Koppers Holdings Inc

Koppers Holdings makes treated wood products, wood preservation chemicals and carbon compounds. Its customers include railroads, utilities, lumber treaters, and aluminum and steel producers. Its Railroad and Utility Products and Services segment pressure-treats railroad crossties (the wooden beams that hold rails in place) and utility poles for the US and Australia. Koppers believes it is the largest crosstie supplier to North America's Class I railroads, the biggest freight lines, and it supplies all of them. About 75% of its North American railroad sales are under long-term contracts.

Performance Chemicals makes copper-based wood preservatives, such as MicroPro, for decking, fencing and construction lumber. It supplies ten of the 11 largest US lumber treating companies. Carbon Materials and Chemicals distills coal tar, a by-product of making coke for steel, into creosote, carbon pitch for aluminum and steel production, and naphthalene for concrete. The units feed each other: coal tar becomes the creosote used on crossties, and in-house chemicals treat poles.

Crossties and poles need periodic replacement, and North America has about 450 million wood crossties in service. Revenue was $1.88 billion in the year ended December 31, 2025, down 10.2%. The United States made up 68.2% of sales, Australasia 13.2%, Europe 9.1% and other countries 9.5%.

• In Q2 FY2026 (ended Jun 30, 2026), revenue was $520.1M, up 3% from a year earlier, and net income was $-147.5M (-999.4%).
• For fiscal 2025, revenue was $1.88B (-10.2% year over year; +2.4% a year from FY2020 to FY2025) with a 3% net margin.

• Over FY2021–FY2025: $144.2M in buybacks and $21.5M in dividends.
• At least 4 consecutive annual increases: every fiscal year in the SEC data (FY2016–FY2025) shows an increase; the true streak may be longer.
• Regular dividends per share grew +17.0% a year over 3 years (FY2022–FY2025).
• Dividends took 11.4% of earnings and 9.5% of free cash flow in the latest fiscal year.
• Shares outstanding changed -11.2% from Oct 29, 2021 to Jul 31, 2026.

Rank among 1514 US companies

Market value at each year end

Koppers Holdings’s market value went from $832.7M at the end of 2016 to $795.8M on Oct 28, 2026, down 4%; since the end of 2025 it is up 50%.

Form 4 filings from 2025-10-31 to 2026-10-31 (25 read): 0 open-market purchases and 10 sales ($5.3M).

Large shareholders (13G filings)

ETFs with the most weight in KOP

1. Swings in wood, copper and coal tar costs. Hardwood is about 70% of a crosstie's cost, and scrap copper follows spot prices. The European unit lost much of its coal tar supply after Russia invaded Ukraine. Higher costs may not be passed on to customers.
2. Heavy debt and restrictive loan terms. Total debt was $905.7 million against $40.7 million of cash as of June 30, 2026. Debt payments and loan restrictions limit how freely Koppers can run its business.
3. Reliance on a few major customers. Large customers such as the Class I railroads account for a significant share of sales. Losing one or more could sharply cut profits, either overall or for a single product line.
4. Environmental rules and chemical plant hazards. Koppers distills coal tar and makes creosote and arsenic-based preservatives. Environmental laws, plant accidents and lawsuits could bring large costs, and Beazer East and Beazer Limited may stop meeting their duty to cover certain costs.
5. Cyclical demand and shifting aluminum production. Demand is cyclical and can stay depressed for long periods. Aluminum smelting, a key use for carbon pitch, has shifted from the US, Western Europe and Australia toward the Middle East.
6. Tariffs and trade limits on key inputs. Its railroad and utility unit gets creosote from a Danish subsidiary, and its chemical units source some raw materials from China and Taiwan. Tariffs, trade restrictions or conflict could raise costs or cut supply.

• Aug 6, 2026 Quarterly results released
• May 11, 2026 Executive or board change; Investor presentation or announcement
• May 8, 2026 Quarterly results released; Restructuring or exit costs; Executive or board change; Shareholder vote results; Investor presentation or announcement
• Feb 26, 2026 Quarterly results released
• Jan 9, 2026 Executive or board change; Other company announcement
• Nov 7, 2025 Quarterly results released
• Nov 5, 2025 Executive or board change

Koppers pays a small but rising dividend. It paid no dividends in FY2020 or FY2021. Since then, dividends per share rose each year, from $0.20 in FY2022 to $0.32 in FY2025, about 17% a year. The FY2025 payout used only 11.4% of earnings and 9.5% of free cash flow (cash left after capital spending). The yield was 0.83% as of October 28, 2026, so the stock provides little income. Koppers has leaned more on buybacks, repurchasing $144.2 million of stock over FY2021–FY2025 versus $21.5 million in dividends. Its share count fell 11.2% between October 2021 and July 2026.

The shares have swung hard in past downturns. They fell 80.6% in the 2008 financial crisis and did not regain their peak until April 2011. They dropped 68% in the 2020 COVID crash, recovering by December 2020, and lost 38.3% in the 2022 bear market, recovering by January 2023. Single stocks like Koppers carry more risk than diversified funds.