Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. AXTA posted earnings (as reported) of 63 cents per share for fourth-quarter 2024, up from 33 cents in the year-ago quarter.

Barring one-time items, earnings were 60 cents per share in the reported quarter, up from 46 cents a year ago. It surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 51 cents.

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The company’s revenues rose around 1% year over year to $1,311 million in the quarter. It beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1,296.5 million. The top line includes a 1% headwind from foreign currency swings.

Adjusted EBITDA rose 10% year over year to $275 million in the reported quarter.  Adjusted EBITDA margin increased 170 basis points to 21%.

Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. Quote

Axalta's Segment Review

Sales from the Performance Coatings unit fell around 1% year-over-year to $843 million in the reported quarter, as the contribution from the CoverFlexx acquisition was more than offset by lower volumes and unfavorable currency impacts. It was lower than the consensus estimate of $857 million. 

The Mobility Coatings unit recorded sales of $468 million in the fourth quarter, up around 4% year over year. The upside was mainly driven by strong light vehicle volume performance in China and Latin America and favorable price-mix, partly masked by declines in commercial vehicle volumes and currency headwinds. It was higher than the consensus estimate of $438 million.

AXTA’s FY24 Results

Earnings for full-year 2024 were $1.78 per share compared with $1.21 per share a year ago. Net sales went up around 2% year over year to $5.3 billion.

Axalta's Financials

Axalta ended 2024 with cash and cash equivalents of $593 million, up around 15% year over year. Long-term debt was $3,401 million at the end of the year, down roughly 2% year over year.

The company generated cash flow from operations of $576 million in 2024, compared with $575 million in the prior year.

AXTA’s Outlook

The company expects adjusted earnings per share of roughly 54 cents for the first quarter of 2025. It also sees net sales to be flat year-over-year in the quarter. Adjusted EBITDA is forecast to be around $265 million.

For full-year 2025, Axalta envisions adjusted earnings in the band of $2.50-$2.60 per share. Adjusted EBITDA is predicted to be in the range of $1,150-$1,175 million. Net sales for 2025 are forecast to be $5,350-$5,400 million.

AXTA’s Price Performance

Shares of Axalta have gained 17.2% in a year, compared with the Zacks Chemicals Specialty industry’s decline of 16.3%.

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AXTA’s Zacks Rank & Other Key Picks

AXTA currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Better-ranked stocks in the Basic Materials space are Ingevity Corporation NGVT, ICL Group Ltd ICL and Nutrien Ltd. NTR. While NGVT carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), ICL and NTR have a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Ingevity is scheduled to release fourth-quarter results on Feb.18. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NGVT’s fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at 12 cents. NGVT surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters while missing once. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 95.4%, on average.  

ICL Group is slated to release fourth-quarter results on Feb.26. The consensus estimate for ICL’s fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at 6 cents. It surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in each of the last four quarters at an average of 18.1%.

Nutrien is scheduled to release fourth-quarter results on Feb.19. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for NTR’s fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at 33 cents. NTR has gained around 5% in the past year.

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