By Paul Ziobro

Shares of FMC plunged after the agricultural services company forecast a sharp drop in profit and sales stemming from customers cutting inventory levels around the world and cautious purchase patterns by end users.

Shares fell 17.1% to $44.81 in late trading, after closing the regular trading session at $54.04. Through Tuesday's close, the stock had been up about 11.2% over the last year.

FMC Chief Executive Pierre Brondeau said that volume growth in the fourth quarter fell below its expectations as customers in many countries aimed to hold significantly less inventory than they have historically.

The challenges will continue into the current quarter, where it projects sales between $750 million and $800 million, a drop of 16% at the midpoint compared to a year ago. Analysts were looking for revenue of $957 million, according to FactSet.

Adjusted per-share earnings are expected between 5 cents and 15 cents. Analysts were looking for 77 cents.

The company expects volume to improve over the course of the year, with an increase in growth portfolio sales offsetting weaker demand in the channel.

But its full-year forecast also came in short of expectations. FMC expects adjusted per-share earnings between $3.26 and $3.70 on revenue between $4.15 billion and $4.35 billion.

Analysts were looking for per-share earnings of $4.35 on revenue of $4.39 billion.

The view came after FMC reported that revenue rose 7% in the fourth quarter. It also swung to a loss, primarily tied to tax incentives in the prior-year period granted to its Swiss subsidiaries. Adjusted earnings of $1.79 a share, meanwhile, topped analyst expectations for $1.60 a share.

Write to Paul Ziobro at paul.ziobro@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 04, 2025 17:28 ET (22:28 GMT)

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