Quaker Houghton KWR

Competitive advantage analysis · basic-materials

Corporate Default
Overall moat score
47/100
Developing

Ranked against 56 peers in Specialty Chemicals

About Quaker Houghton

Quaker Chemical Corporation, doing business as Quaker Houghton, provides industrial process fluids worldwide. The company develops, produces, and markets various formulated specialty chemical products; and offers chemical management services for various heavy industrial and manufacturing applications. It offers metal removal fluids, cleaning fluids, corrosion inhibitors, metal drawing and forming fluids, die cast mold releases, heat treatment and quenchants, metal forging … Full KWR analysis →

Key strengths

  • Strong Liquidity Buffer Liquidity position is strong (score 0.60), providing operational cushion.

Key risks

  • Elevated Debt Risk Debt serviceability is weak (score 0.39), raising refinancing risk.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Pricing Power

Developing
50
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Signals, strengths and risks for Pricing Power

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Signals, strengths and risks for Cost Advantage

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Signals, strengths and risks for Customer Stickiness

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Signals, strengths and risks for Capital Efficiency

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Signals, strengths and risks for Resilience

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Signals, strengths and risks for Scale & Market Position

Where KWR ranks in Specialty Chemicals

Quaker Houghton ranks #28 of 56 scored companies in Specialty Chemicals by moat score — the top 50%. The widest moat in the group is WD-40 Company (WDFC) at 81/100.

# Company Moat score Rating
24 Ecovyst Inc. ECVT 55/100 Moderate
25 DuPont de Nemours, Inc. DD 54/100 Moderate
26 Avient Corporation AVNT 52/100 Moderate
27 Northern Technologies Internati NTIC 48/100 Developing
28 Quaker Houghton KWR 47/100 Developing
29 Stepan Company SCL 46/100 Developing
30 Minerals Technologies Inc. MTX 46/100 Developing
31 Hudson Technologies, Inc. HDSN 45/100 Developing
32 Perimeter Solutions, SA PRM 43/100 Developing

See every General Corporate company ranked by moat score →

How KWR scores on the Corporate Default defenses

Pricing Power

Score 50 · 20% of the moat score

Pricing power is the ability to raise prices without losing volume.

Cost Advantage

Score 34 · 15% of the moat score

A cost advantage means delivering the same product for structurally less — better purchasing, denser distribution, a more automated process.

Customer Stickiness

Score 58 · 15% of the moat score

Stickiness is what makes revenue repeat without being re-won every year.

Capital Efficiency

Score 37 · 18% of the moat score

Capital efficiency asks what the company earns on the money tied up in the business.

Resilience

Score 48 · 17% of the moat score

Resilience is the capacity to get through a bad year on its own terms — enough liquidity, enough interest cover, and enough cash generation to avoid a rescue financing or a forced sale.

Scale & Market Position

Score 54 · 15% of the moat score

Scale matters only when it converts into economics.

How each Corporate Default defense is measured, in full →

Understanding KWR's moat

What is Quaker Houghton's moat score?

Quaker Houghton (KWR) scores 46 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as developing. It ranks #28 of 56 scored companies in Specialty Chemicals, the top 50%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 56 companies in Specialty Chemicals. Its strongest defense is Customer Stickiness (58/100) and its weakest is Cost Advantage (34/100).

How does Quaker Houghton compare with other Specialty Chemicals companies?

Quaker Houghton ranks #28 of 56 scored companies in Specialty Chemicals by moat score. The widest moat in Specialty Chemicals is WD-40 Company (WDFC) at 81/100. The companies ranked closest are Northern Technologies Internati (NTIC) at 48 just above it and Stepan Company (SCL) at 46 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Corporate Default in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 56 companies in Specialty Chemicals. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Quaker Houghton scored with the Corporate Default template?

Most public companies sell a product or a service at a margin, so the moat question is whether that margin survives contact with competitors. The Corporate template scores the six defenses that show up in a general operating company's financial signature: whether it can hold price, produce more cheaply than rivals, keep its customers, earn a return above its cost of capital, withstand a downturn, and turn size into economics.

Which competitive defenses are measured for Quaker Houghton?

The Corporate Default template measures 6 defenses, and KWR scores: Pricing Power (50), Cost Advantage (34), Customer Stickiness (58), Capital Efficiency (37), Resilience (48), Scale & Market Position (54). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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