Ashland (ASH) stock is soaring 5.10% in intraday trading on Wednesday, despite reporting a decline in fourth-quarter sales. The specialty chemicals company's shares are rallying as investors focus on improved profitability metrics in its latest financial results.

According to the company's Q4 fiscal year 2025 report, Ashland's sales fell 8% to $478 million compared to the same period last year. However, the company managed to improve its gross profit margin to 35.8% from 34.3%, and its EBITDA margin increased to 24.9% from 23.8%. These improvements in profitability metrics appear to be driving investor optimism.

While Ashland faced challenges, including an 8% decrease in sales and a 14% drop in earnings per share (excluding acquisition amortization), the market seems to be responding positively to the company's ability to maintain stable underlying organic volumes and improve profit margins in a challenging environment. The focus on higher-margin merchant sales, which represented approximately 70% of the Intermediates segment, may also be contributing to the stock's upward movement.