Celanese Corporation (CE) experienced a 5% plummet in its stock price during intraday trading on Thursday, February 20th. The decline came in the wake of the company's Q4 2024 earnings release and conference call, which revealed a challenging year marked by margin compression and competitive pressures in some of its key product lines.

During the earnings call, Celanese reported executing over $75 million in cost reductions and reducing its 2025 capital plan by $100 million as part of strategic actions to address the challenges faced in 2024. However, the company acknowledged ongoing margin degradation in products like nylon, offsetting the cost improvements achieved.

CEO Scott Richardson highlighted the company's focus on cash generation, margin expansion, productivity, and deleveraging, but expressed caution about the macroeconomic environment. While Celanese expects free cash flow to improve in 2025 compared to 2024, driven by lower cash taxes, reduced CapEx, and improved working capital management, the company refrained from providing specific guidance for the second half of the year, citing uncertainty.

Analysts reacted to the earnings release and outlook with a mix of target price adjustments, with some lowering their targets due to concerns about the company's ability to navigate the competitive landscape effectively. However, Deutsche Bank maintained a Buy rating on the stock, stating that the selloff was overdone.