What's Going On With Celanese Shares Wednesday?

Celanese Corporation CE shares traded lower on Wednesday after the company 2024 fiscal-year fourth-quarter earnings on Tuesday after the market closed.

The Details: Celanese reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.45, beating analysts’ estimate of $1.20. In addition, the company reported sales of $2.37 billion, which came inline with analysts’ estimate.

The company broke down its sales further. It reported $1.28 billion in sales from engineered materials, $1.11 billion in sales from acetyl chain and a $21 million reduction from intersegment eliminations. Furthermore, Celanese reported adjusted EBIT of $156 million.

“The fourth quarter results developed largely as we expected, despite further demand deterioration that gave no sign of easing. With little indication of near-term recovery, it is our job to drive productivity and earnings growth at Celanese even if fundamental demand remains flat or declines further”, said Scott Richardson, president and CEO.

“As we move forward, we are focused on three strategic priorities: intensifying cost reduction, driving growth through our AC optionality model and EM pipeline model, and increasing cash flow to deleverage the balance sheet. We continue to take actions to reduce costs and accelerate growth, and we expect to take additional actions to deliver on our priorities based on evolving business conditions.”

The company issued guidance for the 2025 fiscal-year first-quarter. It sees earnings per share from 25 cents to 50 cents, versus analysts’ estimate of $1.63. Celanese expects its 2025 second-quarter earnings per share to be about $1 higher than in the first quarter.

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CE Price Action: Celanese shares closed 21.4% lower at $54.91 on Wednesday, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

Image: This illustration was generated using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.