Zinger Key Points
- FMC stock drops significantly after multiple analyst downgrades post-Q4 results.
- BofA cuts price target to $48, citing weak outlook, competition, and debt risks.
- Brand New Membership Level: Benzinga Trade Alerts
FMC Corporation FMC shares plunged on Wednesday after the company reported fourth-quarter results on Tuesday and analysts downgraded the stock.
FMC reported adjusted EPS of $1.79, beating the $1.60 estimate, while sales of $1.22 billion missed the consensus of $1.31 billion.
The company expects first-quarter adjusted EPS of $0.05 – $0.15 (vs. $0.94 estimate) and revenue of $750 million – $800 million (vs. street view of $1.031 billion).
For FY25, FMC forecasts adjusted EPS of $3.26 – $3.70 (vs. $4.38 est.) and revenue of $4.15 billion – $4.35 billion (vs. consensus of $4.406 billion).
BofA Securities analyst Steve Byrne downgraded the company from Neutral to Underperform and cut the price forecast from $61 to $48.
The analyst cited a weak first-quarter outlook, raising doubts about full-year volume growth assumptions and increased competition in diamides as key concerns.
Additional concerns includes limited EBITDA growth despite an easy 2024 comparable and renewed worries over leverage and dividend sustainability, per the analyst.
Byrne writes that he is at the upper end of FMC’s 2025 EBITDA guidance and project adjusted free cash flow of $369 million (within the company’s $200 million-400 million guidance range).
With an annual dividend of $300 million, the analyst sees net debt reduction of just $100 million in 2025, bringing gross debt/EBITDA to 3.4x by year-end and increasing the risk of a credit rating downgrade to non-investment grade.
For 2026, the analyst estimates post-dividend free cash flow of $150 million, leaving FMC needing $850 million in new debt to cover $1 billion in maturing bonds.
Given these challenges, Byrne believes a dividend cut is increasingly likely possible.
Apart from this, RBC Capital analyst Arun Viswanathan downgraded FMC from Outperform to Sector Perform and lowered the price forecast from $78 to $47.
Investors can gain exposure to the stock via First Trust Materials AlphaDEX Fund FXZ and Global X AgTech & Food Innovation ETF KROP.
Price Action: FMC shares are down 34.79% at $35.23 at the last check Wednesday.
Read Next:
Image via Shutterstock.
© 2025 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
date | ticker | name | Price Target | Upside/Downside | Recommendation | Firm |
|---|
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
