Maybe things are finally starting to go the right way for specialty chemical companies. As most of us already know, last year wasn't so easy -- in large part because of sharp increases in the prices of basic inputs that couldn't wholly be passed on to the customer. And with companies like Sherwin-Williams (NYSE:SHW), PPG (NYSE:PPG), Cytec (NYSE:CYT), and RPM (NYSE:RPM) off of recent lows, investors are finally making a little money.

It is RPM, the maker of all manner of specialty sealants, coatings, adhesives, and so on, that interests me today.

For the company's third quarter, sales rose more than 18%, with nearly 11% organic growth. While pricing action was positive (up 3.6%), volume was also clearly good. Ongoing charges for asbestos litigation muddy the waters when it comes to assessing profits, but earnings before interest and taxes (excluding the asbestos) were up 24% and net earnings (also excluding the asbestos) were up more than 50%.

Judging by management's commentary, there really wasn't any major part of the business that did poorly. On the industrial side in particular, overall strength in the manufacturing sector is leading to some solid growth. What's more, while input costs haven't really declined in a major way, they've been leveling off or at least accelerating at a significantly slower rate.

While RPM is economically sensitive, I don't think it's fair to group it with the run-of-the-mill cyclicals. After all, a strong consumer business (with products sold through the likes of Home Depot (NYSE:HD), Lowe's (NYSE:LOW), and Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT)) is fairly reliable, and the company can also continue to introduce products or expand markets for existing products to help counteract cyclical hiccups (like the Dryvit exterior product).

Though it's hard to ignore a good cyclical story, whether it's specialty chemicals or copper, make sure you do your own due diligence. Having a whole industry moving in the right direction is certainly a nice tailwind, but it promises nothing.

For more Foolish thoughts from the chemistry set:

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Fool contributor Stephen Simpson has no financial interest in any stocks mentioned (that means he's neither long nor short the shares).