Celanese Corporation CE reported fourth-quarter 2024 loss from continuing operations of $17.45 per share. This is in contrast to earnings of $6.43 in the prior-year quarter.
Adjusted earnings in the fourth quarter were $1.45 per share, down from $2.24 reported a year ago. The bottom line topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.20.
Find the latest earnings estimates and surprises on Zacks Earnings Calendar.
Revenues of $2,370 million fell roughly 8% year over year. It, however, beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2,300 million.
Celanese experienced sustained demand weakness in major end markets during the reported quarter. Fourth-quarter results were also affected by sequential seasonality in the Acetyl Chain unit and significant Western Hemisphere automotive and industrial destocking in the Engineered Materials segment. CE took actions to cut costs, align production to available demand and release working capital through inventory drawdown to lessen the impact of the demand weakness in the reported quarter.
Celanese Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Celanese Corporation Quote
Net sales in the Engineered Materials unit were $1,281 million in the quarter, down around 9% year over year. It missed our estimate of $1,307.6 million. The segment reported an operating loss of $1,508 million compared with a profit of $122 million a year ago.
The Acetyl Chain segment posted net sales of $1,110 million, down around 6% year over year. It beat our estimate of $1,039.3 million. The segment generated an operating profit of $216 million, down from $264 million a year ago.
Loss (as reported) for full-year 2024 was $13.86 per share. This is in contrast to earnings of $18 per share a year ago. Net sales fell around 6% year over year to $10.3 billion on lower volumes and prices.
Celanese ended the quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $962 million, down roughly 47% year over year. Long-term debt was down around 10% year over year to $11,078 million.
Cash provided by operating activities was $966 million and free cash flow was $498 million in 2024.
Celanese anticipates the demand and pricing challenges experienced in the fourth quarter compared with the third quarter to persist in the first quarter of 2025. It sees continued softness in core end-markets such as automotive, construction, paints, coatings and industrial. CE also expects additional headwinds from seasonality in acetate tow and medical implants businesses as well as a planned outage at the Bishop, TX, facility in the first quarter.
Celanese expects first-quarter earnings per share in the band of 25-50 cents including the impact of non-recurring costs.
Celanese’s shares have lost 53.7% in the past year against the Zacks Chemicals Specialty industry’s 17.8% decline.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
CE currently carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).
Better-ranked stocks in the Basic Materials space are ICL Group Ltd ICL, Compania de Minas Buenaventura S.A.A. BVN and Kronos Worldwide, Inc. KRO, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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%.
Compania de Minas Buenaventura is scheduled to release fourth-quarter results on Feb. 20. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BVN’s fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at 20 cents.
Kronos Worldwide is expected to release fourth-quarter results on March 5. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for KRO’s fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at 11 cents. KRO has gained around 4% in the past year.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Celanese Corporation (CE) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Kronos Worldwide Inc (KRO) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Buenaventura Mining Company Inc. (BVN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
ICL Group Ltd. (ICL) : Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment Research
免責聲明:投資有風險,本文並非投資建議,以上內容不應被視為任何金融產品的購買或出售要約、建議或邀請,作者或其他用戶的任何相關討論、評論或帖子也不應被視為此類內容。本文僅供一般參考,不考慮您的個人投資目標、財務狀況或需求。TTM對信息的準確性和完整性不承擔任何責任或保證,投資者應自行研究並在投資前尋求專業建議。