Despite posting some strong earnings, the market for Kronos Worldwide, Inc.'s (NYSE:KRO) stock hasn't moved much. We did some digging, and we found some concerning factors in the details.

See our latest analysis for Kronos Worldwide

The Impact Of Unusual Items On Profit

For anyone who wants to understand Kronos Worldwide's profit beyond the statutory numbers, it's important to note that during the last twelve months statutory profit gained from US$63m worth of unusual items. While it's always nice to have higher profit, a large contribution from unusual items sometimes dampens our enthusiasm. We ran the numbers on most publicly listed companies worldwide, and it's very common for unusual items to be once-off in nature. Which is hardly surprising, given the name. We can see that Kronos Worldwide's positive unusual items were quite significant relative to its profit in the year to September 2024. As a result, we can surmise that the unusual items are making its statutory profit significantly stronger than it would otherwise be.

That might leave you wondering what analysts are forecasting in terms of future profitability. Luckily, you can click here to see an interactive graph depicting future profitability, based on their estimates.

Our Take On Kronos Worldwide's Profit Performance

As previously mentioned, Kronos Worldwide's large boost from unusual items won't be there indefinitely, so its statutory earnings are probably a poor guide to its underlying profitability. As a result, we think it may well be the case that Kronos Worldwide's underlying earnings power is lower than its statutory profit. The good news is that it earned a profit in the last twelve months, despite its previous loss. The goal of this article has been to assess how well we can rely on the statutory earnings to reflect the company's potential, but there is plenty more to consider. If you want to do dive deeper into Kronos Worldwide, you'd also look into what risks it is currently facing. To help with this, we've discovered 4 warning signs (2 are a bit unpleasant!) that you ought to be aware of before buying any shares in Kronos Worldwide.

Today we've zoomed in on a single data point to better understand the nature of Kronos Worldwide's profit. But there are plenty of other ways to inform your opinion of a company. Some people consider a high return on equity to be a good sign of a quality business. So you may wish to see this free collection of companies boasting high return on equity, or this list of stocks with high insider ownership.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.