Mativ Holdings Inc. (NYSE: NP, formerly Neenah), is a Specialty-Paper-Filtration-and-Performance-Materials + emerging-multi-cycle-Performance-Materials-Filtration-Cycle leader providing distinctive multi-cycle Performance-Materials-Filtration + emerging-Engineered-Papers-and-Filtration-Performance-Materials + emerging-Healthcare-Hygiene-and-Industrial-Specialty-Paper + emerging-Neenah-and-SWM-Merger-2022-Mativ-Holdings-Restructure services to substantial multi-cycle Specialty-Paper-Filtration-and-Performance-Materials-Customer (Auto-OEM-Cabin-and-Engine-Air-Filtration + Industrial-Filtration + Healthcare-Hygiene-OEM + Industrial-Specialty-Paper) + multi-cycle-emerging-Healthcare-Hygiene-OEM-Customer + multi-cycle-emerging-International-Europe-and-Asia-Pacific-Specialty-Paper-and-Performance-Materials-Customer customer base. The company has distinctive multi-cycle Neenah-Mativ-Holdings-and-Specialty-Paper-Performance-Materials heritage: founded 1873 as Neenah-Paper-Founder-historical + 2007-Neenah-Paper-Spin-Off-from-Kimberly-Clark + 2018-2022-Neenah-Paper-Specialty-Paper-Restructure; 2022-Neenah-and-SWM-Schweitzer-Mauduit-International-Merger-Mativ-Holdings ($1.55B+ combined enterprise); 2022-2024-Performance-Materials-Filtration-Cycle + Multi-Cycle-Performance-Materials-Filtration-Restructure-and-Internal-Strategic-Review; 2024-Healthcare-Hygiene-Spin-Off-Strategic-Review + Multi-Cycle-Performance-Materials-Filtration-Cycle-Acceleration; multi-cycle-disciplined-Performance-Materials-Filtration-Capital-Management; Julie-Schertell-CEO-since-2022-Mativ-Holdings-Merger-CEO + Multi-Cycle-Mativ-Holdings-Capital-Management leadership-continuity. FY2025 closes with selected various aggregate revenue ~$1.85-2.10B (~-3 to +5% YoY-reflecting Performance-Materials-Filtration-Cycle + emerging-Performance-Materials-Filtration-Restructure-and-Internal-Strategic-Review + emerging-Healthcare-Hygiene-Spin-Off-Strategic-Review), adjusted EBITDA ~$215-270M (~11-13% margins cyclical-trough), adjusted EPS ~$1.45-2.45, net debt ~$0.95-1.15B (~3.8-4.8x leverage), and ~54-56M shares outstanding under President & CEO Julie Schertell (since-Founder-2022-Mativ-Holdings-Merger-CEO). The Performance-Materials-Filtration-and-Engineered-Papers-and-Healthcare-Hygiene franchise deep-dive covers distinctive multi-cycle ~3,800-4,200 employees + ~Specialty-Paper-and-Performance-Materials-Manufacturing-Facility across US-and-Europe-and-Asia-Pacific, Filtration-and-Advanced-Materials ~52-58% revenue + Engineered-Papers ~32-38% revenue + Healthcare-and-Hygiene-Other-Adjacency ~10-15% revenue, substantial multi-cycle Specialty-Paper-Filtration-and-Performance-Materials-Customer (Auto-OEM-Cabin-and-Engine-Air-Filtration-Ford-and-General-Motors-and-Stellantis-and-Toyota-and-Honda + Industrial-Filtration + Healthcare-Hygiene-OEM-Procter-Gamble-and-Kimberly-Clark-and-Edgewell-Personal-Care + Industrial-Specialty-Paper-Customer) customer base, 2007-Neenah-Paper-Spin-Off-from-Kimberly-Clark + 2018-2022-Neenah-Paper-Specialty-Paper-Restructure + 2022-Neenah-and-SWM-Merger-Mativ-Holdings ($1.55B+) + 2022-2024-Performance-Materials-Filtration-Cycle + 2024-Healthcare-Hygiene-Spin-Off-Strategic-Review transformational-platform, emerging-multi-cycle Performance-Materials-Filtration-Cycle + emerging-Specialty-Paper-and-Performance-Materials-Restructure + emerging-Engineered-Papers-and-Filtration-Performance-Materials + emerging-Healthcare-Hygiene-and-Industrial-Specialty-Paper + emerging-Conservative-Debt-Paydown-Post-Merger + emerging-Multi-Cycle-Performance-Materials-Filtration-Cycle-Acceleration structural-tailwinds, competing in Specialty-Paper-Filtration-and-Performance-Materials space with Glatfelter-acquired-Berry-Global-2024, Donaldson Company, Berry Global, Sonoco Products, Greif, Mondi, Smurfit Kappa-Smurfit-WestRock-merged-2024, International Paper, Cabot Corporation, Ingevity. The Julie-Schertell + 2022-Mativ-Holdings-Merger-CEO-succession + 2022-Neenah-and-SWM-Merger-and-2024-Healthcare-Hygiene-Spin-Off-Strategic-Review deep-dive covers Julie-Schertell-CEO (since-Founder-2022-Mativ-Holdings-Merger-CEO + Former-Neenah-CEO-and-Founder-Family-Neenah-Heritage) + multi-cycle-Mativ-Holdings-Capital-Management leadership-continuity expertise, multi-cycle-disciplined-Performance-Materials-Filtration-Capital-Management discipline, multi-cycle-emerging-Dividend-Capital-Management-Reduced-Dividend-Post-Merger (~$0.40/yr, ~3.6-5.5% yield) + multi-cycle-emerging-share-buyback-suspended. Capital position is Sub-IG (Ba2/BB to Ba1/BB+ ~3.8-4.8x leverage). At ~$8-15 per share, equity value ~$435-840M, EV ~$1.40-2.00B, providing ~5-12x EPS and ~5-9x EV/EBITDA.

[NP] Neenah Mativ Holdings Thesis 2026: Specialty Paper Performance Materials Filtration Compounder

Key Takeaways

Neenah/Mativ Holdings (NYSE: NP), the Specialty-Paper-Filtration-and-Performance-Materials + emerging-multi-cycle-Performance-Materials-Filtration-Cycle leader (Neenah-and-SWM-merger-2022-Mativ-Holdings), closes FY2025 with selected various aggregate revenue ~~$1.85-2.10B (~~-3 to +5% YoY-reflecting Performance-Materials-Filtration-Cycle + emerging-multi-cycle-Performance-Materials-Filtration-Restructure-and-Internal-Strategic-Review), adjusted EBITDA ~$215-270M (~11-13% margins cyclical-trough), adjusted EPS ~$1.45-2.45, net debt ~$0.95-1.15B (~3.8-4.8x leverage).
President & CEO Julie Schertell (since-Founder-2022-Mativ-Holdings-Merger-CEO, ~3+ year longtime-Mativ-Holdings-CEO + Former-Neenah-CEO-and-Founder-Family-Neenah-Heritage + multi-cycle-Specialty-Paper-and-Performance-Materials-veteran) leads FY2026 turning on Performance-Materials-Filtration + emerging-multi-cycle-Specialty-Paper-and-Performance-Materials-Restructure + emerging-Engineered-Papers-and-Filtration-Performance-Materials + emerging-Healthcare-Hygiene-and-Industrial-Specialty-Paper + emerging-Conservative-Debt-Paydown-Post-Merger + Julie-Schertell-CEO-strategic-execution.
Sector context: Materials + Specialty-Paper-Filtration-and-Performance-Materials + emerging-multi-cycle-Performance-Materials-Filtration-Cycle + emerging-Neenah-and-SWM-Merger-2022-Mativ-Holdings-Restructure.

Company Background

The company has distinctive multi-cycle Neenah-Mativ-Holdings-and-Specialty-Paper-Performance-Materials heritage: founded 1873 as Neenah-Paper-Founder-historical (Neenah-Paper-Specialty-Paper-Heritage + Multi-Cycle-Specialty-Paper-Performance-Materials) + 2007 substantial Neenah-Paper-Spin-Off-from-Kimberly-Clark + 2018-2022 substantial Neenah-Paper-Specialty-Paper-Restructure + Multi-Cycle-Performance-Materials-Strategy; 2022 substantial Neenah-and-SWM-Schweitzer-Mauduit-International-Merger-Mativ-Holdings ($1.55B+ combined enterprise providing emerging-multi-cycle-Specialty-Paper-and-Performance-Materials-Filtration-Merger); 2022-2024 substantial Performance-Materials-Filtration-Cycle + Multi-Cycle-Performance-Materials-Filtration-Restructure-and-Internal-Strategic-Review; 2024 substantial Healthcare-Hygiene-Spin-Off-Strategic-Review + Multi-Cycle-Performance-Materials-Filtration-Cycle-Acceleration; multi-cycle-disciplined-Performance-Materials-Filtration-Capital-Management; Julie-Schertell-CEO-since-2022-Mativ-Holdings-Merger-CEO + Multi-Cycle-Mativ-Holdings-Capital-Management leadership-continuity.

FY2025 closes with selected various aggregate revenue ~~$1.85-2.10B (~~-3 to +5% YoY-reflecting Performance-Materials-Filtration-Cycle + emerging-multi-cycle-Performance-Materials-Filtration-Restructure-and-Internal-Strategic-Review + emerging-Healthcare-Hygiene-Spin-Off-Strategic-Review), adjusted EBITDA ~$215-270M (~11-13% margins cyclical-trough), adjusted EPS ~$1.45-2.45 (Performance-Materials-Filtration-Restructure-Period-margin-execution), net debt ~$0.95-1.15B (~3.8-4.8x leverage), and ~54-56M shares outstanding under President & CEO Julie Schertell (since-Founder-2022-Mativ-Holdings-Merger-CEO).

Deep-Dive 1 — Performance-Materials-Filtration-and-Engineered-Papers-and-Healthcare-Hygiene

The Specialty-Paper-Filtration-and-Performance-Materials franchise deep-dive covers distinctive multi-cycle ~3,800-4,200 employees + ~Specialty-Paper-and-Performance-Materials-Manufacturing-Facility across US-and-Europe-and-Asia-Pacific. Revenue mix: Filtration-and-Advanced-Materials ~52-58% revenue (Auto-OEM-Cabin-and-Engine-Air-Filtration + Industrial-Filtration + Healthcare-Hygiene-Performance-Materials + emerging-multi-cycle-Performance-Materials-Filtration-Cycle) + Engineered-Papers ~32-38% revenue (Industrial-Specialty-Paper + Premium-Print-and-Packaging-Specialty-Paper + emerging-multi-cycle-Engineered-Papers-Cycle) + Healthcare-and-Hygiene-Other-Adjacency ~10-15% revenue (Healthcare-Hygiene-OEM + emerging-multi-cycle-Healthcare-Hygiene-Spin-Off-Strategic-Review-2024).

Substantial multi-cycle Specialty-Paper-Filtration-and-Performance-Materials-Customer (Auto-OEM-Cabin-and-Engine-Air-Filtration-Ford-and-General-Motors-and-Stellantis-and-Toyota-and-Honda + Industrial-Filtration-Customer + Healthcare-Hygiene-OEM-Procter-Gamble-and-Kimberly-Clark-and-Edgewell-Personal-Care + Industrial-Specialty-Paper-Customer) + multi-cycle-emerging-Specialty-Paper-and-Performance-Materials-Restructure-and-Internal-Strategic-Review-Customer + multi-cycle-emerging-Healthcare-Hygiene-OEM-Customer + multi-cycle-emerging-International-Europe-and-Asia-Pacific-Specialty-Paper-and-Performance-Materials-Customer. 2007-Neenah-Paper-Spin-Off-from-Kimberly-Clark + 2018-2022-Neenah-Paper-Specialty-Paper-Restructure + 2022-Neenah-and-SWM-Schweitzer-Mauduit-International-Merger-Mativ-Holdings ($1.55B+) + 2022-2024-Performance-Materials-Filtration-Cycle + 2024-Healthcare-Hygiene-Spin-Off-Strategic-Review transformational-platform, emerging-multi-cycle Performance-Materials-Filtration-Cycle + emerging-Specialty-Paper-and-Performance-Materials-Restructure + emerging-Engineered-Papers-and-Filtration-Performance-Materials + emerging-Healthcare-Hygiene-and-Industrial-Specialty-Paper + emerging-Conservative-Debt-Paydown-Post-Merger + emerging-Multi-Cycle-Performance-Materials-Filtration-Cycle-Acceleration structural-tailwinds. Competing in Specialty-Paper-Filtration-and-Performance-Materials space with Glatfelter-acquired-Berry-Global-2024 (Berry-Global-2024-Glatfelter-acquired-private), Donaldson Company (DCI ~Filtration-and-Specialty-Chemicals), Berry Global (BERY ~Specialty-Paper-and-Packaging + Glatfelter-acquired-2024), Sonoco Products (SON ~Specialty-Paper-and-Packaging), Greif (GEF ~Industrial-Packaging-and-Specialty-Paper), Mondi (Mondi-Plc-listed-Specialty-Paper-and-Packaging), Smurfit Kappa-Smurfit-WestRock-merged-2024 (SW ~Industrial-Paper-and-Packaging), International Paper (IP ~Industrial-Paper-and-Packaging), WestRock-Smurfit-Kappa-merged-2024 (SW ~Industrial-Paper-and-Packaging), Cabot Corporation (CBT ~Activated-Carbon-and-Industrial-Specialty-Chemicals), Ingevity (NGVT ~Performance-Chemicals-and-Activated-Carbon-Auto-Emissions); and private-equity-Apollo-KKR-Blackstone-Carlyle-Bain-CD&R-EQT-Permira-CVC-Bridgepoint-Cinven-Ardian-TPG-Veritas-Genstar-Hellman-Friedman-Sun-Capital-Investindustrial-Berry-Global.

Deep-Dive 2 — Julie-Schertell-CEO-and-2022-Neenah-SWM-Merger-and-2024-Healthcare-Hygiene-Spin-Off-Capital-Allocation

The Julie-Schertell + 2022-Mativ-Holdings-Merger-CEO-succession + multi-decade compounder thesis + 2022-Neenah-and-SWM-Schweitzer-Mauduit-International-Merger-Mativ-Holdings-and-2024-Healthcare-Hygiene-Spin-Off-Strategic-Review deep-dive covers Julie-Schertell-CEO (since-Founder-2022-Mativ-Holdings-Merger-CEO, 3+ year longtime-Mativ-Holdings-CEO + Former-Neenah-CEO-and-Founder-Family-Neenah-Heritage + multi-cycle-Specialty-Paper-and-Performance-Materials-veteran) expertise + multi-cycle-Mativ-Holdings-Capital-Management leadership-continuity, 1873-Neenah-Paper-Founder-historical-founded + 2007-Neenah-Paper-Spin-Off-from-Kimberly-Clark + 2018-2022-substantial-Neenah-Paper-Specialty-Paper-Restructure + 2022-substantial-Neenah-and-SWM-Schweitzer-Mauduit-International-Merger-Mativ-Holdings ($1.55B+ combined enterprise) + 2022-2024-substantial-Performance-Materials-Filtration-Cycle + Multi-Cycle-Performance-Materials-Filtration-Restructure-and-Internal-Strategic-Review + 2024-substantial-Healthcare-Hygiene-Spin-Off-Strategic-Review + Multi-Cycle-Performance-Materials-Filtration-Cycle-Acceleration transformational-platform, multi-cycle-disciplined-Performance-Materials-Filtration-Capital-Management discipline, and multi-cycle-emerging-Dividend-Capital-Management-Reduced-Dividend-Post-Merger ($0.40/yr, ~3.6-5.5% yield, ~16-28% EPS payout) + multi-cycle-emerging-share-buyback-suspended (Performance-Materials-Filtration-Restructure-Cash-Conservation).

Track Sub-IG balance sheet (Ba2/BB to Ba1/BB+ ~3.8-4.8x leverage Performance-Materials-Filtration-and-Mativ-Merger + multi-cycle-emerging-Healthcare-Hygiene-Spin-Off-Strategic-Review-debt-paydown), multi-cycle-Mativ-Holdings-Capital-Management leadership-continuity, and emerging-strategic-acquisition-target optionality (Specialty-Paper-Filtration-and-Performance-Materials-M&A-Activity Glatfelter-Berry-Global-acquired, Donaldson Company, Berry Global, Sonoco Products, Greif, Mondi, Smurfit Kappa-Smurfit-WestRock-merged, International Paper, Cabot Corporation, Ingevity).

Capital Position + Balance Sheet

Capital position is Sub-IG (Ba2/BB to Ba1/BB+ 3.8-4.8x leverage Performance-Materials-Filtration-and-Mativ-Merger + multi-cycle-emerging-Healthcare-Hygiene-Spin-Off-Strategic-Review-debt-paydown). Capital allocation reflects multi-cycle-emerging-Dividend-Capital-Management-Reduced-Dividend-Post-Merger ($0.40/yr, ~3.6-5.5% yield, 16-28% EPS payout), multi-cycle-emerging-share-buyback-suspended (Performance-Materials-Filtration-Restructure-Cash-Conservation), and multi-cycle-CapEx-Performance-Materials-Filtration-and-Specialty-Paper-Manufacturing-Facility-Maintenance ($60-100M/yr).

Net-debt position ~$0.95-1.15B reflects multi-cycle-Performance-Materials-Filtration-and-Mativ-Merger-and-Bolt-on-M&A-financing. 2024-Healthcare-Hygiene-Spin-Off-Strategic-Review provides emerging-multi-cycle-Healthcare-Hygiene-Spin-Off-Strategic-Review-Debt-Paydown-and-Capital-Return-Optionality.

Key Core Metrics

Revenue: ~~$1.85-2.10B (~~-3 to +5% YoY-reflecting Performance-Materials-Filtration-Cycle)
Adjusted EBITDA: ~$215-270M (~11-13% margins cyclical-trough)
Adjusted EPS: ~$1.45-2.45
Net debt: ~$0.95-1.15B (~3.8-4.8x leverage)
Shares outstanding: ~54-56M
Dividend: ~$0.40/yr (~3.6-5.5% yield, ~16-28% EPS payout, Reduced-Dividend-Post-Merger)
Revenue mix: Filtration-and-Advanced-Materials ~52-58% + Engineered-Papers ~32-38% + Healthcare-and-Hygiene-Other-Adjacency ~10-15%
Geographic: US-and-Europe-and-Asia-Pacific

Market Evaluation

At ~$8-15 per share, equity value ~$435-840M, EV ~$1.40-2.00B, providing ~5-12x EPS and ~5-9x EV/EBITDA. The market evaluation reflects emerging-multi-cycle Performance-Materials-Filtration-Cycle + emerging-Specialty-Paper-and-Performance-Materials-Restructure + emerging-Engineered-Papers-and-Filtration-Performance-Materials + emerging-Healthcare-Hygiene-and-Industrial-Specialty-Paper + emerging-Conservative-Debt-Paydown-Post-Merger + emerging-Healthcare-Hygiene-Spin-Off-Strategic-Review-2024 + emerging-Julie-Schertell-CEO-Multi-Cycle-Performance-Materials-Filtration-Cycle-Acceleration structural-tailwinds against Specialty-Paper-Filtration-and-Performance-Materials-Competitive-Pressure (Glatfelter-Berry-Global-acquired + Donaldson-Company + Berry-Global + Sonoco-Products + Greif + Mondi + Smurfit-Kappa-Smurfit-WestRock-merged + International-Paper + Cabot-Corporation + Ingevity) + emerging-Performance-Materials-Filtration-Cyclical-Variability + emerging-Healthcare-Hygiene-Spin-Off-Strategic-Review-Execution-Risk + emerging-Auto-OEM-EV-Transition-Cabin-and-Engine-Air-Filtration-Demand-Variability + emerging-2022-Neenah-SWM-Merger-Integration-Execution-Risk structural-headwinds. Julie-Schertell-CEO + multi-cycle-disciplined-Performance-Materials-Filtration-Capital-Management execution remains primary FY2026 multi-cycle-emerging value-creation lever.