

The bull case

Becoming a dominant player in sustainable, high-tech ingredients.

The bear case

Loss of market share to cheaper, generic chemical competitors.

What does Croda International Plc do?

Croda specialises in 'speciality chemicals,' which are high-tech ingredients that give products their texture, stability, or effectiveness. Most of the income is from selling these essential components to big brands in the beauty, healthcare, and agricultural industries. Keep an eye on whether they can recover from recent profit dips as they pivot toward high-growth areas like biotechnology.

VQGMI
Factor profile

On our factor screen it looks strongest on momentum and growth, and weakest on value.

Value: How cheap the stock looks versus profits, sales and assets (higher = cheaper). 33Quality: How profitable and financially healthy the company is (higher = stronger). 43Growth: How fast revenue and earnings are growing (higher = faster). 55Momentum: How the share price has been trending recently (higher = stronger recent run). 71Income: The dividend income on offer and how sustainable it looks (higher = more/steadier). 34
Quick checks
What's strong
  • Momentum screens high (71/100)
  • Strong reputation for high-quality, specialised ingredients
  • Essential role in the supply chains of major global brands
  • Solid gross margins indicating pricing power
What to watch
  • Dependence on global economic health affecting customer demand
  • Rising costs of raw materials squeezing profit margins
  • Competition from lower-cost chemical manufacturers

What do Croda International Plc's numbers mean?

P/E
66.7
This shows how much you are paying for every pound of the company's recent profit, though it is currently high because recent earnings were unusually low.
Forward P/E
16.4
This looks at the price compared to what analysts expect the company to earn over the next year, offering a more forward-looking view.
Gross margin
43.9%
This tells us that for every pound of product sold, nearly 44 pence remains after covering the direct costs of making it.
Dividend yield
3.8%
This is the annual income you would receive as a percentage of the share price, assuming the company keeps paying the same amount.

Does Croda International Plc pay a dividend?

Yes - Croda International Plc currently pays a dividend of about 3.4% a year (the yearly payout as a share of the price). A dividend is a slice of profit handed to shareholders; the yield moves as the price moves, and a company can cut or stop it.

More in Basic Materials

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What are the scenarios for Croda International Plc?

An illustrative range for the year ahead, with the assumption behind each case — not a prediction or a price target.

£36£32£26today · £32▲ Bull · £34• Base · £32▼ Bear · £30in 1 yearILLUSTRATIVE · NOT A PREDICTION OR PRICE TARGET
Bull
+5% to +10%A recovery in demand for consumer beauty products.
Base
-2% to +2%Steady performance in line with current market expectations.
Bear
-5% to -10%Continued weakness in global manufacturing demand.

What are the pros and cons of Croda International Plc?

3bull points
6bear points

How many points the write-up makes each way — a balance check, not a score or verdict.

The bull case3
  • Strong reputation for high-quality, specialised ingredients
  • Essential role in the supply chains of major global brands
  • Solid gross margins indicating pricing power
The catch3
  • Recent earnings have been significantly impacted by market conditions
  • Low return on equity suggests current assets aren't working very hard
  • High current P/E ratio makes the shares look expensive relative to recent profits
Key risks3
  • Dependence on global economic health affecting customer demand
  • Rising costs of raw materials squeezing profit margins
  • Competition from lower-cost chemical manufacturers
What would flip the thesis

The write-up's own warning lights — if these start happening, the case above changes.

Confidence: medium · data: GBP · flags: none · Charts by TradingView Lightweight Charts™
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Built from public filings & market prices, checked for an education-only tone, and never a price target. How we make these →

This plain-English summary was auto-generated on 2026-08-01 from public data and checked for an education-only, no-advice tone (the figures above carry their own, usually fresher, 'as of' date). It's information, never a recommendation.

Figures as of 2026-08-01. Prices may be delayed and numbers can go stale - always double-check before acting.